The VOCA grant program is administered by the Office for Victims of Crime in the U.S. Justice Department, which also provides funding for other victim services like domestic violence shelters and rape crisis programs. In close to half the states, these VOCA assistance funds are administered by the same agency handling victim compensation.

The Application Process

Application procedures vary slightly from state to state, but typically a victim will be referred to a compensation program by police, prosecutors, victim-witness programs or service providers. Victims also find out about compensation through posters, brochures, or PSAs developed by the program. Applications are usually available through law enforcement or victim assistance and service programs, or through direct contact with the compensation program. The process begins when an application is signed and submitted by the victim.

Most programs process claims through a staff centralized in one office in the state capital, but a few states have branch or regional offices or make use of locally based individuals in other agencies to perform preliminary work on applications, such as gathering documents.

Typically, states request and analyze police reports to confirm that a crime took place and to determine whether the victim was involved in any illegal or contributory activity when victimized. Information from service providers like hospitals, doctors, counselors, and funeral homes, as well as employers if work loss is claimed, forms the basis for benefit determinations.

Decision-making authority varies from state to state, with about a third of the states using part-time boards or commissions to determine eligibility
and awards, and the rest authorizing full-time administrative staff (usually program directors) to make determinations. In three court-based programs, judges or court officials decide claims.

The victim should file an application for compensation in the state where the crime takes place, regardless of the victim's residency. All of the programs will cover terrorist crimes against their residents, and a few states will accept claims from residents for other types of crimes in foreign countries. With just a few exceptions, the programs will cover foreign residents injured in the states.

Eligibility Requirements

While eligibility requirements vary somewhat from state to state, all programs have the same basic criteria. The victim generally must:

• Report the crime promptly to law enforcement (many states have a 72-hour standard, but nearly all states have "good cause" exceptions applied liberally to children, incapacitated victims, and in other special circumstances);
• Cooperate with police and prosecutors in the investigation and prosecution of the case (again, some states can make exceptions);
• Submit a timely application to the compensation program (generally one year from the date of the crime, though a number of states have longer time frames, and most can waive these requirements when appropriate) and provide other information as requested by the program;
• Have a cost or loss not covered by insurance or some other readily available "collateral source ;
• Be innocent of criminal activity or significant misconduct that caused or contributed to the victim's injury or death.

Apprehension and/or conviction of a perpetrator is not a prerequisite to receiving compensation.