Crime Victims Get $22M Boost, Nevada 2016

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – In a bid to assist those affected by crime, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Nevada has announced that the state will receive over $22 million in funding to support victims of crime.

The award, made possible through the Crime Victims Fund, is the largest amount of funding ever provided to the State of Nevada to directly help victims of crimes and programs that support them, according to U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden.

Of the total amount, $19,981,431 was awarded to the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services, while $2,049,000 was awarded to the Nevada Department of Administration in victim compensation funds.

The Crime Victims Fund is supported primarily by fines paid by federal criminal offenders, and over 90 percent of the fund’s deposits are distributed annually by the U.S. Attorney’s Office to states and territories to support state victim compensation and victim assistance programs.

The funds will be competitively awarded by the State of Nevada to local community-based organizations that provide direct services to crime victims, including domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, child abuse victims’ programs, and other initiatives that provide counseling, advocacy, or emergency transportation to victims.

The crime victim compensation funds work similarly to private insurance, providing reimbursement to, or on behalf of, crime victims for expenses such as medical costs, mental health counseling, funeral and burial costs, and lost wages, as a result of being a crime victim.

According to U.S. Attorney Bogden, the U.S. Attorney’s Office is pleased to support both the collection efforts for the Crime Victims Fund and the allocation of these resources to help Nevada’s crime victims.

For more information on Nevada’s victim compensation and victim assistance efforts, contact the State of Nevada Department of Administration Victims of Crimes Program at (702) 486-2740 in southern Nevada or (775) 688-2900 in northern Nevada, or the State of Nevada Department of Health and Human Services at (775) 684-7946.

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