CrimeBeat Q&A: Do victims of crime get paid support?

Can victims of crime receive financial support to deal with medical?expenses and costs incurred from the crime? If so, how?

Yes.

In 2017, the California Victim Compensation Board approved 761 applications from Sonoma County crime victims for a total of $206,562 to cover counseling, medical costs, funerals and other expenses.

Across the state, nearly 52,000 crime victim applications were processed with total funds distributed exceeding ?$53 million in the 2016-17 fiscal year, according to state data.

For victims of crime in Sonoma County, primary resources are through the District Attorney’s Victim Services Division, said Michelle Carstensen, who directs the program. Victims who seek help are given advocates to assist them with the application for state compensation.

There are nine victim advocates in Sonoma County, five of whom are bilingual Spanish speakers, Carstensen said. Assistance with compensation is only part of advocates’ job as they work with victims throughout the criminal justice process.

Once the District Attorney’s Office receives a crime report from law enforcement with named victims, the Victim Service Division reaches out with mailings and phone calls, Carstensen said. In most cases, people have three years after a crime to apply for state compensation.

Last year, 49 percent of Sonoma County residents who received compensation from the state were victims of assault, ?24 percent victims of child abuse, 7 percent were victims of sexual assault and 5 percent were tied to homicide cases, according to state data. Others were victims of robberies, DUIs and stalking.

The majority of assault cases were incidents of domestic violence, Carstensen said.

Fifty-four percent of state Victim Compensation Board funding given to Sonoma County residents covered mental health expenses totaling $111,391 in 2017. Most of those funds cover therapy and counseling, Carstensen said.

Twenty-four percent - $49,072 - covered heath care costs incurred from the crime while $25,150, or 12 percent, went to funeral expenses.

The Victim Compensation Board is the payer of last resort, meaning if insurance companies or other funds cover losses and expenses for victims, then the state will not provide payment, Carstensen said. This includes money victims raise from crowd-source websites.

“The newest issue are Gofundme accounts,” she said. “When people say they are raising money for funeral expenses online they are putting state compensation at risk. People can’t get double-paid for the same thing.”