The State of California wants to make it easy for victims of violence to apply for compensation benefits. Here are some tips and tricks that can help you with the application process

• Complete every section of the application possible. When filling out a CalVCB application, remember that the more specific and complete you can be, the quicker your application can be processed.

• Include copies of crime reports, bills, receipts and other related documents supporting your specific claim with the application.

• Send crime-related bills to the insurance company, workers’ compensation carrier or Medi-Cal right away. CalVCB works with insurance companies to cover crime-related expenses.

• The application has been translated into multiple languages for ease of non-English speaking victims.

• You are eligible to apply even if you do not have a social security number. CalVCB does not require citizenship and does not ask you to document your status. 

• Victim advocates can assist victims throughout the compensation process. Advocates can help with completing applications, gathering documentation, finding emergency food, clothing, and shelter, and filing temporary restraining orders.

• Victims can even designate their advocates or other trusted person to represent them. A victim’s representative can act as a contact on the claim, in case CalVCB has questions about the application.

• If a victim has an attorney, the attorney can represent the victim and CalVCB will reimburse the attorney for their time. Attorney representatives must document their time along with details about the work they do on the claim in order to receive reimbursement for their services.

CalVCB has an online portal where you can begin your claim. Visit CalVCB online to get started.

Specific documentation is very important to support your application for benefits. A police report or other crime report can show that a crime has occurred. One reason that a victim of violence should make a police report is to obtain this important documentation. If the victim chose not to report the crime or a police report is not available, the following documentation can be submitted to help show eligibility:

• Child abuse or adult protective services reports.

• Restraining Orders, including the request for restraining order (DV-100), violations of restraining orders.
  
• Medical, dental, or mental health records.
  
• Affidavit from a human trafficking case worker.
  
• A sexual assault examination report.
  
• University Title IX campus report.
  
• Letter (on the letterhead of a battered women’s program or shelter) identifying the incident(s).

• An affidavit from a credible witness, with as much detail as possible to substantiate (by a preponderance of evidence – 51%) that a qualifying crime occurred. This can be from the victim’s mother, friend, pastor, any trusted person to whom the victim disclosed the crime.
  
• Special visas describing a qualifying crime.
  
• Form 293 if a police report does not specifically identify the victim for confidentiality concerns (e.g. she is named as “Jane Doe”).

If you have questions about documenting your eligibility for CalVCB benefits, contact your local Victim Witness Assistance Center advocates for assistance with filing your application. Advocates can help you navigate the criminal justice and victim compensation process and can provide information on resources and services in your county. You can also visit the CalVCB Local Help page to find local help for your particular situation.

In September of 2021, NCTCC staff interviewed NCTCC Board members, Hon. Judge Leona Colegrove, Chief Judge for Hoopa Tribal Courts, and NCTCC Secretary Megan Siaosi, Bear River Band Rohnerville Rancheria Tribal Court Director, to learn about the effects COVID-19 has on Tribal Courts.

What is a Tribal Court?

Tribal Courts are an inherent part of exercising Tribal sovereignty in order to resolve disputes in Tribal communities. There are over 400 Tribal Courts in operation and each have their own methods of administering justice.

How can Tribal culture be incorporated into the Tribal Courts?

Incorporating Traditional Tribal Justice systems is a cultural approach to justice within Tribal communities. According to Judge Leona Colegrove, while western culture brings a linear, hierarchical process to justice, the Tribal judicial system is horizontal. Traditionally, the whole community would come together to administer justice to those who broke the law or to settle a dispute in Indian Country. There was not one person stating the law, there were elders, family members, groups, and different leaders who administer justice. This is how it has always been in Tribal communities.

What is a Wellness Court?

A Wellness Court is a type of Tribal Judicial Court that integrates wellness concepts into substance abuse cases by using a team approach to provide a service for the court client while aiding to restore community balance.

How Have Tribal Court Operations Been Affected During COVID-19?

Applying COVID 19 within the traditional Tribal Justice horizontal approach makes it difficult to come together as a community. Judge Leona Colegrove explains how issues of vulnerability and outreach methods have become challenges to Tribal Courts during COVID-19.  Megan Siaosi, Bear River Court Administrator, explains how COVID-19 has affected communication and synergy in the Bear River Band Tribal Court.

Vulnerability: Tribal groups are already living in a community with a more vulnerable population than others. Tribal communities make up less than 2 percent of the population. In Tribal communities we hold our elderly population as very sacred because they hold so much knowledge about our past and culture and often this knowledge is not recorded anywhere; if we lose that it is just gone. This is a disease that can literally wipe out an entire elderly population of our people simply because there are not very many of us.

Outreach: In the recent past, we adopted a western style of justice that hasn’t worked well for us. People are used to this approach to justice. We need to shift back to the way things used to be before Tribes adapted to the western Courts. People don’t always like change, so we need to educate and outreach. This means providing outreach in the form of dinners, community events, and feeding people, which is difficult to do during COVID 19. So we need to think outside the box with how to build community outreach.

Communication & Synergy: Tribal Courts are based around mediation. Mediation is built with trust and personal communication. Body language and sitting in a room on the same level as others while talking through issues comes through differently when talking on the phone or while at a zoom meeting. There is a lack of personal and emotional connection. When we talk about the traditional restorative style of transitional justice, it is lacking with zoom online meetings, because the connections can not be forged.

How Can Tribal Courts Overcome the Challenges of COVID-19?

According to Megan Siaosi, strong Tribal leadership and resilience is key:

“Indigenous Peoples have proved time and again how resilient they are. As a whole, zoom is helping us to come together to find solutions to these problems. We are becoming experts of technology when before we were trying to become experts on learning how to run meetings interpersonally. The Bear River Band Rohnerville Rancheria Tribal Council is always thinking about promoting the safety of the community. Strong leadership during this time is very important.”

California victims of qualifying crimes who suffer physical injury, threat of physical injury or emotional injury as a direct result of a violent crime may qualify for CalVCB assistance. 

Each applicant is eligible for a total of up to $70,000 in a wide range of CalVCB expense categories related to the crime such as medical costs, mental health treatment, relocation (including pet relocation/sheltering), burial and ceremonial costs, and complementary and alternative medicine services.

CalVCB can help pay for a wide range of expenses related to the crime such as medical costs, mental health treatment, relocation (including pet relocation), burial and ceremonial costs, and complementary and alternative medicine services.  In some situations, CalVCB can provide emergency financial assistance within 30 days. For example, you may qualify if your personal safety is at risk, and you need to relocate.

Below are some examples of crime-related expenses CalVCB can pay, with dollar caps for each category in parentheses. When in doubt, submit the expense, justification, and supporting documentation with your application.

• Crime scene clean up ($1,000)
• Funeral and burial expenses ($7,500)
• Good Samaritan benefits ($10,000)
• Home ($70,000) or vehicle ($30,000) modifications for victims who became disabled
• Income loss ($70,000, note: if applicable, this category should be prioritized)
• Job retraining ($70,000)
• Medical and dental treatment, including in-home care and telehealth ($70,000)
• Medically necessary equipment ($70,000)
• Mental health services ($10,000)
• Relocation (including pet relocation) ($2,000)
• Residential security ($1,000)
• Service dogs ($10,000)
• Support loss ($70,000)

There are certain types of expenses that CalVCB cannot cover. These include:

• Expenses not related to the crime or injuries incurred, including expenses for lost, stolen or damaged property;
• Medically necessary equipment (wheelchairs, medical beds, glasses, crutches, hearing aids etc.);
• Food, clothing, phone, etc. if a victim needed to relocate for immediate safety;
• Expenses paid by insurance or another source of reimbursement or coverage; and 
• Expenses incurred while a person is on parole, probation or post-release community supervision for a violent felony, or while incarcerated or required to register as a sex offender. This does not affect an application’s eligibility. It instead stops payment for expenses that are incurred during incarceration, felon or registered sex offender status.

Find a convenient Compensation Benefit Reference Guide of expenses and limits here.

If you have been a victim of violence and are unsure whether your expenses can be compensated, CalVCB recommends you submit the expense, justification, and supporting documentation with your application.

Use these links to access more information about CalVCB

• Call them at: 800.777.9229
• Visit their website at: https://victims.ca.gov/
• See their FAQs: https://victims.ca.gov/for-victims/frequently-asked-questions/
• For advocates: https://victims.ca.gov/for-advocates/
• Video training series for advocates: https://victims.ca.gov/for-advocates/elearning/
• CalVCB forms can be found here: https://victims.ca.gov/forms/
• CalVCB publications can be found here: https://victims.ca.gov/publications/
• Email them at: info@victims.ca.gov