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Dear Colleagues:
My name is Kris Rose and I am delighted to be the new Director of the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC). Having worked as a Deputy Director at OVC in the past, I am well aware of the wonderful work our grantees do to ensure that victims are supported nationwide. In the days and months ahead, it is my goal to be as straightforward and transparent as I can be in sharing information with all of you.
To that end, I am writing to you about the historic moment we witnessed last week as President Biden signed the VOCA Fix to Sustain the Crime Victims Fund Act of 2021 in an effort to stabilize the Crime Victims Fund and provide enhanced support to survivors and victim-centered programs. This is due, in no small part, to the collective vision, advocacy, collaboration, and persistence by stakeholders like yourselves ensuring that these critical changes to VOCA were recognized and enacted through the VOCA Fix.
This new law will allow us to continue supporting the essential and lifesaving assistance to crime victims that you provide.
Effective immediately, the specific provisions of the Act—
- Require monetary penalties from federal deferred prosecution and non-prosecution agreements to go into the Crime Victims Fund, to stabilize this funding resource.
- Provide the Attorney General with the authority to provide no-cost extensions to all VOCA award recipients.
- Allow state VOCA Administrators to waive, or requires them to waive, subgrantee match requirements.
- Increase the federal grant calculation for funding to victim compensation programs to 75 percent of state-funded payouts.
- Instruct OVC not to deduct restitution payments recovered by state victim compensation funds when calculating victim compensation awards.
- Clarify that state programs may waive the requirement to promote victim cooperation with law enforcement in order for victims to receive compensation.
We understand the urgency around implementing these provisions and are working diligently to develop a process to successfully execute them. OVC anticipates providing additional flexibility regarding project period extensions for expiring VOCA funds.
I know the process for implementing this law will generate many questions and we do not yet have all the answers. However, you will receive more detailed information about next steps from us in the coming weeks.
I echo President Biden’s sentiments last week when he thanked “those angels working on the frontlines to help these victims.” The work you do is vital and the signing of this bill into law reinforces your efforts to support crime victims and survivors every day.
With gratitude,
Kristina Rose
Director
Office for Victims of Crime
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