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Justice Department Awards $8.8 Million to Massachusetts to Support Crime Victims, Reports U.S. Attorney
Posted on: 06/24/
WASHINGTON -- United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan and Thomas F. Reilly, Massachusetts Attorney General, announced today that Massachusetts has been awarded two grants totaling $8.8 million by the Justice Department's Office of Justice Programs' Office for Victims of Crime. These funds will provide support and services to thousands of victims throughout the Commonwealth.
Money for these annual awards comes from the Crime Victims Fund, established in by the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), which is primarily financed by fines and penalties paid by federal criminal offenders - not taxpayers. These fines are collected by United States Attorneys, the U.S. Courts and the Bureau of Prisons. Fines collected in one year are deposited into the Fund and are available for grant awards the following year. The USA Patriot Act, enacted in , also allows for private gifts, donations and bequests to the Crime Victims Fund.
"The Justice Department is pleased to support both the collection efforts for the Crime Victims Fund, which provides these program dollars, and the allocation of these resources to help Massachusetts' crime victims," said Office of Justice Programs Assistant Attorney General Deborah J. Daniels.
"This program is one component of holding offenders responsible for the harm that they have caused," stated Sullivan. "We will continue to aggressively collect fines from federal offenders so that victims of crime and their families may receive the assistance they need and deserve."
More than 90 percent of Fund deposits are distributed annually by the Department of Justice's Office for Victims of Crime to states and territories to support state victim compensation and victim assistance programs. Remaining funds are used for training and technical assistance, national demonstration projects and to improve handling of child abuse cases in Indian communities. In addition, these funds support victim witness coordinator and advocate positions for U.S. Attorney Offices, victim specialist positions in the FBI and a federal victim notification system.
The Department of Justice's Office for Victims of Crime awarded a $7.6 million victim assistance grant to the Commonwealth by the Massachusetts Office of Victim Assistance (MOVA) which administers crime victim assistance funds. Massachusetts Attorney General Reilly is the MOVA Board chairman. MOVA funding is used to support statewide and local initiatives, including domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, child abuse victims programs and other initiatives that provide counseling, advocacy or emergency transportation to victims. Massachusetts can also use these funds for innovative efforts such as sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) programs or victim service units in law enforcement agencies, prosecutors offices and social service agencies.
"Too often victims are forced to pay both physically and emotionally, for the rest of their lives," stated Reilly. "The Crime Victims Fund make it possible for programs throughout the Commonwealth to continue to help victims by providing essential counseling and advocacy services to victims and their loved ones."
The Department of Justice's Office for Victims of Crime also awarded a $1.1 million victim compensation grant to the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office's Victim Compensation Division which oversees Massachusetts' compensation program. The compensation program receives annual grants from the Department of Justice equal to 60 percent of its total payout to crime victims in a previous year. Compensation programs work similarly to private insurance, providing reimbursement to, or on behalf of, crime victims for expenses such as medical costs, mental health counseling, funeral and burial costs, and lost wages, as a result of being a crime victim.
"These grants play a critical role in aiding crime victims in Massachusetts, be it through direct victim support or through community-based efforts that provide care and comfort," said Office for Victims of Crime Director John W. Gillis. "The Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs' Office for Victims of Crime is committed to enhancing the nation's capacity to assist crime victims and providing leadership in changing policies and practices to promote justice and healing for crime victims."
More information on Massachusetts' victim assistance and victim assistance efforts is available from the Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance at or www.mass.gov/mova and the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office, Victim Compensation Division at or www.ago.state.ma.us.
The Office of Justice Programs provides federal leadership in developing the nation's capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice, and assist victims. Office of Justice Programs is headed by an Assistant Attorney General and is comprised of five component bureaus: the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Institute of Justice; the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; and the Office for Victims of Crime, as well as and two offices: the Executive Office for Weed and Seed; and the Office of the Police Corps and Law Enforcement Education.
Source: U.S. Attorney
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