Frequently Asked Questions

Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) funds support state victim compensation programs, which help reimburse victims for costs incurred as a direct result of the crime, including medical bills, funeral expenses, and lost wages, and state victim assistance programs, which provide funds for community agencies that assist crime victims through services such as crisis intervention, criminal justice advocacy, counseling, and emergency shelter.

Contact information for state victim assistance and compensation programs can be found on each state's page within the State Support section of the OVC website.

Victims of international terrorism can apply for compensation from OVC through the International Terrorism Victim Expense Reimbursement Program (ITVERP). Learn more about these programs and how to apply for compensation on the ITVERP website.

The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) offers training and technical assistance through the OVC Training and Technical Assistance Center (OVC TTAC). This program supports the delivery of training and technical assistance to eligible organizations that want to enhance the assistance they offer victims. Technical assistance is also offered by OVC staff during site visits, conferences, working meetings, and other training events. You can view a list of training events and scholarship opportunities on the How We Can Help section of the OVC TTAC website.

Statistics on heroin use by juveniles in the United States are available on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System website and the Monitoring the Future website. For data on heroin use, see the Self-report Behaviors section of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's Statistical Briefing Book.

Statistics on cocaine use by juveniles are available on the following sites:

• Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Monitoring the Future, National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Substance Use, the Office of Adolescent Health
• National Survey on Drug Use and Health, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Statistics on marijuana use by juveniles are available on the following sites:

• Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Monitoring the Future, National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Substance Abuse, the Office of Adolescent Health
• National Survey on Drug Use and Health, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Statistics on alcohol use by juveniles in the United States are available on the following sites:

• Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Monitoring the Future, National Institute on Drug Abuse
• National Survey on Drug Use and Health, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Statistics on substance use by juveniles are available on the following sites:

• Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Monitoring the Future and Drug Topics: Children & Teens, National Institute on Drug Abuse

Information on the differences between the juvenile justice system and the criminal justice system can be found in the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) publication, "Juvenile Justice: A Century of Change". To see how the juvenile court system processes a typical delinquency case, view the Case Flow chart from OJJDP's Statistical Briefing Book website.

Resources on disproportionate minority contact (DMC) can be found in the DMC section of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) website, OJJDP's Disproportionate Minority Contact Technical Assistance Manual, Fourth Edition, and the Model Programs Guide Literature Review: Disproportionate Minority Contact.

Conduct a search of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service Abstracts Database/Virtual Library for additional resources.

You can view juvenile crime trend data from the early 1980's through the present on the Law Enforcement and Juvenile Crime: Juvenile Arrest Trends section of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Statistical Briefing Book website.

For additional juvenile crime trend data, please also contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) office, as they began collecting crime data for the United States in the 1920's. Recent versions of the FBI's annual Crime in the United States report are available online. For access to older data, you can reach the UCR office directly by phone 304-625-4995 or by email.