RD318 - Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund 2010 Annual Report - July 1, 2009 – June 30, 2010


Executive Summary:
Fiscal year 2010 represented another busy year for the Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund (CICF). This year the Fund provided nearly $1.3 million dollars in compensation awards to crime victims and their families, in addition to paying for forensic examinations for 1648 victims of sexual assault, totaling just over $2 million dollars. As in years past, CICF staff took steps to insure that victims’ CICF awards were able to address as many compensable expenses as possible through continued efforts to negotiate bills with medical providers on behalf of claimants. To that end, fiscal year 2010 saw the passage by the Virginia General Assembly of Senate Bill 88, sponsored by Senator Janet Howell, which requires health care providers to establish prospective negotiation agreements with CICF for payment of claims. Further, this law requires that health care providers accept payment from CICF as payment in full without billing the patient for any remaining balances.

CICF’s involvement in a victim’s care 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 2010, in addition to issuing 703 initial awards for victims’ crime-related expenses, 90 victims received supplemental awards, which are issued when an eligible victim documents the need for additional benefits after the initial award has been entered. CICF continues to make supplemental awards for the duration of the claimant’s crime-related treatment, until such time as the claim has reached its statutorily designated maximum payout amount ($25,000 for crimes occurring after July 1, 2007; $15,000 for crimes occurring prior).

Professionals within the criminal justice system continue to be the Fund’s most significant source of referrals, with 66% of FY 2010’s claimants learning about CICF from their area victim/witness assistance program and another 13% 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 human service agencies, medical providers, probation offices, funeral homes or other sources. Continued collaboration and training with our criminal justice partners is important to ensure that potentially eligible victims of crime are able to access the Fund. Fund staff is committed to increasing outreach to other allied professionals and the community at large about CICF. Enhanced training efforts in recent years as well as improvements to the program’s website 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.