Objective To provide new OVS Contract Agencies with a general - - PDF document

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Welcome to the Office of Victim Services: A Webinar for new OVS Grantees

Objective

To provide new OVS Contract Agencies with a general overview of OVS and its grants and compensation programs.

OVS History

• Created in 1966 as the Crime Victims

Compensation Board (CVB)

• One of the first independent state

agencies for crime victim compensation

• As of 2010, the CVB became the Office of

Victim Services (OVS)

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OVS Purpose

• Provide financial compensation to

innocent victims of crime

• Advocate for victims’ rights
• Fund a network of victim assistance

programs across NYS to provide services to crime victims

OVS Statistics

• Annually, OVS renders approximately

10,000 original decisions, which includes awards and denials made by the office

• $23.3 million in compensation on 10,500

claims

• $123.3 million in grant awards to 381

victim services related contracts

INTRO TO COMPENSATION

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Intro to Compensation

• Compensation Eligibility
• Payment Maximums
• Emergency Awards
• Payer of Last Resort
• Filing a Compensation Claim
• Using the OVS Victim Services Portal

OVS Compensation Program

Who: Innocent victims of crime, certain relatives, dependents and legal guardians What: Compensation of out-of-pocket expenses not covered by insurance

• r other resources

Compensation Eligibility

In order to be eligible, a victim must be at least one of the following:

• Under the age of 18
• 60 and Over
• Disabled
• Physically Injured

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Compensation Eligibility

NOTE:

• There are certain exceptions for victims who have

NOT sustained a physical injury, but who MUST file a Personal Injury claim.

• See Advocate Guidelines for Compensation or

the OVS Compensation Video Series for more

• information. (https://ovs.ny.gov/vap-training-center)

Compensation Eligibility

Three categories of claim types:

• Personal Injury
• Death
• Loss of Essential Personal Property (EPP)

Maximum Amount Paid

Uncapped:

• Medical/Mental Health
• Burial expenses of police officer/firefighter

killed in the line of duty as a result of a crime

• Security Devices

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Maximum Amount Paid

Capped:

• Loss of Earnings/Support/Savings $30,000
• Burial Expenses

$6,000

• Crime scene cleanup/securing

crime scene $2,500

• Relocation

$2,500

• Essential personal property

$500, with max of $100 cash

Emergency Awards

• May be considered when:

 An award would likely be made in the claimant’s case  An undue hardship would result if immediate payment

were not made

• Only granted BEFORE services have been

rendered or paid for

• Maximum award: $2,500 with the exception of

funeral, which is $3,000

Types of Emergency Awards

• Funeral Burial Requests
• Medications: HIV, Antibiotics, Pain, etc.
• Moving/Storage/Relocation
• Loss of Earnings/Support
• Security Device/Lock Replacement
• Crime Scene Clean-Up
• Replacement of Medical Equipment such as Eyeglasses,

Contacts and other emergency items

• OVS does not grant Emergency Awards for loss of property

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Payer of Last Resort

OVS is a payer of Last Resort

• Only covers expenses that insurance and
• ther resources do not.
• “Other resources” include GoFundMe

campaigns that are specific about the expenses that will be covered.

Filing a Compensation Claim

Required Information on a Claim:

• Victim’s name, address, SSN and DOB
• Claimant’s name, address, SSN and DOB
• Crime Type and Report Number
• Police or Criminal Justice Agency reported to
• Date of Crime
• Date Crime was reported
• Claimant’s signature

Filing a Compensation Claim

Required documentation to have available:

• Criminal Justice Agency Report
• Receipts for essential personal property
• Death certificate and funeral contract
• Victim’s birth certificate
• Proof of age (driver’s license, birth certificate)

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Filing a Compensation Claim

• If a claim is closed or rejected because of

missing information, DO NOT file another application.

• Call Claims Processing Unit (CPU) and

provide the missing information on the existing claim.

How to File a Claim

• Claims can be filed electronically through

the OVS Victim Services Portal

• Paper applications can be submitted

through postal mail and are available on the OVS website under the “General Forms” heading Obtaining a log-in through the Victim Services Portal

• To obtain portal log-in information, the director of the

program must email the name of the individual victim advocate to OVS.

• OVS staff then adds the advocate to the Victim Services

Portal and log-in is emailed to the individual advocate.

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For more information:

• Compensation trainings are held every 3rd

Tuesday in NYC and Albany

• Compensation specialist will be part of

introductory site visit

• Consult OVS video series #

INTRO TO GRANTS

Introduction to Grants

• Overview
• Site Visits
• Performance Measurement Tool (PMT)
• Position Description Form (PDF)
• Functional Time Records
• Required Match
• Fiscal Cost Reports (FCRs)
• Budget Amendment Requests (BARs)

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OVS Grants Program

As a result of the 2019 VOCA RFA,

• 228 contracts were awarded to 205

agencies

• 40 new agencies

VOCA

• OVS programs are funded through the

Federal Victim of Crime Act (VOCA) Fund, created in 1984 to support state and local programs.

• OVS funds and match funds MUST adhere to

VOCA and OVS regulations.

VOCA

For more information, reference links to:

• Allowable and Unallowable Costs
• VOCA Side by Side
• Final Rule

Available online at: https://ovs.ny.gov/victim-assistance-program

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Site Visits

• Introduction to OVS (New Programs)
• Formal on Site
• Follow-up
• Technical Assistance

Formal Site Visits

Monitoring looks at:

• Performance
• Contract Compliance
• Financial Records

Formal Site Visits

Elements of Monitoring Include:

• 1. Criteria- how things should be
• 2. Condition- how things are
• 3. Cause- how did this occur
• 4. Effect- how does this impact the program
• 5. Recommendation- how can corrections be

made

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Formal Site Visit – Case File Review

• Case files are reviewed to verify delivery services
• Comprised of randomly selected files from all

direct service positions

• Case files can be redacted of identifying victim

information

Summary of Service Log

• Programs must maintain a Summary of

Service Log to track their ongoing accomplishments

• Summary of Service Log should relate

back to the services reported

Performance Measurement Tool (PMT)

• Federal system to collect demographic

and service data

• Measures program progress towards

anticipated number of services

• Federal requirement that all OVC-funded

programs complete the PMT quarterly

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Performance Measurement Tool (PMT)

Due Dates:

• January 20th

(for October 1st – December 31st )

• April 20th

(for January 1st – March 31st )

• July 20th

(for April 1st – June 30th)

• October 20th

(for July 1st – September 30th) Failure to complete and submit your OVC PMT entries by the deadline puts the entire state out of compliance.

OVC PMT Website:

• Access at: https://ojpsso.ojp.gov
• Program’s point of contact is at the program’s

discretion

• Additional users can be added
• To report a technical issue with OVCPMT:

 email OVC PMT Helpdesk at ovcpmt@usdoj.gov

• r

 call 1–844–884–2503.

OVS PMT Excel Spreadsheet

• Mirrors the OVC PMT Website
• Must be sent to ovsgrants@ovs.ny.gov

quarterly (cc your CMS)

• Due date is the same as the PMT
• Contract programs must do BOTH

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Performance Measurement Tool (PMT)

For more information:

• Consult the instructions tab on the OVS PMT

excel form

• Contact your Contract Management

Specialist (CMS)

• Attend the PMT training at the OVS 2019

Conference!

Position Description Form (PDF)

The Position Description Form Includes:

• % VOCA-allowable service time versus non-

VOCA allowable service time

• % of each position that is on the OVS grant

contract

• Total number of FTEs supported with OVS

and match funds

Position Description Form (PDF)

• Add sample PDF here

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Position Description Form (PDF)

Remember:

• Total in each line must equal 100%
• Must account for position’s entire day
• Must mirror the information on the budget
• Should include:
• # of months funded
• # of hours per week
• % funded by OVS
• % funded by Match

Functional Time Records (FTRs)

• Categories mirror PDF categories
• Tracks actual hours and % time per

function

• Time off is included on the FTR
• Filled out by all OVS or match funded staff
• Signed by employee and supervisor

Functional Time Records (FTRs)

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Functional Time Records (FTRs)

• Keep FTRs in addition to any other

timesheets required by your agency

• All original categories must remain on the

sheet, however additional categories may be added

Required Match

• All contracts have a required match (25% of grant

funds) with the exception of Native American programs.

• Matching contributions do not have to be applied at

the same exact time or in proportion to the obligation

• f VOCA grant funds.
• Match is held to the same standards as OVS funding -
• all matching funds must be VOCA allowable.

Required Match

• The full matching share must be obligated

within each annual contract period for which the VOCA grant funds have been made available.

• If full matching share is not provided in any

given year, reimbursements will be reduced accordingly

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Required Match

Programs that receive VOCA funds must maintain records and documentation that clearly show:

• The source, the amount and the period during

which the match was allocated

• The basis for determining the value of each category
• Volunteer services must be documented

Fiscal Cost Reports (FCRs)

• Documents the contract spending by quarter
• Requests reimbursement for allowable expenses

Due dates:

• January 31, 2020

Quarter 1 (10/01/19 – 12/31/19)

• April 30, 2020

Quarter 2 (01/01/20 – 03/31/20)

• July 31, 2020

Quarter 3 (04/01/20 – 06/30/20)

• November 30, 2020 Quarter 4 (07/01/20 – 09/30/20)

Fiscal Cost Reports (FCRs)

• Fiscal Cost Report (FCR) and supporting

documentation are uploaded as a PDF into the “Payment Uploads” area of the Grants Gateway

• Supporting backup documents are uploaded by

category

• Allow up to 30 days to receive payment from time
• f submission

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Fiscal Cost Reports (FCRs)

• Failure to include appropriate documentation

will result in a “Stop the Clock” letter being issued and payment requested being delayed

• All payments are sent electronically to bank

account linked to your Vendor ID number

Budget Amendment Requests (BARs)

• Comprehensive BARs allow movement between

all categories.

• BARs are submitted via the Grants Gateway.
• BARs go through a multi-level approval
• Grants Gateway User Guide for more information.

Additional Resources

For more information, see Welcome to OVS Resources packet and visit https://ovs.ny.gov/victim-assistance-program

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Thank you for participating! Additional questions about today’s training may be directed to training@ovs.ny.gov