{ "id": "R42672", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R42672", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 621851, "date": "2020-04-02", "retrieved": "2020-04-03T22:43:55.253220", "title": "The Crime Victims Fund: Federal Support for Victims of Crime", "summary": "In 1984, the Crime Victims Fund (CVF, or the Fund) was established by the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA, P.L. 98-473) to provide funding for state victim compensation and assistance programs. Since 1984, VOCA has been amended several times to support additional victim-related activities including (1) discretionary grants for private organizations, (2) the Federal Victim Notification System, (3) funding for victim assistance staff within the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys, (4) funding for the Children\u2019s Justice Act Program, (5) assistance and compensation for victims of terrorism, (6) funding for sexual assault survivors\u2019 notification grants and ensuring rights of sexual assault survivors, and (7) restitution for victims of child pornography.\nIn 1988, the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) was formally established within the Department of Justice (DOJ) to administer VOCA programs. As authorized by VOCA, the OVC awards CVF money through grants to states, local units of government, individuals, and other entities. The OVC also distributes CVF money to specially designated programs, such as the Children\u2019s Justice Act Program and the Federal Victim Notification System.\nDeposits to the CVF come from criminal fines, forfeited appearance bonds, penalties and special assessments collected by the U.S. Attorneys\u2019 Offices, federal courts, and Federal Bureau of Prisons. Since 2002, Congress has allowed gifts, bequests, and donations from private entities to be deposited into the CVF. Of note, the largest source of deposits into the CVF is criminal fines. At the end of FY2019, the CVF had a balance of $6.353 billion.\nWhen the CVF was created in 1984, Congress placed a cap on how much money could be deposited into the CVF each fiscal year. Congress eliminated the cap for deposits in 1993. From FY1985 to FY1998, deposits collected in each fiscal year were distributed in the following fiscal year to support crime victim services. In FY2000, Congress established an annual obligation cap on CVF funds available for distribution to reduce the effects of fluctuating deposits and to ensure the stability of funds for crime victims programs and activities. Since 2000, Congress has established the annual obligation cap in appropriations law. \nIn FY2015, Congress set the CVF obligation cap at $2.361 billion, a more than 200% increase over the FY2014 cap ($745 million). In the following years, Congress maintained (more or less) the increased cap, but also directed DOJ to use funds from the CVF for purposes not authorized by VOCA. From FY2015 to FY2020, Congress transferred funds from the CVF to the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) for programs authorized under the Violence Against Women Act (P.L. 103-322, as amended) and DOJ\u2019s Office of the Inspector General (OIG). From FY2018 to FY2020, Congress set aside 3%, 5%, and 5% (respectively) of the amount made available for obligation for tribal assistance grants. The cap has also decreased for two consecutive years, from a record high of $4.436 billion in FY2018, to $3.353 billion in FY2019, and down to $2.641 billion in FY2020. In FY2020, the tribal assistance grant amount was $132 million, the OVW transfer was $435 million, and the OIG transfer was $10 million. The amount made available for VOCA-authorized programs in FY2020 was $2.064 billion.\nOver the past few years, Congress has taken a number of actions involving the CVF. In the 114th Congress, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (P.L. 114-74) included a provision (\u00a7702) that required the permanent cancellation of $1.5 billion from the balance of the Crime Victims Fund. In addition, from FY2017 to FY2020 Congress opted to calculate the obligation cap based on a three-year average of deposits into the CVF.\nIn considering the CVF allocation and future caps, there are several issues which policymakers may deliberate. Congress may consider whether to adjust the manner in which the CVF is allocated, amend VOCA to accommodate additional victim activities or groups, further adjust the cap and allow funds from the CVF to be used for grant programs other than those explicitly authorized by VOCA, or make other adjustments to the CVF cap\u2014such as eliminating the cap altogether.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/R42672", "sha1": "a2ea4449006b980ead703aade042d981a70ad292", "filename": "files/20200402_R42672_a2ea4449006b980ead703aade042d981a70ad292.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R42672_files&id=/0.png": "files/20200402_R42672_images_6db7cc7094db81c79b36a05b5b948b74401f8bf2.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R42672", "sha1": "f78eb9982bf688dde0225fcd4c5a6511c9177f3d", "filename": "files/20200402_R42672_f78eb9982bf688dde0225fcd4c5a6511c9177f3d.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4934, "name": "Sex Offenses & Victims of Crime" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 461698, "date": "2017-06-01", "retrieved": "2018-05-10T13:18:59.834795", "title": "The Crime Victims Fund: Federal Support for Victims of Crime", "summary": "In 1984, the Crime Victims Fund (CVF, or the Fund) was established by the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA, P.L. 98-473) to provide funding for state victim compensation and assistance programs. Since 1984, VOCA has been amended several times to support additional victim-related activities. These amendments established within the CVF (1) discretionary grants for private organizations, (2) the Federal Victim Notification System, (3) funding for victim assistance staff within the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys, (4) funding for the Children\u2019s Justice Act Program, and (5) assistance and compensation for victims of terrorism.\nIn 1988, the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) was formally established within the Department of Justice (DOJ) to administer the CVF. As authorized by VOCA, the OVC awards CVF money through grants to states, local units of government, individuals, and other entities. The OVC also distributes CVF money to specially designated programs, such as the Children\u2019s Justice Act Program and the Federal Victim Notification System.\nDeposits to the CVF come from criminal fines, forfeited appearance bonds, penalties and special assessments collected by the U.S. Attorneys\u2019 Offices, federal courts, and Federal Bureau of Prisons. Since 2002, Congress has allowed gifts, bequests, and donations from private entities to be deposited into the CVF. Of note, the largest source of deposits into the CVF is criminal fines. At the end of FY2016, the CVF had a balance of more than $9 billion.\nWhen the CVF was created in 1984, Congress placed a cap on how much money could be deposited into the CVF each year. Congress eliminated the cap for deposits in 1993. From FY1985 to FY1998, deposits collected in each fiscal year were distributed in the following fiscal year to support crime victim services. In FY2000, Congress established an annual obligation cap on CVF funds available for distribution to reduce the impact of fluctuating deposits and to ensure the stability of funds for crime victims programs and activities. Since 2000, Congress has established the annual obligation cap in appropriations law. \nIn FY2015, Congress set the CVF obligation cap at $2.361 billion, a 216.9% increase over the FY2014 cap. In FY2016, Congress set the cap at $3.042 billion, a further increase to previous caps; however, $379 million was transferred to the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW; for purposes outside of VOCA) and $10 million was designated for the DOJ Office of the Inspector General for oversight and auditing purposes. In FY2017, however, Congress set the cap at $2.573 billion, a 15.4% decrease compared to the FY2016 cap. From this amount, $326 million was transferred to OVW (again for purposes outside of VOCA) and $10 million was designated for the DOJ Office of the Inspector General for oversight and auditing purposes. \nOver the past few years, Congress has taken a number of unprecedented actions involving the CVF. In the 114th Congress, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (P.L. 114-74) included a provision (\u00a7702) that required the rescission and permanent cancellation of $1.5 billion from the balance of the Crime Victims Fund. In addition, in FY2017 Congress calculated the obligation cap based on a three-year average of collections into the CVF.\nIn considering the CVF allocation and future caps, there are several issues on which policymakers may deliberate. Congress may consider whether to adjust the manner in which the CVF is allocated, amend VOCA to accommodate additional victim activities or groups, further adjust the cap and allow use of the CVF for grant programs other than those explicitly authorized by VOCA (as they did for FY2016 and FY2017), or make other adjustments to the CVF cap\u2014such as eliminate the cap altogether.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R42672", "sha1": "f64ced70d90b46957b92665d44d41c4aa792a34c", "filename": "files/20170601_R42672_f64ced70d90b46957b92665d44d41c4aa792a34c.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R42672_files&id=/0.png": "files/20170601_R42672_images_6db7cc7094db81c79b36a05b5b948b74401f8bf2.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R42672", "sha1": "054b888c296b50a6400227b6c602d19a991c2d2f", "filename": "files/20170601_R42672_054b888c296b50a6400227b6c602d19a991c2d2f.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4934, "name": "Sex Offenses & Victims of Crime" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 448855, "date": "2016-01-15", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T17:28:20.528897", "title": "The Crime Victims Fund: Federal Support for Victims of Crime", "summary": "In 1984, the Crime Victims Fund (CVF) was established by the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA, P.L. 98-473) to provide funding for state victim compensation and assistance programs. Since 1984, VOCA has been amended several times to support additional victim-related activities. These amendments established within the CVF (1) discretionary grants for private organizations, (2) the Federal Victim Notification System, (3) funding for victim assistance staff within the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys, (4) funding for the Children\u2019s Justice Act Program, and (5) assistance and compensation for victims of terrorism.\nIn 1988, the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) was formally established within the Department of Justice (DOJ) to administer the CVF. As authorized by VOCA, the OVC awards CVF money through grants to states, local units of government, individuals, and other entities. The OVC also distributes CVF money to specially designated programs, such as the Children\u2019s Justice Act Program and the Federal Victim Notification System.\nDeposits to the CVF come from criminal fines, forfeited appearance bonds, penalties and special assessments collected by the U.S. Attorneys\u2019 Offices, federal courts, and Federal Bureau of Prisons. Since 2002, Congress has allowed gifts, bequests, and donations from private entities to be deposited into the CVF. Of note, the largest source of deposits into the CVF is criminal fines. As of the end of FY2015, the CVF has a balance of more than $12 billion.\nWhen the CVF was created in 1984, Congress placed a cap on how much money could be deposited into the CVF each year. Congress eliminated the cap for deposits in 1993. From FY1985 to FY1998, deposits collected in each fiscal year were distributed in the following fiscal year to support crime victim services. In FY2000, Congress established an annual obligation cap on CVF funds available for distribution to reduce the impact of fluctuating deposits and to ensure the stability of funds for crime victims programs and activities. Since 2000, Congress has established the annual obligation cap in appropriations law. In FY2015, Congress set the CVF obligation cap at $2.361 billion, a 216.9% increase over the FY2014 cap. In FY2016, Congress set the cap at $3.042 billion, a further increase to previous caps; however, $379 million was transferred to the Office on Violence Against Women (for purposes outside of VOCA) and $10 million was designated for the DOJ Office of the Inspector General for oversight and auditing purposes. After these deductions, the obligation cap is equal to $2.653 billion, a 12.4% increase over the FY2015 cap.\nIn the 114th Congress, The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (P.L. 114-74) included a provision (\u00a7702) that required the rescission of $1.5 billion from the balance of the Crime Victims Fund. This unprecedented rescission did not carry any specification as to redirection for the funds, but rather was treated as a general offset. This rescission did not impact (at least not directly) the annual obligation cap on the CVF, which, as mentioned, was increased in FY2016.\nIn considering the CVF allocation and future caps, there are several issues on which policymakers may deliberate. Congress may consider whether to adjust the manner in which the CVF is allocated, amend VOCA to accommodate additional victim activities or groups, further adjust the cap and allow use of the CVF for grant programs other than those explicitly authorized by VOCA (as they did for FY2016), or make other adjustments to the CVF cap\u2014such as eliminate the cap altogether.\nIn the 114th Congress, the Senate Committee on the Budget marked up the Fairness for Crime Victims Act of 2015 (S. 1495), which would adjust the way changes in mandatory spending affect the CVF and how it is used as an offset of discretionary spending. The bill is intended to ensure that the CVF annual obligation cap amount is never less than the average amount of deposits into the CVF of the previous three fiscal years.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R42672", "sha1": "8c28ec0ef8f042935ff60cd4090322eef23f2814", "filename": "files/20160115_R42672_8c28ec0ef8f042935ff60cd4090322eef23f2814.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R42672", "sha1": "932b3410063f9bcffa4fca54b385177b13f577d6", "filename": "files/20160115_R42672_932b3410063f9bcffa4fca54b385177b13f577d6.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc795823/", "id": "R42672_2015Oct27", "date": "2015-10-27", "retrieved": "2016-01-13T14:26:20", "title": "The Crime Victims Fund: Federal Support for Victims of Crime", "summary": "This report provides background and funding information for Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) programs and the Crime Victims Fund (CVF). It describes the process through which CVF funds are allocated and explains how the CVF impacts the annual budget for DOJ. It then provides an analysis of selected issues that Congress may consider regarding the CVF and the federal budget.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20151027_R42672_b70eb6428d05548acc3f5d900148bc3300048138.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20151027_R42672_b70eb6428d05548acc3f5d900148bc3300048138.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Criminal justice", "name": "Criminal justice" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Victims of crimes", "name": "Victims of crimes" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Compensation for victims of crime", "name": "Compensation for victims of crime" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc808515/", "id": "R42672_2015Jun30", "date": "2015-06-30", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "The Crime Victims Fund: Federal Support for Victims of Crime", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20150630_R42672_c5e087f7185b82e3077d6f82d2af1e9dbe82d519.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20150630_R42672_c5e087f7185b82e3077d6f82d2af1e9dbe82d519.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc820292/", "id": "R42672_2015Apr20", "date": "2015-04-20", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "The Crime Victims Fund: Federal Support for Victims of Crime", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20150420_R42672_f809aa1e4d471abf0ccd27f9ac04462a0ddda2f9.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20150420_R42672_f809aa1e4d471abf0ccd27f9ac04462a0ddda2f9.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc227781/", "id": "R42672_2012Aug22", "date": "2012-08-22", "retrieved": "2013-11-05T18:07:05", "title": "The Crime Victims Fund: Federal Support for Victims of Crime", "summary": "Report that provides background and funding information for Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) programs and the Crime Victims Fund (CVF). It describes the process through which CVF funds are allocated and explains how the CVF impacts the annual budget for Department of Justice (DOJ).", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20120822_R42672_0870ddc5575287abff848b842d146b58f785ec33.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20120822_R42672_0870ddc5575287abff848b842d146b58f785ec33.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Victims of crimes", "name": "Victims of crimes" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Criminal justice", "name": "Criminal justice" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Compensation for victims of crime", "name": "Compensation for victims of crime" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Law", "name": "Law" } ] } ], "topics": [ "Appropriations", "Crime Policy", "Economic Policy", "Intelligence and National Security", "National Defense" ] }