NCJ Number
218620
Date Published
2005
Length
41 pages
Annotation
This is the Fiscal Year 2005 Annual Report of the Michigan Crime Victim Services Commission (CVSC), which is responsible for overseeing the State's wide range of funding and services for crime victims.
Abstract
The CVSC operates under the Michigan Department of Community Health, which administers three victim service programs that provide approximately $20 million in services to over 250,000 citizens each year. Programs are crime victim's compensation, crime victims' rights, and crime victims' assistance. All programs are fully supported by assessments or fines paid by convicted defendants in State and Federal courts. The CVSC provides an advisory function in policy development, determines criminal assessment amounts, and acts as the appeals forum for compensation claims. The commission also supports training and technical assistance for State victim advocates and manages the statewide automated crime victim notification project. The latter is a free, confidential, fully automated telephone service that immediately notifies registered crime victims and other users about a change in an offender's status. Data on crime victims compensation in fiscal year 2005 covers claims filed (1,431), claims awarded (846), claims denied (744), total compensation awarded ($3,892,325), and the average award ($3,841). The crime victim assistance program provides Federal pass-through dollars in grants to local public and nonprofit agencies that provide services to crime victims. This program's data address total grants awarded ($10,126,722), projects funded (90), victims receiving services (121,485), and total services provided (322,621). The crime victim’s rights program administers assessment revenue collected from convicted defendants by circuit, district, and juvenile courts. Funds are disbursed to the State's 83 prosecuting attorneys and several juvenile courts. Program data address victim’s rights prosecutor grants ($5,472,893), victim’s rights cases (103,869), crime victims registered for notification (60,258), and crime victim notification calls (116,123). Data are also provided on victim characteristics, crime characteristics, compensation awards by payment type, reasons for claim denials, appeals, victim assistance grants, and assessment collections.