RD69 - Annual Report of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund


Executive Summary:
Fiscal year 2005 represented another record-breaking year for the Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund (CICF), with increases in both the number of new claims filed (1760, representing over a 3% increase from FY 2004) and the number of initial awards made (1327 awards). This fiscal year, the Fund provided $2,574,424 in awards to crime victims and their families. The total amount of awards decreased slightly from FY 2004, a decrease directly related to CICF’s ongoing efforts to negotiate bills with medical providers, particularly hospitals, so that victims’ CICF awards are able to address as many compensable expenses as possible.

CICF’s role does not stop after an initial award is made. Many victims of violent crime require longer term care for the physical and emotional injuries they sustain, and CICF assists Virginia’s victims of crime with these ongoing health needs. In FY 2005, 689 victims received supplemental awards totaling $699,869, or 27.2% of the total amount awarded. Supplemental awards are issued when an eligible victim documents the need for additional benefits after the initial award has been entered.

Though the crime categories of homicide, abduction, and robbery showed decreases this fiscal year in terms of numbers of CICF claims filed, most other crime categories were on the rise from FY 2004. This year saw increases in the number of assaults, DUIs, carjackings, sexual assaults, child abuse and child sexual abuse cases in which victims were awarded through CICF. In fact, 20% of CICF’s 2005 claims (359 out of 1760) involved victims under the age of 18, with nearly 5% involving children under the age of 7.

Professionals within the criminal justice system continue to be the Fund’s most significant source of referrals, with nearly 64% of FY 2005’s claimants learning about CICF from their area victim/witness assistance program and another 11% being referred to the Fund from their local police or sheriff’s department or commonwealth’s attorney’s office. Other victims found out about CICF from social service agencies, medical providers, funeral homes or other sources. This information supports the belief that continued collaboration and training with our criminal justice partners is important and also demonstrates an increased need for outreach and education for the community at large about the Fund. Enhanced training efforts in FY 2005 have served to heighten the Fund’s visibility as staff work toward a vision of CICF’s instant recognition as a resource when an individual has been the victim of a crime.