News Release

For Immediate Release
July 13, 2007

Three New Services To Provide Immediate Supports To Victims

The McGuinty government is investing $6 million in three new services for victims of violent crime, Attorney General Michael Bryant announced today.

The services will be available fast and close to home, offering swift assistance to victims who have no other financial means to receive the help they need. They will be available locally in over 50 communities across Ontario starting July 16, 2007.

“This important new program is a practical response to the most urgent needs of victims of violent crime,” said Bryant. “The Victim Quick Response Program will provide relief to thousands of victims across the province at a crucial time to help them rebuild their lives.”

The three services are:

• Emergency Expenses – for eligible victims, to secure premises for victim safety, provide crime scene clean-up, and cover transportation and dependant care costs for a family member to identify a homicide victim or support a seriously injured victim of violent crime
• Funeral Expenses – to assist eligible families of homicide victims
• Counselling – to provide short-term, early intervention counselling to help victims of serious crimes recover from their experience.

The application process will be simple and quick. Emergency expenses will be covered within a day and the victim will learn within three to five days of submitting a request whether funeral or counselling services will be covered. All payments will be made directly to service providers.

In most locations, the program will be administered by community agencies that deliver Victim Crisis Assistance and Referral Services, which provide immediate on-site support, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to more than 48,000 victims of crime in Ontario each year. More than 10,000 volunteers provided over 1.1 million hours of support to victims of crime in 2006/07.

“The Ontario Network of Victim Service Providers (ONVSP) supports the Victim Quick Response Program, which addresses an identified gap in services to victims of crime,” said Christine Culham-Keays, Chair of ONVSP. “We look forward to continuing our work with the ministry in enhancing victim services.”

The new services are just one more example of how, working together, Ontarians have achieved results in supporting victims of crime.

Other results include:

• Implementing a five-part, $5 million provincewide strategy to combat Internet child pornography
• Providing more than $15 million over three years to the Community Grants Program to fund community projects that assist victims of hate crimes, domestic violence, and sexual assault, as well as child/youth victims, including victims of sexual abuse and exploitation, and other under-served victims groups
• Increasing annual funding to Victim Crisis Assistance and Referral Services across the province by 20 per cent, to $9.4 million. The full funding increase will be in effect in 2008/09.

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