State hopes more staff, technology will pay victims

The Indiana Criminal Justice Institute is working on completing back payments from 2007 and 2008 for the Indiana Crime Victim Compensation Fund.

Neil Moore, executive director of the institute, said a study from 2007 discovered the fund had back payments from a couple of years. Recently, the ICJI was able to complete all the 2006 requests.

Since Feb. 1, the institute has had about 2,900 claims pending, including the claims that have been filed this year, Moore said. About 1,100 of those are for sex crimes.

The institute has been administering the Indiana Violent Crime Victim Compensation Fund since 1978 when the Indiana General Assembly added the program as part of a law, according to ICJI’s Victim Compensation’s Web site.

Indiana defines a violent crime as a felony or Class A misdemeanor, according to the fund’s Web site. In addition, the crime must meet other requirements, such as taking place in Indiana. The crime must be reported to police within 72 hours of taking place, and claims must be filed within 180 days of the crime occurring, according to the Web site.

The money used for victims of violent crimes is state-appropriated money, Moore said. The money used for victims of sex crimes is money from a federal grant.

The money used from the fund helps with medical expenses, funeral expenses, lost wages and outpatient counseling, according to the fund’s Web site. For victims of sexual assault, the funds help with collection of evidence and outpatient counseling services.

The maximum amount of money that can be given out is $15,000 for eligible crime-related expenses, according to the fund’s Web site.

Moore said the process of determining if a person is eligible to receive money from the Indiana Violent Crime Victim Compensation Fund is lengthy.

“All other sources must be exhausted before we start making payments,” he said.

Moore said the ICJI has hired more people to help process the back payment claims.

The ICJI has also begun to look into proposals for development of a Web-based system that would help process the claims more efficiently.

“Some efficiencies were needed for better technology last year,” he said. “We were able to advocate for the technology solution.”