For Advocates

Information for advocates who assist survivors with Crime Victims' Compensation (CVC)

NEW: If you have questions related to CVC or have a question prior to submitting an application, please send an email to advocateinquiries@doj.state.or.us.  If you have a question related to a specific claim, please email the assigned examiner directly through the CVC portal or use the CVC Contact list (PDF) ».

Frequently Asked Questions 

CVC Updates (new as of 8/1/23):

2023 Oregon Legislature House Bill 2676 resulted in several important updates to the program. These updates apply to applications received after August 1, 2023. The CVC application includes these new benefits. Duplicate applications received beyond August 1, 2023, will not qualify for the new benefits available.

Changes to Benefits

All the benefits listed below are only available on person-to person crimes that involve injury, mental or physical, and must be a compensable crime.

  • Crime Scene Clean-up: Cleaning expenses that are reasonably related to the cleaning of a private residence due to the death of a person. The award is up to $2,500. Advocates can assist a family or victim in locating a service provider. CVC is not able to make a referral to a service provider. CVC can pay the provider directly or reimburse the family for this cost.
  • $800/week for loss of support benefit – the overall maximum award remains $20,000.
  • $5,000 counseling benefit for witnessing a crime resulting in a victim’s death – The application used for this benefit is the “CVC Homicide Application.”
  • $5,000 for lost wages – for parents or guardians of a minor victim who provide care to the victim while they heal from the abuse. Intermittent leave for doctor appointments does not qualify. Payments beyond 2-weeks of wage loss require a certification of disability from a medical provider or therapist. Paid Leave Oregon is considered a prior resource.
  • Hospitals can bill for strangulation kits – Providers will bill using the SAVE Fund application that has been updated to include the SKIT exam. This benefit is up to $5,000. If a victim or survivor requires any follow up care, they will need to submit a CVC application.
  • Additional funeral benefit – CVC may be able to pay additional funeral expenses, at the discretion of the Department. This additional benefit is intended for families who experience additional out of pocket expenses outside of the initial cost of the funeral service provider. These expenses may include but are not limited to, transportation of the deceased victims remains, memorial or celebration of life expenses, headstone or grave marker, urn, and travel expenses for immediate family members to attend the funeral service or make funeral arrangements. For a funeral benefit, CVC does not consider GoFundMe accounts to be a prior resource.
  • $5,000 counseling benefit – for victims and survivors who apply for a compensable crime but do not report the crime to law enforcement or a medical provider, have a SANE or SKIT exam (for sexual assault or strangulation), or obtain a protective order. Please use the regular CVC application to apply for this benefit. As of November 2023, the Counseling Only application will no longer be available.

Changes to Eligibility

  • Hit and Run crimes that causes injury are compensable – the injury itself is compensable, property associated to this crime is not payable.
  • Reporting the crime to a medical or mental health provider satisfies the requirement to notify law enforcement officials. A form will be sent out to the medical provider or therapist verifying the information.
  • Incarcerated victims may apply for CVC but are not eligible to receive compensation until their release from custody. We can pay providers for outstanding bills. We can pay the victim for out-of-pocket and loss of earnings after their release.
  • CVC removed “Contributory Conduct” language from the statute. This allows CVC to extend eligibility in some circumstances where the victim is not the primary aggressor or the perpetrator but may have contributed to the crime.

Other Changes

  • The Release of Information includes the District Attorney’s Office allowing CVC to communicate with their office regarding a claim. They no longer need to provide a claim number when calling our office. (Of note: an advocate will require a claim number to search in the CVC Portal for status updates, unless your office submitted the application on behalf of a victim or survivor.
  • Use the new Law Enforcement Verification form. When you submit this form with an application, CVC does not request official investigative reports. This expedites the claim and reduces processing time. You may want assistance from the lead investigator to complete this form. Upload this form as a “police report” in the portal. This form may be filled out by the advocate with specific information obtained by the District Attorney, or law enforcement.

You will notice we made several changes to CVC applications in the portal. The applications can now be signed digitally. Frequently providers will require a handwritten signature and may delay processing of bills until this signature is obtained.

  • CVC Homicide Application: applicants on homicide claims and witnesses to homicides should use this new application (rather than the full CVC application).
    – Additional crime types within this application are: DUI/DUI (AUTO) Death, Manslaughter, Hit and Run resulting in death, other vehicular (auto) crimes resulting in death.
  • CVC Application: this application is shorter because we removed fields related to homicide. This application includes new fields:
    * Crime Information: victims and survivors will indicate how the crime was reported and complete required fields based on their response. The date the crime occurred is now a required field.
    * Loss of Earnings: additional information provided by victims and survivors makes it easier for CVC to pay loss of earnings.
    * Counseling: victims and survivors can add their therapist’s information.
  • Counseling Only Application: victims and survivors will now start using the regular CVC application. This benefit continues to be available for those who do not report the crime, have a SANE/SKIT exam done or obtain a restraining order. The Counseling Only application is no longer an option in the CVC portal.

If you have questions related to any of the updates listed above, email the Advocate Inquiries inbox at AdvocateInquiries@doj.state.or.us .


CVC Portal

Helpful Links

CVC Portal »

Victim Assistance Program Toolkit »

Advocate Privilege and Confidentiality Requirements »

Address Confidentiality Program» 

 

 

 

 

Please visit the CVC Portal page for more information. 

CVC Training

Please visit the CVSSD Training webpage

All CVC trainings are online. You can access them at your convenience. We recommend taking the training every 2 years so that you have the most accurate and up-to-date information regarding CVC.

If you have additional questions after you complete the training, feel free to email the Advocate Inquiries inbox at AdvocateInquiries@doj.state.or.us.

Helpful Materials

Applications: Tips for Completing a CVC Application (PDF)»

Forms:

Brochures: