Life in this sleepy little burg of Santa Monica can sometimes turn ugly. Thanks to the large population of fresh-out-of-jail homeless, parole violators and a growing constituency of violent criminals, it happens that people get robbed, mugged, raped and assaulted in our community.
The effects of violent crime on a victim are far ranging and frequently they are not compensated. This is where the state has stepped in and for once has been helpful about the negative effects of a situation.
In California, we have a program designed to compensate the victims of violent crime who do not have the resources needed to recover from an attack. It’s called the Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board.
The purpose of the board is to provide victims who are aiding in the apprehension and prosecution of violent criminals with the tools necessary to recover from their attacks.
The program also provides death benefits to the beneficiaries of those who are killed. Generally, once you have become the victim of a violent crime, you are eligible for some sort of compensation. The program is actually the payer of last resort, and if you have private insurance, MediCal, a worker’s compensation case, or other source of payment, they will have to pay first.
To submit a claim and get it approved, the beneficiary of the deceased victim must: ■Have been a California resident when the crime occurred, or the crime must have occurred in California. ■Cooperate reasonably with police and court officials to arrest and prosecute the offender. ■Cooperate with VCP staff to verify the application. ■Not have been involved in events leading to the crime or have participated in the crime. ■File the application within one year of the crime, one year after the direct victim turns 18 years old, or one year from when the crime could have been discovered, whichever is later.
It’s a great program — it is funded by the penalties that criminals are assessed. I have worked with the program for the past six years and I have seen it provide wheelchairs and bathroom remodels for a young man that was made a paraplegic by a gunshot wound. It has provided burial funds for young men and women who died too soon, and it has provided therapy for a woman who was assaulted by a neighbor.
The victim is entitled to all types of medical care and dental care, prosthetic devices, therapy for emotional trauma and rehabilitation for physical trauma.
As a victim, a person feels violated and abused by a system that all too frequently has more concern with the rights of the alleged criminal than the bloodied and bleeding body of an upstanding citizen. This program is designed to offset some of the trauma.
If you have been a victim and you need to file an application, you can contact the board directly at 800-777-9229 or www.vic-timcompensation.ca.gov. If you need an attorney to help you, the board will pay attorney’s fees. They pay 10 percent of the approved compensation, up to a maximum of $500.
I have been mugged. I’ve been burglarized. I’ve had my car broken into countless times living in Santa Monica. From personal experience, I speak of the sense of violation and the well of anger that is created by the thoughtless selfishness of the criminal mind. The Victims Compensation Program is not perfect and it won’t cover all the expenses of being attacked, mugged, raped, shot or abused, but it does help a little.
It is one of the few government programs that I can honestly say does more good than costs, and achieves its purpose.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 5, 2006. Read the original PDF.