Victims and their families may suffer crushing financial losses in the aftermath of violent crime. Huge hospital bills, substantial lost wages due to serious injuries or death, and unanticipated funeral bills can be a terrible burden. Some victims may need only small amounts - like a child who needs a few months of trauma counseling - but these costs are just as important, and must be paid quickly to speed a full and effective recovery.

Our goal should be simple: to place more federal funds in the hands of victims who need financial help in the recovery process. Augmenting grant funds for compensating victims would provide important new resources to reimburse victims for greater amounts of their losses, and ensure that this help comes as quickly as possible. With an unprecedented amount of money flowing into the Crime Victims Fund this year - close to $1 billion - the time has come to set aside a small portion of this additional revenue to help greater numbers of individual victims and their families recover more fully from the costs of crime. And this can be accomplished with an almost negligible effect on funding for other types of VOCA-funded victim services.

Two modest changes to the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) would go a long way toward accomplishing the goal of getting more federal funds in the hands of victims who need financial help. Redirecting as little as $35 million of this $1 billion (less than 4%) could mean that victims in many states would see substantial new benefits and a greater percentage of their losses being paid. If other funds could be made available for administrative expenses, victims in some states would no longer have to wait months, or even years, to be paid - the delays they face in making themselves whole again could be shortened substantially. Applications to pay for medical expenses, counseling, and funerals, as well as to cover living costs for injured or murdered victims and their families, could be processed more promptly. And more victims that don't hear about compensation opportunities could learn how they could access these important benefits.

Victim compensation programs are expanding. Last year, compensation payments to crime victims reached a record high of $265.3 million, up nearly 7% from the previous year. (In fact, payments in all states except California (the nation's largest program) were up 13%.) Claims received from victims grew by 9%. Last year, 35 states increased the total amount each state paid to victims from the year before.

These growing programs need more federal resources if they are going to continue to help victims recover fully and expeditiously. While some states have sufficient resources of their own, many more states do not have funds to meet the growing demands being placed upon them.

Maximums remain low in many states. Twenty states have caps of $15,000 or less; 12 of those pay only $10,000. Only 13 states can pay more than $25,000. For some victims, these maximums are far too low to meet all their needs. And states are reluctant to increase benefits and expand eligibility without assurances that funds are sufficient to pay all eligible victims. It's high time to make some small adjustments to VOCA to ensure that crime victims and their families share fully in the revenues available. At a time when an enormous amount of money is flowing into the Fund, there is no excuse to ignore individual victims and their families' financial needs. Two small suggestions to accomplish this goal follow.

1. Expand Benefits for Victims and Their Families by Increasing Compensation Funds Victims and their families in a number of states are not receiving the level or type of benefits that they need. Some compensation programs are unable to raise maximums and offer new types of benefits because of a lack of funds. In some states, certain types of victims may not even qualify for benefits because of restrictions limiting eligibility. Children witnessing domestic violence for example, may not be able to get counseling costs covered. Victims need higher maximums and new kinds of benefits from compensation programs, and many programs could use more federal money to provide higher levels of payment.

"New Directions From The Field," published by OVC last year to reflect the thinking of a broad spectrum of victims and advocates, makes a number of specific recommendations for compensation programs to expand benefits and increase the number of victims receiving help. All of these recommended changes will cost significant amounts of money - money that many states don't have now.

Specifically, New Directions says states should do the following:

• Increase maximums to cover the huge losses suffered in catastrophic-injury cases;
• Increase mental health counseling benefits;
• Add benefits to cover transportation for victims and family members to attend criminal proceedings across state lines;
• Take action to increase outreach and loosen eligibility requirements, both of which would result in a substantial number of new applications from victims and family members.

Many states could use more federal funds to implement these recommendations - and many states will fail to implement them without more federal money.

Increasing the percentage upon which federal compensation grants to states are calculated, from the current 40% to 50% or even 60% of a state's payout, would take only a small portion of the VOCA Fund, and would enable many individual victims and their families to pay for more of their losses. Increasing the percentage to 50% will cost the VOCA Crime Victims Fund less than $18 million total for all states. Increasing it to 60% will require only $35 million in new VOCA funds. Currently, all of the states' compensation programs combined get less than $70 million in federal VOCA funds, and this is less than 10% of the expected $900 million available in VOCA assistance funding next year.

The federal government under present law provides a relatively small share of the funding for compensating victims and their families. VOCA grants for compensation provide each state only about 27% of its budget for awards to victims. And since states shoulder nearly all of their administrative burden, the federal portion of a compensation program's overall budget is usually closer to 20%.

(Currently, states are given a federal grant each year equivalent to 40% of the state's payout of its own dollars in awards to victims. In other words, if a state spends $1 million of its own money, it will get $400,000 in federal funds to spend additionally. So, of $1.4 million spent annually by a state, $1 million, or 73%, will be state money, and $400,000, or 27%, will be federal money. In this example, raising the grant percentage to 60% will increase the federal grant to the state to $600,000, meaning the state could spend $1.6 million annually, of which the federal share would still be only a third. The state would still be putting up two-thirds of the money for payments, plus administrative expenses.)

With more federal money, victims in some states could be able to get a greater level of benefits through increased program maximums. With only 12 states offering more than $25,000 in benefits, and 12 states with maximums of $10,000 or less, some victims are unable to have their losses from crime fully compensated. Though the average award nationally is only $2,000 per application, a disturbing number of victims suffering catastrophic injuries and total and permanent disability are not being fully paid for all their costs and future earnings losses. Only a handful of states are able to offer higher catastrophic benefits now; Texas, for example, can offer $50,000 in addition to its normal $50,000 maximum. For victims facing mammoth hospital bills or a lifetime of disability, these higher maximums would make a huge difference.

In other states, victims could get new benefits not currently offered. Crime-scene cleanup is paid for only in about half the states. Children witnessing domestic violence may not be covered in many states. Travel and lost wages for victims and family members to attend criminal proceedings are rarely paid. Relocation expenses and lost support for domestic violence victims are not generally offered. While all states pay for mental health counseling, these benefits are sometimes limited to close family members, and a number of states limit payments for counseling to about a year of therapy.

While there are some states that have substantial reserves, there are just as many or more states whose fiscal situation needs to be improved. And while nearly every state has sufficient money to pay current claims, expansion depends on more resources. It makes little sense to argue that since some states have reserves, no states should receive additional VOCA funds. It seems much more sensible to make changes to meet the needs of the less well-off states, than it does to refuse to do so because a few states have ample money.

2. Speed Payments and Increase Applications by Increasing the Administrative Allowance Victims in some states must wait too long for payments to be made by compensation programs. Nearly every state needs more staff to process large caseloads. State budgets are often too tight to allow for hiring new staff. And the current federal grant allowance of 5% for administrative costs is simply too low in many states to support new staff.

Half the states get federal VOCA compensation grants of $500,000 or less. Five percent of $500,000 is only $25,000, which will not pay for even one additional staff person. Eleven states get less than $250,000, which means their administrative allowance is less than $12,500. And yet it is often the smaller states, with a handful or less of employees, who struggle to keep up with caseloads. Large states face proportionately larger challenges, and the federal grant percentage just doesn't allow enough funds to hire the additional staff necessary to keep the work flowing quickly.

Other states do not have administrative funds to obtain or upgrade automated systems that have proven crucial in processing claims promptly. Imagine an insurance company with little or no software or hardware to process claims-this is the situation in too many state compensation programs. More administrative funds would allow states to make necessary purchases to modernize their operations and serve victims better.

Some states could use more administrative funds to launch greater outreach and training efforts. These have proven effective in many states in increasing the number of victims getting help. But many states are hampered by a lack of funding and staff to embark on these projects.

While overall, the number of victims applying for compensation has increased in the past year, some states have experienced a leveling-off in applications. (This leveling off followed several years of dramatic increases, during which many states saw a doubling or tripling of their caseload.) Violent crime has decreased significantly in many states, but it has been demonstrated again and again that programs with substantial funds that can do extensive outreach and training, as well as offer expanded benefits, will see an increase in claims. More federal funds will give states the resources they need to expand not only their benefit levels and improve their processing times, but also their efforts to bring more victims into their programs.

States should continue to have the choice to use all of their federal grant funds in awards to victims, and many states will not use any VOCA funds for administrative costs. But for those states that lack sufficient administrative resources to hire enough staff, automate their operations, and engage in outreach efforts, an additional federal administrative allowance will make a huge difference in serving victims and their families.

Summary
Victims and their families need more resources from VOCA's Crime Victims Fund. With $1 billion available, victims should be able to share directly in the increased revenues available. By providing more funds to support payment of medical bills, counseling, lost wages, support, and funerals, as well as a host of other expenses for domestic violence victims and others, we can make good use of VOCA money to help victims recover. We can also ensure that more victims learn about the financial assistance available to them, and that when they apply, they will be able to receive benefits more promptly.

Changing VOCA's distribution formula to to provide more funds for compensating victims, and allowing more grant money to be used for administrative costs, will have a nearly negligible effect on overall amounts available for other VOCA programs and initiatives. We need to make individual victims and their families a priority in allocating VOCA funds.