A.





Colorado?s unique decentralized system for the distribution of Victim Compensation funds, allows each judicial district to assess and address victim needs at the local level. Each district has a Compensation Administrator and compensation board allowing the timely delivery of services, usually within 45 days.  





All victim compensation boards must comply with the statewide Standards for the Administration of Victim Compensation Programs.  The Standards Subcommittee of the Victims? Compensation and Assistance Coordinating Committee and the State Compensation Administrator are responsible for monitoring compliance and providing training and technical assistance to Victim Compensation boards and staff.  





The State Compensation Director has set up a list serve forum for administrators and boards to share information and discuss challenging questions. In addition the State Compensation Director coordinates a two day conference for the twenty two local compensation administrators and their board members providing them with sessions to improve their skills i.e. What Constitutes Contributory Conduct Who Is The Victim?, Victims Automobile Insurance/Claims and Lawsuits, Human Trafficking in Colorado, Brain Injury Cases ? Unique Challenges/Special Needs, and Compensation 101 ? What You Always Wanted To Know About Victim Compensation & More! This biennial conference allows new and old compensation board members to gain knowledge, to network and to brainstorm on compensation issues and solutions. 


 


Issues identified in Colorado that may hinder crime victims in their efforts to apply for compensation include:





1.	Victim Compensation forms (although a common form is available on line on the State?s web page) are not standardized from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and usually they are only available in English and Spanish.  


2.	The major issue seen by many agencies that hinders victims from filing for compensation benefits is that the crime must be reported to law enforcement in order to receive compensation.  This barrier prohibits many victims who need assistance, but for many reasons, do not want to report to law enforcement i.e. GLBTQ, Sex assault, and domestic violence victims.


3.	Working with local victim compensation in Durango, Colorado has proven much more efficient then the interstate compensation programs we've had to apply to for our clients.  There is a lack of national uniformity, especially with eligibility requirements, as well as immense problems with the extensive time determinations and timely payment. The Colorado?s decentralized Victim Compensation should be a national model.  


4.	Based on the experiences of SungateKids? Family Support Coordinator (or ?FSC?), the major obstacles to completing the application for Victim?s Compensation and in assisting victims in applying for benefits is simply information overload at an emotionally charged time for the victims and their families.  During the initial contact with families at SungateKids, the FSC has found that the amount of information victims and their families are given by the various agencies with whom they have contact is simply overwhelming.  For this reason, the FSC will often give victims families the forms, but not even attempt to assist them in completing the application until the follow-up contact.  By that time, victims (or their families) have begun to sort through the numerous documents and may be able to make sense of them.

B.





Colorado?s state Office for Victims' Programs and the VOCA subgrantees promoted coordination of public and private efforts to aid crime victims in the following ways during federal fiscal year 2008:





1.	 The Office for Victims Programs in an effort to streamline funding for core victims assistance projects throughout Colorado has begun work on one common application for the VAWA, VOCA and State Victim Assistance funds. This single application will allow often hard pressed first responders more time to provide direct serves to crime victims and require less time to apply for the funds.





2.	 Programs continued their response to the Bailey, Colorado school shooting and sexual assault of the five high school hostages on September 27, 2006.                                                                                                                                                                VOCA Subgrantee Coordination Efforts 





Gilpin County Sheriff?s advocate provided an outreach education and recognition class related to domestic violence in the casinos, both to employees who may need assistance and as well as to assist those who visit the casino.  With the Black Hawk Police we have coordinated an inclusive set of educational outreach that can be utilized for employees of different levels.  





WINGS, an agency serving adults molested as children, has begun a collaboration with First Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs to offer three pilot-programs. They are Christian-themed WNGS groups to survivors that wish to have a Christian focus to their healing.  These groups utilize the WINGS structure with a few added elements of Christianity.  WINGS has provided the initial screening intakes to these groups? participants and has trained all the therapist facilitators for these groups.  We are hoping this collaboration may lead to other collaborations with faith-based organizations who wish to help survivors in their own congregations.  








Safehouse Denver has developed two new community collaborations this year.  We are coordinating services with Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, Stout St. Clinic, and streamlining the process of providing services to victim within this underserved population.  Stout St. Clinic will be able to refer their clients to Safehouse Denver, and the client will be able to be seen immediately by an advocate on a walk-in basis.  The homeless is an underserved population in our community.  This model overcomes some of the challenges in meeting the need of this population due to the transient nature of the population and the clients not being able to stay in services for an extended period of time.





Chaffee County Colorado has a very strong Domestic Violence Coalition which is attended by the Sheriff?s Dept, both Salida and Buena Vista Police Departments, Probation, DA?s Office, Law Enforcement?s Victims Advocates, Offender Treatment providers, Child Protection, and the non-profit VOCA subgrantee, Advocates from Alliance Against Domestic Abuse.  





Project PAVE, a non profit VOC funded agency serving adolescent crime victims, is part of a larger collaborative network of victim service providers in Metro Denver whose goal is to open a Family Justice Center for victims of domestic violence and child abuse that provides a one-stop facility from which victims may access mental health services, individual advocacy, multilingual services, coordination with criminal justice, access to probation victim advocates and prosecutors, and the ability to file criminal charges. This exciting collaborative is comprised of representatives from the nonprofit sector, Denver Mayor?s Office, Denver District Attorneys office, Denver Police Department, and has the support of coalitions representing the interests of families in need.








The Archuleta County Victim Advocacy (ACVAP) program met with the lead nurse of the newly opened emergency hospital in the county.  This is the only hospital in the community.  Discussions are occuring to investigate the possibility of incorporating a SAFE program in the hospital to meet the needs of sexual assault victims.

C.








Many victim assistance projects report that they rarely see federal crime victims.  The following are the comments from several subgrantees that have served federal crime victims:





Asian Pacific, a VOCA agency, has been collaborating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on human trafficking (labor trafficking) victims for the past two years.  The referrals came from the FBI involving vulnerable families being used as free labor in Asian businesses.  There have also been other cases involving suspected sex trafficking, but jurisdiction of the cases has been maintained at the District Courts levels.





El Paso County Sheriff?s program staff and volunteers were called to assist a victim who was carjacked and kidnapped out of New Mexico.  Again the victim was met at the Law Enforcment Bureau by two volunteers who stayed with her for several hours until her family could respond from New Mexico.  We provided hotel resources for the family to spend the rest of the night in the area as further investigation would be done and the victim would be needed the next morning.  We had paid staff to respond when the victim and her family returned to the EPSO for interviews.  We met with the victim and her family individually and provided support information and expectations for what was to happen in the following days.  Our Investigations Division worked very diligently to process the victim's vehicle so that she could have a family member drive it back to New Mexico and not have to return to Colorado.  New Mexico was the primary jurisdiction as the kidnapping started there.  As a result of not being able to access our local victim compensation funds, we made contact with an FBI victim specialist.  The advocate was tasked with helping us find emergency funds for the victim and her family for the hotel expenses, food and fuel to return to New Mexico.  Our connection to this FBI resource was also able to assist with contact information for the FBI victim specialist that would be assigned the case once the New Mexico division took over.  Our detectives wanted the victim's clothing for evidence.  As a result, our EPSO VAP staff utilized funds from a small emergency petty cash fund to purchase a sweatsuit, T-shirt, socks and undergarments for the victim.  The FBI agent working with our detectives wanted to take the victim back to the scene of where she escaped.  The VOCA Grant advocate and EPSO VAP coordinator transported the victim and stayed with her while she re-enacted her escape and allowed the detectives to video tape her actions.  Advocates, paid and volunteer worked with this victim and her family for over 14 hours overnight and into the next day





Our community had a bank robbery this spring.  One agency immediately responded to the crime scene and initiated crisis support for the victims and coordination with local authorities. Coordination and advocacy continued through the investigation, where advocates worked cooperatively with federal advocates and agents to ensure victims were receiving proper notification and support.      














One program has had the oppportunity to serve federal crime victims. These victims were primarily homicide survivors of  inmates killed at the federal prison that is in our district.  We have not had the opportunity to serve federal crime victims for quite some time and certainly not during the current grant cycle.





We work very closely with the Victim Assistance Coordinator at the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe in Towaco, also with the federal victim advocate with the tribe.  We coordinate services that are available off the reservation for victims of crime on the reservation.  We also offer our services to Mesa Verde National Park.  We have assisted Mesa Verde with several calls.  We are also invited to the annual training of park personnel to tell them about our program.

D.





In 2008, Colorado?s Office for Victims through state victim assistance grants funded five statewide victim assistance programs, Colorado Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance, Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault, Colorado CASA and the Families of Homicide Victims and Missing Persons. These projects provided 12 training opportunities for over 1500 individuals.  These trainings were provided throughout the state to VOCA subgrantees and allied professionals. Two new projects were funded to provide transportation, support and lodging so that victims can attend juvenile and adult parole hearings throughout Colorado. Given that the Governor of Colorado has begun an important initiative to look at recidivism of offenders, prison bed issues and early release, it is important that victims are able to be present and heard at these parole hearings. This balances the need for offenders to have opportunities for rehabilitation and to become productive members of society with the victims? need for an accurate assessment of risk and dynamic safety planning.  





VOCA subgrantees reported the following improvement to victim services and or training activities:





1.	Safehouse Denver received a grant at the end of 2007 for transitional housing called Safe at Home. This program has been extremely helpful to SafeHouse clients in 2008. The grant is a collaboration has been created between SafeHouse Denver, the Department of Human Services, several Transitional Housing Programs, and Mental Health providers. Its purpose is to assist SafeHouse clients in securing safe transitional housing, which is a pressing need for clients at the SafeHouse shelter.  Currently this year, this program has placed 27 clients out of shelter and into safe living situations. The clients are also provided continuing case management to help with additional needs such as mental health, medical, financial etc. This program has enabled clients to move out of shelter quickly and into more stable, permanent safe housing.





  


2.	   Rape Intervention Team (RIT), Durango Colorado- continues to work to improve services to underserved populations, such as Latina/o clients, monolingual Spanish-speaking clients, and LGBT clients. An emerging trend in Southwest Colorado is the continued increase of documented and undocumented immigrants to our community, primarily Latino, but also Eastern European, Asian, and African immigrants.  Some of the immigrants have been targeted for sexual violence because the perpetrators assume the victims will be unlikely to come forward for services because of fears of deportation, lack of services in languages other than English, and distrust of law enforcement agencies. Those who have come forward to press charges have displayed tremendous courage and tenacity, while service providers both inside and outside the criminal justice system struggled to find basic translation and counseling services for Spanish speakers. RIT?s Victim Services Coordinator is bilingual in English and Spanish, and is working to advocate for Spanish-speaking clients.  Community-wide leadership on these issues will create a more accessible and supportive climate for minority populations to come forward to get support for sexual assault. RIT also served as the fiscal agent, and two staff members helped plan, the April 2008 Out on the Colorado Plateau summit to raise visibility for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals in the southwest.


3.	    Boulder?s Immigrant Services & Advocacy Committee has expanded service accessibility to immigrant victims of domestic violence and their families. The ISA Committee assists with the logistics of SPAN?s monthly Immigrant Legal Advocacy Clinic, staffed by the Immigrant Legal Advocate and a pro-bono immigration attorney, for immigrant victims to confidentially address their immigration situation and seek information about civil remedies related to domestic violence. 


4.	   Project PAVE in Denver serves teen victims of dating and domestic violence. Their goal is to become the model for organizational inclusiveness in Denver. In 2006, Project PAVE became one of just twelve grantee agencies chosen to participate in the Denver Foundation?s Expanding Nonprofit Inclusiveness Initiative (ENII). Although the grant period has expired and funding depleted, Project PAVE leadership continues to be instrumental in ongoing sector-wide inclusiveness efforts and internal agency initiatives. It is the view of Project PAVE leadership that for these inclusiveness initiatives to be fully realized and wholly authentic, its principles must be fully integrated and woven into the fabric of the organization. As such, all agency staff participated in a series of training designed to raise awareness, spark thoughtful discussion, and help all staff understand how these issues impact our working relationships, program design, community outreach, hiring, and service delivery. Project PAVE?s model for program expansion is rooted in inclusiveness, with the specific needs and backgrounds of each school community serving as the foundation for Project PAVE activities.

E.





1.	HEALING AFTER DOMESTIC VIOLENCE - A FAMILY'S JOURNEY.       Marion first contacted the SPAN Tri-City Program for information about counseling services for her 10 year old daughter and 17 year old son. Although she had been divorced from her abusive husband for more than three years, Marion was increasingly concerned about what she described as "abusive behaviors, like his father" in her 17 year old son, Bryan.  An intake and counseling session was scheduled with Marion, in which she disclosed symptions of PTSD (startle reactions, nightmares, fear and depression) which seemed to escalating in recent months as she found herself in more parenting conflicts with her ex-husband. Bryan lives part-time with his father; Sally, the 10year old, lives fulltime with Marion and visits her father on specified holidays.  After several conversations, both Bryan and Sally agreed to meet with SPAN counselors.


All family members attended separate individual counseling sessions (with Sally working with the Children's Counselor, Bryan working with a Counseling Intern specializing in teen issues, and Marion working with the Women's Counselor), and attended biweekly "family sessions."  The familiy identified several critical issues impacting each of them: Marion recognized that she was triggered by her son's size and his increasing resemblance to her ex-husband. She identified that it was difficult for her not to see Bryan as an abuser, just like his father, even though his behavior was non-violence (albiet controlling and occasionally disrespectful). Bryan, who was also a star football player on his high school team, disclosed that he recognized he was becoming increasingly jealous and controlling of his girlfriend, who had threatened to end their relationship if he didn't stop this behavior. He expressed concern that he would become like his father, whom he loved but also feared. Bryan began talking about how his experiences living with his abusive father, particularly when he was younger, was impacting him today.  Sally's work with the Children's Counselor focussed on her care-taking role in the family, and Sally's continued concern for her mother's safety. The Children's Counselor worked with Sally to identify her own needs, build relationships with her peers, and develop more effective and age-appropriate communication skills.  


The SPAN counselors worked together with each family member to address how their struggles and  issues were impacting each other, and how they could take steps to change these dynamics.  The family is continuing to receive counseling services through the Tri-City Program and describes their relationship with each other as more honest and healtier than they have ever been. 


2.	A domestic violence offender continued to contact the victim in violation of the protection order (a misdemeanor charge).  Eventually our office refiled eight  misdemeanor cases under Colorado?s domestic violence habitual offender statute making the cases felonies. The defendant was also given an $80,000 bond.  Throughout this process, the assigned Deputy DA and Victim Witness Assistant from our office kept in close contact with the victim providing information about the Witness Protection Program and possible relocation plans.  The defendant is set for a disposition of all of his cases, which will result in concurrent DOC time.   


3.	One of the real benefits of the Family Support Coordinator program at the Denver CASA program is that it provides crime victims with a neutral person in whom they can confide.  Since we are neither law enforcement nor a child protective services agency, victims will often share information with us that they might not otherwise.  


As a recent example of this, a case came in that involved three children.  Their mother?s boyfriend had sexually abused the eldest child, and the younger two children were being interviewed as witnesses.  The mother had assured everyone that she had kicked the boyfriend out, and that he had no further access to the children.  While the detective and caseworker were talking with the mother, however, the eldest child confided in our Family Support Coordinator that, despite her assurances to the contrary, the mother was still allowing the boyfriend into the home.  The girl said that she was scared of him, but also scared to tell that he was still coming to the home because she didn?t want her mother to get in trouble. 


The Advocate shared this information with the detective and the caseworker, and the caseworker was able to place the children with their grandmother.  She was also able to get the mother additional help, because as it turns out, she was the victim of domestic violence and was afraid to not let the boyfriend back.  With this small but significant act of trust, the family was able to get the assistance they really needed.


4.		On March 3, 2008,  a domestic violence crime was perpetrated against a woman by her partner of 2 years. This incident started as a verbal argument over the victim questioning her partner on his possible inappropriate behavior he had with her children. The defendant took a shower with her two boys. The victim felt uncomfortable about this behavior due to the ages of the children, as well as the defendant not being the biological parent of the children. This argument escalated into a physical domestic violence incident. Charges of assault and battery were filed.


As a result of those charges, the listed victim was subpoenaed to Gateway Battered Women?s Services Court Advocacy Program on March 4, 2008 to give information relating to prosecution and safety.  An advocate explained the prosecution process with the victim as well as facilitated communication between the prosecuting attorney and the victim. Staff also spoke to the victim about safety planning for both her and the children when concerns of further violence are an issue; staff also went over information concerning power and control dynamics of domestic violence and the cycle of violence. Staff also gave Ann referrals for: Wings-Childhood Sexual Abuse Counseling, RAPP, Sungate, Families First, Parents Anonymous & Hotline, Project Pave and Denver Children?s Advocacy Center.


As a result of the domestic violence crime perpetrated against the listed victim, she and her two children had to relocate for safety reasons. In order to do this the victim needed to break her lease and come up with a deposit and first months rent. The victim did not have the funds to pay for both the deposit nor  did she have the first months rent. Staff advocated with numerous community agencies to obtain the necessary funds. In addition, staff advocated with the victim's current landlord to break her lease to allow her relocate to a safe new location..





5.	This spring we assisted a victim who came into contact with another police agency and reported being the victim of incest.  Our victim (27 years old) has two children, and as a result of a divorce was living with her father and step-mother.  Over the course of the last year she had become an incest victim of her father.  We utilized emergency victim compensation funding to place the victim and her two children in a hotel for the night.  The next day we took the victim and her children to a safehouse in a neighboring city.  Our victim remained at the safehouse for a week until we were able to get victim compensation funds to help her get into an apartment with her children.  As a result of the victim's past circumstances, she left the situation with two duffle bags of clothes and toys for her and her children.  We were able to involve co-workers, friends and other community resources and fully furnish the apartment for our victim.  We also made arrangements for her father to pack the rest of her and her children's belongings and a detective took a truck from out fleet services to pick-up these items and deliver them to the victim's apartment.  Our paid staff was pretty exhausted after the week ended.  We literally moved the victim and her kids into a second story apartment and provided for all of their needs through victim compensation funds and multiple donations from relationships we have fostered over the past.  During the week we placed the victim in the safehouse, we loaned her a cell phone in order to allow her to communicate with our advocates and make other calls to local resources.  We took the victim and her son to pick-up his glasses from the eye doctor.  We also took the victim and her children around the community she was moving into to help get her son registered for school and daughter lined up for daycare.  We provided communication between the





6.	VOCA funds help provide victim advocacy services to children and families of children who have been sexually, physically or emotionally abused.  Families come in traumatized and fearful, and they sometimes feel guilty that this has happened to their child.  Ralston House, a child advocacy center, has staff work with the families to provide support.  Satisfaction surveys are provided to each child, non-offending parent/caregiver and professional utilizing Ralston House.  Following are some comments that we receive on these surveys:


"Thank you for your concern with my child.  I want you to know I would not have been ok at the police station."                                                                                                                                                            "Everyone was respectful and caring."     " . . . nice and fun"       " . . . kind and reassuring."   "I liked the place. It was cool.  Thanks for being nice to me and my brother."   "I think this is a very comfortable atmosphere and it was very pleasant to be here."  I  really liked that it was a warm, comforting environment and not a weird, cold place."  (from adolescent)      "They made me feel safe and comfortable."                                                                            

F.





VOCA Sub grantees in Colorado have identified several emerging issues and notable trends that are having an impact on victim services in Colorado: 





The economy is a key factor impacting crime victim services. As the economy worsens, we expect crimes such as domestic violence to increase. The economy also has caused volunteers to restrict the number of miles they are willing to drive to a scene in their personal vehicle. Volunteers are asking for reimbursement of mileage ? something not previously requested. As the economy  worsens, the budget for the program will also be impacted. It becomes difficult during these times to get help with basic needs such as rent and even sometimes food. These are some of the reasons victims are returning to their abusive partners, because of difficult economic situations.





Speaking only from our agency?s perspective, many child victims are not provided with a CASA volunteer due to budget shortfalls and the lack of funds to hire more staff to supervise more volunteers.


We have closed the gap on the number of children who went without an advocate and are serving more children now than any time in our agency?s history, but just this year we have again turned down over


200 children. These numbers reflect requests from the court (or a related party to the action). These requests have gone un-served because of the lack in financial resources, staff, and volunteers.





Services are lacking for men and transgender people, especially in the area of domestic violence. While there have been improvements in shelter options, we often find callers unable to access resoucres that would be safe in an immediate situation.





One emerging issue for crime victims within our community is the ever-growing demand for a wide array of services for monolingual and bilingual Spanish speaking crime victims.  Often, these victims are in need of multiple services.  Since many community agencies, including MESA, serve specific needs, Spanish speaking crime victims often need to work with multiple individuals and agencies which can be confusing and time consuming.  In order to alleviate some of these stressors, MESA attempts to work closely with a variety of agencies in order to provide collaborative services.  MESA believes that the numbers of monolingual and bilingual Spanish speaking clients will continue to increase.  Therefore, the need for services in Spanish will also grow in the future, both within MESA and in the community in general.  


We have encountered problems with relocation for victims.  Unfortunately, CVC in the 7th Judicial District does not assist with relocation, therefore we have relied on the Salvation Army and Churches for the funds.  Church funds have run low and we are now having difficulty finding financial assistance with this problem.


Due to the reopening of the Climax Mine, we are now seeing a glut of new residents that are living in our area hotels and motels.  Due to the rise in this new poulation, and to the fact we have no shelter, we are seeing the increased risk of having to turn away victims (that we normally shelter in area hotels).  Our area hotels have been to capacity for several weeks now.  Climax is hoping to hire from 300 - 500 temporary workes by the end of this year.  The laws of numbers also tell us that we should also see an increase in our victim count.





In addition, the influx of the new refugees, namely the peoples from Burma, Bhutan, and Nepal in the metro area seem to be adding stress to the systems. We notice a growing trend of these newcomers needing systems assistance as victims of crime. Two thousand of these South Asian refugees are targeted to come to Colorado over the next year. We continue to work with the State Office of Refugee Services, the sponsoring agencies like Lutheran Family Services, African Community Center, Ecumenical Center, as well as outreach to the leaders and people of influence from the new AAPIs (Burmese Community Council, etc.). We have also been doing consultation and some education with the schools, social services, and mental health providers. We anticipate a growing need over time.








The present economic downturn has placed tremendous stress on our agency and all other agencies that are in the business of helping crime victims.  We have even had a victim or two, after receiving super market gift cards from us, calling back, giving a different name and trying to get more gift cards.  There is a rise in victims becoming homeless or being close to homelessness because they are renting from landlords who then find themselves in foreclosure.  The needs for affordable housing and pro bono attorneys are two of our most significant unmet needs for victims.  As stated above, our victims are not readily able to get a bit of help and, aided by that help, go out and get jobs to support themselves.  Our victims are either in a long wait for federal and/or state disability benefits (such as SSDI, SSI or AND) or are struggling to survive with fixed incomes that have not risen to meet ever-rising prices for food, fuel and housing.  What I hope would become a trend is the notion that ?it takes a village? to help persons in need, no matter what the reason for the need.  Victims? Compensation was never meant to sustain a victim who may be forever at or below the poverty line; and to make crime victim services able to offer that level of support would place an unendurable burden on the courts, law enforcement or any other segment of crime victim services.  All we can do is a bit here and a bit there in terms of financial assistance and otherwise give crime victims the advocacy and support they need to reclaim their lives after their victimization.

G.


The VOCA administrative dollars for the federal year 2008 were used to pay for portions of the salaries of six staff members who provide financial, programmatic and administrative support for the Colorado VOCA assistance grant program.  These positions work as a team to assist in technical assistance, grants management, monitoring, grant application review, Advisory Board support during funding recommendation meetings and contracting with VOCA?s 135 subgrantees throughout the year.  The administrative dollars have been used in the following areas: 





Personnel Costs:





.085 FTE for General Professional VI- Manager of the Colorado Office for Victims- Provides overall oversight of Colorado?s VOCA staff and the implementation of the VOCA grant management process. 





.68 FTE for General Professional V -VOCA Administrator for Colorado ? Provides overall planning and management of the VOCA process, training and site visits, grant management, monitoring, re-contracting and supervision of the five VOCA staff.





.325 FTE for General Professional IV ? Provides program monitoring, quarterly review, day-to-day grants management and re-contracting.





.26 FTE for General Professional IV- Provides program monitoring, quarterly review, day-to-day grants management and recontracting of grants.





.65 FTE for General Professional III ? Provides financial compliance review and technical assistance to VOCA subrecipients and day-to-day financial grant management.





.07 FTE for Administrative Assistant III ? Provides clerical support and assistance for the VOCA grants management process. Enters all statistical compilation of subgrantees? victims served and services.


 


In addition, the VOCA administrative funds were used to pay approved indirect costs. 





Operating Costs: computers, postage, phone, printing and training registrations are operational costs charged to the VOCA administrative funds for use by assigned VOCA staff and board. 





Travel:  Staff attended a number of trainings to improve their skills. The VOCA Administrator attended national administrator NAVAA training in Buffalo to improve Colorado?s VOCA process. Several Staff attended the October 2007 COVA conference.   





Overall Impact of VOCA Administrative Dollars:  In 2008, VOCA program specialists contracted with 137 sub recipients reviewing scope of work and budgeted line items.  In early 2008 all VOCA sub recipients for CY 2007 after all required financial and program elements were reviewed and then closed out. During this year 82 subrecipients received compliance review and significant technical assistance to resolve issues.