AUSTIN (KXAN) – Gov. Greg Abbott signed the state budget bill into law Sunday, and tucked into a single paragraph in the 1,000-page document is a change sparked by two years of KXAN investigations into the Office of Attorney General’s Crime Victims’ Compensation Fund.
New rules outlined in Senate Bill 1 revamp the OAG’s measurement for how quickly it makes a first payment to a victim, ensuring more accurate reporting. There is also now a 90-day average benchmark for the agency to meet.
Under the current system, KXAN discovered a flawed formula that makes it appear victims are paid far faster than reality.
What is the CVC and performance reporting?
The CVC fund reimburses victims and their family members for costs resulting from violent crimes like aggravated and sexual assault, robbery and homicide. Victims can get assistance for medical expenses, attorneys’ fees, childcare, lost earnings and more.
The fund is meant to keep victims on their feet. Last fiscal year, it paid out more than $66 million. The fund is replenished mainly through court fees and federal grants. It is a “last source of payment,” meaning other sources – like health insurance and workers’ compensation – must be used first, according to the program’s annual reports.
Every year, the OAG submits performance measurements to the Legislative Budget Board and lawmakers showing how quickly it makes first payments to victims — measurements meant to inform lawmakers making budget decisions.
KXAN began investigating the CVC fund in mid-May 2022. We soon found numerous victims and advocates who explained it was taking six months to a year to get a first payment on a claim. The victims described a tedious and tough-to-navigate application process that left them feeling retraumatized and exasperated.
Meanwhile, the OAG’s performance measurements showed victims were being paid in just over a month.
Flawed metric
The cause of the misleading measurement: a formula averaging victim claims with sexual assault examination reimbursements.
The formula is flawed because those two payments are processed very differently. Victim claims are submitted and handled by victims themselves or advocates. On the other hand, sexual assault examination claims are submitted by medical providers and reimbursed in less than a week, according to OAG data.
Averaging the two claims together has skewed the data and made it appear that victim claims were paid months faster, on average, than reality.
Under the new rules, the two types of claims will be measured separately. The new goal is to make a first payment to victims in less than 90 days, on average, and reimburse providers for sexual assault examinations in a week or less.
The OAG’s office did not respond to KXAN’s requests for comment for more than a year. Attorney General Ken Paxton said nothing to us following a budget hearing in January.
However, at a Capitol hearing, an OAG executive acknowledged the data discrepancies KXAN uncovered.
“Our numbers did not, I think, properly reflect the work that we were doing,” Deputy Attorney General for Criminal Justice Josh Reno said. “And, we want this body to understand exactly how long it’s taking for us to pay separate categories of claims.”
Another bill signed by the governor on Friday, HB 3745, will allow “emergency” payments to be made if a victim will “suffer undue hardship if immediate economic relief is not obtained.” That takes effect Sept. 1.
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