Crime Victim Compensation Fund

The Illinois Crime Victim Compensation Fund was set up to help cover the costs victims endure. But NBC 5 Investigates found most victims get nothing at all. We analyzed 10 years of claims and found far fewer people filing these claims each year, perhaps because the state is denying far more claims that it awards.

NBC 5 Investigates analyzed claims from Illinois’ crime victim compensation program and found discovered the money the money the state is awarding victims has dropped sharply over the past 10 years. Rob Stafford has the story.

Illinois has a crime victim compensation program that can provide up to $27,000 of expenses for qualified crime victims. But NBC 5 Investigates analyzed every claim over the past 10 years, more than 42,000 claims, and we discovered the money the state is awarding victims has dropped sharply over the past 10 years