34 U.S.C. § 20103 — Crime victim assistance

(a) Grant authority of Director; chief executive of States; amount; insufficient funds (1) Using Fund money set aside for this purpose (or leftover money meant for section 20102 grants), the Director gives each state's chief executive a yearly grant to financially support eligible crime-victim assistance programs. (2) The chief executive must: (A) certify that priority goes to programs serving victims of sexual assault, spousal abuse, or child abuse; (B) certify that money will reach programs serving previously underserved groups of violent-crime victims — the Director, after consulting state and local officials and private organizations, must issue guidelines that give states flexibility in deciding who is underserved; (C) certify the grant money won't replace state or local funding that would otherwise pay for crime-victim assistance; and (D) give the Director any other information or assurances the Director reasonably requires. (3) Each state's grant equals a flat "base amount" plus a share of whatever money is left, distributed based on the state's population relative to all states. (4) If there isn't enough money to give every state its full base amount, the available money is split equally among the states instead. (5) The "base amount" is $500,000, except it's $200,000 for the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Republic of Palau (Palau's share is governed by the Compact of Free Association between the U.S. and Palau). (6) A federal agency doing local law-enforcement work for the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, or another U.S. territory can qualify as an eligible program for these grants, or for the grants in (c)(1). (7) (A) A state's chief executive can waive a matching-fund requirement, following a public policy described in (B), and must report any approved waiver to the Director. (B) That public policy must explain: how a program requests a match waiver; the criteria used to decide eligibility for one; and the process for deciding and notifying the program. (8) During a national emergency declared for a pandemic, and for one year after that emergency ends, each chief executive must waive matching requirements entirely for every eligible crime-victim assistance program then under contract. (b) Eligibility of program; factors; limitation on expending of sums (1) A program is an eligible crime-victim assistance program if it: (A) is operated by a public agency, a nonprofit, or a combination of both, and serves crime victims; (B) shows either a record of effective victim services plus funding from sources other than the Fund, or substantial funding from sources other than the Fund; (C) uses volunteers, unless the chief executive waives this for compelling reasons; (D) promotes coordinated public and private efforts in the community it serves; (E) helps potential recipients seek crime-victim compensation benefits; and (F) doesn't discriminate against victims because they disagree with how the state is prosecuting the case. (2) Except as allowed in (3), an eligible program must spend its grant money only on services to crime victims. (3) A program can use up to 5 percent of its grant for training and for administering the state program. (c) Grants: purposes; distribution; duties of Director; reimbursement by Director (1) The Director also makes grants: (A) for victim services, demonstration projects, program evaluation, compliance efforts, and training and technical assistance to eligible programs; (B) for financial support of federal-crime victim services by eligible programs; and (C) for nonprofit neighborhood and community-based victim-service organizations and coalitions, to improve outreach and services. (2) Of the money available for this subsection: at least 50 percent must go to grants under (1)(A) and (1)(C); no more than 50 percent to grants under (1)(B); and no single (1)(C) grant may exceed $10,000. (3) The Director must: (A) monitor compliance with fair-treatment guidelines for crime victims and witnesses issued under a separate 1982 law; (B) consult with the heads of federal law-enforcement agencies whose work affects federal-crime victims; (C) coordinate federal victim services with those of other public agencies and nonprofits; (D) perform other related functions the Director considers appropriate; and (E) use money under this subsection for competitively awarded fellowships, internships, and (1)(A)/(1)(B) grants, and for training programs and workshops that share information from demonstrations, surveys, and special projects. (4) The Director may reimburse other federal agencies and contract out functions authorized under this subsection. (d) Definitions — (1) "State" includes the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and other U.S. territories or possessions. (2) "Services to victims of crime" includes: (A) crisis-intervention services; (B) providing, in an emergency, transportation to court, short-term child care, and temporary housing and security measures; (C) help participating in criminal-justice proceedings; and (D) paying reasonable costs of a forensic medical exam for a crime victim, to the extent not otherwise reimbursed. (3) "Services to victims of Federal crime" means services to victims of federal crime specifically, including: (A) training law-enforcement personnel to deliver those services; (B) preparing, publishing, and distributing materials describing crime-victim services and federal-crime-victim services, for use by federal law enforcement; and (C) salaries of personnel who provide those services, to the extent they do. (4) "Crisis intervention services" means counseling that provides emotional support in crises arising from a crime. (5) "Chief executive" includes a person the chief executive designates to perform these functions.