The California Victim Compensation Program, run by the California Victim Compensation Board (CalVCB), reimburses violent crime victims for expenses like medical care, counseling, lost wages, funeral costs, and relocation, with a cap of $70,000 per approved application.1CA Victim Compensation Board. What Is Covered It pays only after insurance, disability, workers’ compensation, and other sources have been applied, which is the single most important thing to understand before you file.2CA Victim Compensation Board. Reimbursement
Who Qualifies as a Victim
Eligibility runs wider than most people expect. CalVCB recognizes two categories.
A direct victim is someone who was physically injured, threatened with physical injury, suffered a qualifying emotional injury, or died as a result of a covered crime. The crime must have happened in California, or you must have been a California resident when it happened elsewhere.3CA Victim Compensation Board. Who Is Eligible
A derivative victim is someone close to the direct victim who was hurt financially or emotionally by the crime. That includes spouses and domestic partners, parents, children, siblings, grandparents, and grandchildren, along with roommates, anyone who becomes a caretaker for a child victim after the crime, and anyone who takes on financial responsibility for a deceased victim’s expenses.
Two groups are locked out. CalVCB will not pay a person convicted of a violent felony for losses that occurred while they were serving their sentence or on probation or parole, and the same restriction applies to registered sex offenders during their registration period.4Cornell Law School. California Code of Regulations Title 2, Section 649.4 – Eligibility of Felons Eligibility comes back once supervision is complete.
Every applicant also has to cooperate with law enforcement and with CalVCB itself. This trips up more claims than any other requirement. If CalVCB asks for information and you don’t respond, the claim stalls. The cooperation rule can be waived for victims of domestic violence, human trafficking, and sexual assault when reporting to police would have created a safety risk; in those cases a restraining order, medical records, or a letter from a victim services provider can stand in for a police report.5CA Victim Compensation Board. Frequently Asked Questions
What Crimes Are Covered
The program covers assault, domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, robbery, homicide, stalking, human trafficking, DUI injuries, hit-and-run, elder abuse, kidnapping, and hate crimes, among others.3CA Victim Compensation Board. Who Is Eligible The list isn’t closed. Any crime causing physical injury or a credible threat of physical injury can qualify.
For a narrower group of crimes against children, including child abandonment, abduction, and neglect, victims can qualify based on emotional injury alone.3CA Victim Compensation Board. Who Is Eligible Outside those specific offenses, emotional harm without any physical component or threat generally isn’t enough on its own.
Deadlines to Apply
You have seven years from the date of the crime to file an application. If the injury or its connection to the crime wasn’t obvious right away, the seven years run from when you discovered it.5CA Victim Compensation Board. Frequently Asked Questions
Victims who were 21 or younger when the crime happened have until their 28th birthday. Late applications can sometimes be accepted for good cause, but that’s not something to plan around. Filing earlier makes everything easier.
What Expenses Are Reimbursed
Each expense category has its own limits, and the overall ceiling is $70,000 per application.
Medical and Dental Care
Hospital stays, ambulance service, prescriptions, surgery, and ongoing treatment for injuries from the crime are all reimbursable. So are eyeglasses, hearing aids, dentures, and prosthetic devices that were destroyed in the crime or became necessary because of it.6California Legislative Information. California Government Code 13957
Mental Health Counseling
Both direct and derivative victims can be reimbursed for therapy. Derivative victims get up to 30 sessions, with an additional 5 hours of case management that don’t count against the limit.7California Victim Compensation Board. Mental Health and Counseling Service Maximum Rates and Service Limitations for Reimbursement Sessions beyond the initial cap need a treatment plan approved by the provider. If a derivative victim fits more than one relationship category, they can use whichever gives the most sessions.
Lost Income
If the crime kept you from working, CalVCB reimburses lost wages for up to five years. Permanently disabled victims can qualify for longer.1CA Victim Compensation Board. What Is Covered Dependents of a victim who was killed or permanently disabled can be reimbursed for lost financial support.
Funeral and Burial
When a victim dies from the crime, CalVCB reimburses up to $12,818 for funeral, burial, or memorial costs.8CA Victim Compensation Board. Funeral and Burial Service Providers
Relocation and Home Security
Victims whose safety is threatened can receive up to $3,418 for relocation.9California Victim Compensation Board (CalVCB). Benefit Reference Guide – English CalVCB can approve more in unusual or exceptionally dangerous circumstances.10Cornell Law School. California Code of Regulations Title 2, Section 649.17.1 – Increased Relocation Benefits for Unusual, Dire, or Exceptional Circumstances Home security improvements such as new locks or an alarm system are reimbursable up to $1,000.
The program also covers crime scene cleanup, home and vehicle modifications for permanently disabled victims, and job retraining when the victim can no longer perform their previous work.
The Payer of Last Resort Rule
CalVCB does not write you a check to cover a bill outright. It pays only for what isn’t covered by another source, and that includes health insurance, auto insurance, homeowners insurance, state disability, and workers’ compensation.2CA Victim Compensation Board. Reimbursement Your provider has to bill insurance first. If insurance denies the charge or pays only part of it, CalVCB can cover the rest, but you have to submit the explanation of benefits showing what insurance did and did not pay.
Skipping this step is one of the fastest ways to have a bill sent back. If CalVCB sees you have coverage and the provider hasn’t billed it, the claim won’t move.
How to Apply
The fastest route is CalVCB Online at online.victims.ca.gov, where you can complete the application, upload documents, and track your claim.11CalVCB. CalVCB Application A paper application can be mailed to CalVCB’s Sacramento office instead.
Victim advocates can file for you at no charge through CalVCB’s Advocate Portal. Many district attorney offices, rape crisis centers, and domestic violence shelters have trained advocates on staff.12CA Victim Compensation Board. CalVCB Home Worth using if the paperwork feels like too much in the immediate aftermath of a crime.
Gather the following before you start:
- The police report or at least the report number. If no report exists and a waiver applies, medical records, a restraining order, or a letter from a victim services provider can substitute.
- Itemized bills showing service, date, and amount. Providers can also bill CalVCB directly.
- Proof of income for any lost-wage claim: tax returns, pay stubs, or an employer letter.
- Insurance information for any coverage that might apply.
- A signed release authorizing CalVCB to contact your providers, employer, and law enforcement to verify the claim.
If you’re in urgent financial need, request an emergency award when you submit the application or the bill. CalVCB expedites verification and decides as quickly as it can.13Cornell Law School. California Code of Regulations Title 2, Section 649.8 – Emergency Awards The regulations don’t set a fixed dollar cap or turnaround time on emergency awards; flagging the request is how you start the faster track.
If Your Claim Is Denied
After you file, CalVCB usually issues payment within 30 to 90 days of receiving a bill.14CA Victim Compensation Board. Billing and Payments If the application or a specific expense is denied, you’ll get a written notice explaining why.
You have 45 days from that notice to file a written appeal.15CA Victim Compensation Board. Your Right to Appeal Miss it and your options on that denial are essentially done. Mark the date the day the notice arrives. A hearing officer reviews the appeal and issues a recommendation; you then have 20 days to request a Board hearing or 30 days to submit more information. After the Board acts, you can still request reconsideration, but only with new evidence that wasn’t reasonably available before.16Cornell Law School. California Code of Regulations Title 2, Section 647.38 – Requests for Reconsideration
If You Later Get a Settlement or Restitution
CalVCB has a legal right to recover what it paid you if you later receive a civil settlement, judgment, or insurance payout for the same crime. The Board holds an automatic lien against that recovery, and no settlement or judgment in your case can be finalized without giving CalVCB notice and a chance to collect.17California Legislative Information. California Government Code 13963
If you brought the civil case yourself, the court first deducts your litigation costs and attorney’s fees from the recovery, and CalVCB’s lien comes out of what’s left. If you notify CalVCB about the case before receiving any money and file a claim within one year of the recovery, 25 percent of the amount subject to the lien goes to you; the rest goes into the state Restitution Fund.
Restitution ordered against the offender in the criminal case works the same way. When it covers losses CalVCB already paid, that money is sent to CalVCB to replenish the Restitution Fund rather than to you directly.18CalVCB – CA.gov. Offenders Guide to Restitution The practical point: CalVCB isn’t free money when other recovery is available. It’s an advance the state can claw back.
Are the Payments Taxed
Payments from a state crime victim compensation fund are generally not taxable at the federal level when they are in the nature of welfare payments based on need, which CalVCB payments are.19Internal Revenue Service. Publication 525 (2025), Taxable and Nontaxable Income You shouldn’t need to report them as income, but keep your award letters and payment records in case you ever have to document the exclusion.