Reduction of state victim compensation disparities in disadvantaged crime victims through active outreach and assistance: a randomized trial.
OBJECTIVE
We examined whether providing active outreach and assistance to crime victims as part of comprehensive psychosocial services reduced disparities in access to state compensation funds.


METHODS
We analyzed data from a randomized trial of injured crime victims (N = 541) and compared outcomes from comprehensive psychosocial services with usual community care. We examined the impact of outreach and assistance on disparities in applying for victim compensation by testing for interactions between victim characteristics and treatment condition in logistic regression analyses.


RESULTS
Victims receiving comprehensive services were much more likely to apply for victim compensation than were victims receiving usual care. Comprehensive services decreased disparities associated with younger age, lower levels of education, and homelessness.


CONCLUSIONS
State-level victim compensation funds are available to help individuals recover physically, psychologically, and financially from crime victimization. However, few crime victims apply for victim compensation, and there are particularly low application rates among young, male, ethnic minority, and physical assault victims. Active outreach and assistance can address disparities in access to victim compensation funds for disadvantaged populations and should be offered more widely to victims of violent crime.
Alvidrez
Jennifer
J
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, 2727 Mariposa St., Suite 100, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA. jennifer.alvidrez@ucsf.edu
Shumway
Martha
M
Boccellari
Alicia
A
Green
Jon Dean
JD
Kelly
Vanessa
V
Merrill
Gregory
G
D000328:Adult; D035881:Compensation and Redress; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D012495:San Francisco; D012923:Social Class; D014193:Trauma Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000628:therapy*