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1994 NOVA Newsl. 1 (1994)

handle is hein.journals/novan1994 and id is 1 raw text is: News letter Volume 17, Number I (of 12 Issue, 19 VAWA, VOCA Revisions Lead Reforms Crime Bi Opens Opportunities to Aid Victims Editor 19 note: all other Newsletter articles and reports were put on hold to bring readers this expanded. timely. single-topic issue. NOVA invites our comments on the crime b/i. The much-debated crime bill signed into law on September 13, 1994, contains many funding programsoand policychanges of intrest to victim advoc t opping the list are the initiatives in Title IV, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), and r'forms in th admmii.stration of the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA). found in Title XXIII. In general, NOVA and others who supported VAWA and the VOC A retFrms were gratilied with the final language in those two titlcs. But the'y were alsopleased with the way Congr.ss displayed concern for victims in other pats of the bill. The two charts that follow show- ing, fir t, funding programs and reports mandated by the law, and second, its vic- tim-oriente'd polices were c Illed as a guide lo victim advocates. Comments fr each sumnmarized section attempt to put it in context orto highlight its potential ben- efits to the vi tims mv ementL As those comments suggest. opportu- nities to improve victim rights and services go beyond the victim assistan -gr nt pro- grams. T'o cite two examples from the chart, victim advocates might s uceed in making victim assistance a subject of law enforcement training under the massive Cops on the Beat program; and they may find the new prison construction program gives them leverage to update their states' victim rights laws. Similarly, several of the . ections un- der the title on Crime Prevention suggest collaboration between professionals i the violence prevention and victim assistance ficds, and so are highlighted to encourage victim advocate: to build those bridges. Readers will spot one oddity in the funding charts. In the column showing the funding level for Federal fiscal year 1995 (which began on October 1, 1994), the most o mn ntry is none, followed by authorivation levels in later years, typi- cally stretching to fiscal year 2000. This relates to the method Congress devi.'cd to pay for the various programs. It opted to earmark about $30 billion in say- ings already voted on (government per- sonne reductions that were part of deficit containment and re-mventing govern- ment initiatives) nd to call that savings pool the Violent Cnme Reduction Trust Fund' from which Congress can appro- priate money only for crime programs durng the five-year lie of the Trust. For practical reasonst ongress de- cided to delay the start of that five-vear pri od for a year. I h good new, for victim advocates and others interested in those programs is that they have a year or more to plan well-designed, competitive projects in the new proiram areas. The bad news is that there remains some uncertainty as to the actual funding in those future years. The dollar figures cited are all authorcatnon. of what may be spent; actual appropriations, voted on an- nually, may not go higher but can be reduced ifCongresschooses. Futurecon- gresses are likely to to honor the commit- ments made by this Congress, but that is not guaranteed. In fact, Republican candi- dates who signed their party's contract with America pledged to oppose funding for the programs authorized in the crime prevention title. That raises a delicate issue. For the record, NOVA members should know that we support the crime prevention programs for several reasons: our basic statement of purposes mandates that we do so; we are proud ofour tradition, started by collagics in the rape crisis and domestic violence fields'ofperforming public awareness and other preventive services; we support the opportunities for inter-disciplina team- work noted in the charts; and, as the theme of NOVA's 1994 annual conference pro- claimed, we are committed t) strengthen- ing the partnership between violence pre- vention and victim assistance. Thus, to be at odds with Congres- sional Republicans on this point is discom- forting, especially since NOVA has al-. ways found champions of its policy agen- das in both parties, including its support of crime prevention efforts. As a leader in the victims' movement -- a so-called coali- tion of bleeding-heart conservatives and hard-nosed liberals- - NOVA has every hope of sustaining good relations with friends on both sides of the aisle. Victim advocates who want to ex- plore the fine print in some of the provi- sions summarized in the charts may seek to get a copy of the Violent Crime Control Act from their Member of Congress or Senator, Among the many details left out here are, for example, a number of grant set-asides for Indian tribal governments. As the lead agency in implementing the entire crime bill, the U.S. Department of Justice has established a Response Cen- ter that can be reached at (800) 421-677(r It has a series of recorded messages and, from 9 to 5. Eastern time, agents to try to answer specific messages - such how to receive grant guidelines when they are published. NOVA will attempt to monitor the implementation of all the policies and pro- grams described here, and will report any significant developments that arise. O 'vice to the NOVA memnbership nd thegem OVA. C01994 by the Nationat Organizatio> nd copyright are appropriately noted publc. iew esrse eea et~t fteratosadd o eesrl t'ctt Aitne . Pemsini rne orprdc oyihe aeil le. pot a

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