NORC Study Finds Victim Compensation Programs Have Room to Grow
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November 2024
Increasing interest in victim compensation leads to a record survey response.
In 2022 alone, victim compensation programs paid $300+ million in essential aid to crime victims and their families but are still not reaching everyone in need, according to a groundbreaking NORC-Urban Institute survey.
In particular, survey respondents believe that victims of human trafficking, sexual assault, elder abuse, child physical abuse, and stalking are less likely to apply for compensation. So are non-English speakers and members of the LGBTQIA+, Native American, and Hispanic communities. These are among several highlights from Twenty Years Later: A National Study of Victim Compensation Programs, an update to a study that the Urban Institute conducted for the National Institute of Justice in 2003.
We used a survey and semi-structured interviews to gather fresh data for comparison.
To examine the current factors affecting state victim compensation program use and accessibility, we conducted an online survey of program administrators from all 50 states and the District of Columbia and interviewed various stakeholders in deeper dives in four states. Our survey questions focused on compensation policies, practices, utilization, effectiveness, emerging issues, the impact of state and federal funding levels, and areas for future development.
“We had a remarkable 92 percent response rate to our survey, which allowed us to include many different voices,” said Jeanette Hussemann, a principal research scientist in NORC’s Economics, Justice & Society department and our Center on Public Safety & Justice. “We attribute this success to a combination of increased interest in victim compensation, valuable partnerships, and the personal touch—such as picking up the phone to call administrators directly.”
“We had a remarkable 92 percent response rate to our survey, which allowed us to include many different voices.”
Our partner’s in-depth assessments in Arizona, Delaware, New York, and West Virginia included 46 semi-structured interviews with victim compensation program staff, legal and community assistance providers, and victims who submitted compensation claims. This approach yielded rich data on program structure and staffing, funding, claims processing, utilization, equity, and general perceptions.
Nine out of 10 programs report improvements in training, policies, and procedures.
Despite an overall downward trend in victimization since 2003, over half of administrators reported an increase in claims over the past three years. One of the most cited reasons was more frequent and effective program training, especially for criminal justice workers and others in direct contact with victims, including victim compensation program staff. Nine out of 10 programs report training staff on victim compensation and broader victimization issues.
The same percentage of programs (90 percent) reports having written policies or procedures to guide them in cases where the victim acted illegally or somehow contributed to the crime. This is an uptick from 2003 when only 75 percent of programs had such policies.
The majority of programs also reported that the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic was especially challenging because it created staffing shortages and a transition to remote work and trainings or paused trainings altogether. Sixty-five percent of respondents report that their program continues to be understaffed.
Our findings identify ways to support victim compensation programs over the next 20 years.
One of our top recommendations for supporting victim compensation programs moving forward is to continue training program staff. Such trainings should include how best to communicate with and support victims during the claims application process, as well as how to recognize and address vicarious trauma that can lead to staff burnout.
Programs should also continue their efforts to migrate information, applications, and notifications online and provide them in Spanish and other languages for increased accessibility and easier communication.
“To ensure greater equity in the disbursement of victim compensation funds and an increased ability to better serve all victims over the next 20 years, compensation programs also need more staff, better data collection and case management systems, and increased federal and state funding,” said Hussemann. “We hope that these and our other findings provide decision-makers with the information they need to improve the compensation process for everyone.”
This article is from our flagship newsletter, NORC Now. NORC Now keeps you informed of the full breadth of NORC’s work, the questions we help our clients answer, and the issues we help them address.
