If you have been a victim of a violent crime, the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board (VCGCB) can help you recover financially. This Program may pay bills only for expenses due to the crime and that are not covered by insurance or other sources. VCGCB does not pay for lost, damaged, or stolen property or for pain and suffering. In order for the victim to obtain assistance from this agency, the victim must first file a VCGCB application within one year of the crime. The victim advocate staff of the Crime Victims’ Assistance Unit can help with the application process. Victims may also contact the Program visiting the web site http://www.vcgcb.ca.gov/ or by calling the phone number here (800) 777-9229.
The following losses may be covered by the Program:
- Medical/dental treatment
- Mental health counseling
- Lost income, if the victim is disabled because of the crime
- Funeral and burial expenses
- Emergency relocation
- Crime scene cleanup, when a homicide happens in someone’s home
The following losses cannot be paid by the Program:
- Any expenses paid by the victim’s insurance or another source
- Lost, damaged, or stolen property
- Pain and suffering
- A person who is on felony probation, on parole, in jail, or in prison cannot be paid by the Program for any expense
The Crime Victims’ Assistance Unit can help victims obtain restitution orders for their financial losses.
800 S. Victoria Avenue, Room 311
Ventura, CA 93009
(805) 654-3622
Victims Have the Right to Restitution
It is the unequivocal intention of the people of the State of California that all persons who suffer losses as a result of criminal activity shall have the right to restitution from the person convicted of the crime for losses they suffered. Restitution shall be ordered from the convicted person in every case in which a crime victim suffers a loss regardless of the sentence or disposition imposed, unless compelling and extraordinary reasons exist to the contrary. The court must award restitution to the victim(s) in the full amount of their economic losses, including but not limited to:
- Full or partial payment for the value of stolen or damaged property
- Medical expenses
- Mental health counseling expenses
- Wages or profits lost due to injury incurred by the victim, and if the victim is a minor, wages or profits lost by the minor’s parent, parents, guardian or guardians while caring for the injured minor
- Expenses to install or increase residential security incurred, relating to the crime
- Actual and reasonable attorney’s fees and other costs of collection accrued by a private entity on behalf of the victim
- Expenses to retrofit a residence or vehicle, or both, to make the residence accessible or the vehicle operational by the victim, if the victim is permanently disabled whether the disability is partial or total, as a direct result of the crime