Ezra F. Moos , Charlotte Kvasnovsky MD, PhD , Rachel Nordgren PhD , Marion C. Henry MD, MPH , Carmelle Romain MD , Kylie Callier MD , Joy Ayemoba MD, MSc , Fatima Bouftas BS , Clarice Robinson MSW , Myles Francis BA , Carla Galvan BA , Franklin Cosey-Gay PhD, MPH , Tanya L. Zakrison MD, MPH , Phillip M. Dowzicky MD, MSHP
{"title":"Twice Harmed: A Descriptive Analysis of Illinois Crime Victim Compensation After Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence","authors":"Ezra F. Moos , Charlotte Kvasnovsky MD, PhD , Rachel Nordgren PhD , Marion C. Henry MD, MPH , Carmelle Romain MD , Kylie Callier MD , Joy Ayemoba MD, MSc , Fatima Bouftas BS , Clarice Robinson MSW , Myles Francis BA , Carla Galvan BA , Franklin Cosey-Gay PhD, MPH , Tanya L. Zakrison MD, MPH , Phillip M. Dowzicky MD, MSHP","doi":"10.1016/j.jss.2025.02.036","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Introduction</h3><div>Trauma centers are often the first access portal for victims of sexual assault (SA) and domestic violence (DV), with many requiring surgery or long-term follow-up. In Illinois, crime victim compensation (CVC) offers up to $45,000 to cover victim medical expenses. We hypothesized that CVC claims in Illinois following SA and DV result in significant delays, high rejection rates, and small rewards.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Illinois CVC data (2012-2024) was obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request. CVC data related to SA and DV, including claim types and awards, was compared between genders using descriptive statistics and the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Award rates were compared to the most recent publicly available set of potential cases from 2012 to 2020.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Of 46,792 CVC claims, 45.1% were for assault/battery. Females filed 18,657 claims, of which significantly more were for DV (18.8% <em>versus</em> 2.3%; <em>P</em> < 0.001) and SA (6.8% <em>versus</em> 0.4%; <em>P</em> < 0.001) compared to male claims. Median SA awards were similar for females and males ($947.7 <em>versus</em> $1079.4; <em>P</em> = 0.78). SA claims took a median of 272 ds (>8 mos) to process. In 2020, despite 4733 publicly-reported SA cases in Illinois, 113 (2.4%) SA-related CVC claims were filed with 14 (0.3%) awarded. SA and DV-related claims were most frequently denied for “failure to substantiate” across both genders (67.8% female <em>versus</em> 60.9% male).</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>CVC is underutilized to support SA and DV victims in Illinois. Frontline trauma providers should include CVC education and application assistance as part of wraparound care to better assist patients in their global injury recovery.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17030,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Surgical Research","volume":"308 ","pages":"Pages 279-285"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Surgical Research","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022480425000988","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"SURGERY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Introduction
Trauma centers are often the first access portal for victims of sexual assault (SA) and domestic violence (DV), with many requiring surgery or long-term follow-up. In Illinois, crime victim compensation (CVC) offers up to $45,000 to cover victim medical expenses. We hypothesized that CVC claims in Illinois following SA and DV result in significant delays, high rejection rates, and small rewards.
Methods
Illinois CVC data (2012-2024) was obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request. CVC data related to SA and DV, including claim types and awards, was compared between genders using descriptive statistics and the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Award rates were compared to the most recent publicly available set of potential cases from 2012 to 2020.
Results
Of 46,792 CVC claims, 45.1% were for assault/battery. Females filed 18,657 claims, of which significantly more were for DV (18.8% versus 2.3%; P < 0.001) and SA (6.8% versus 0.4%; P < 0.001) compared to male claims. Median SA awards were similar for females and males ($947.7 versus $1079.4; P = 0.78). SA claims took a median of 272 ds (>8 mos) to process. In 2020, despite 4733 publicly-reported SA cases in Illinois, 113 (2.4%) SA-related CVC claims were filed with 14 (0.3%) awarded. SA and DV-related claims were most frequently denied for “failure to substantiate” across both genders (67.8% female versus 60.9% male).
Conclusions
CVC is underutilized to support SA and DV victims in Illinois. Frontline trauma providers should include CVC education and application assistance as part of wraparound care to better assist patients in their global injury recovery.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Surgical Research: Clinical and Laboratory Investigation publishes original articles concerned with clinical and laboratory investigations relevant to surgical practice and teaching. The journal emphasizes reports of clinical investigations or fundamental research bearing directly on surgical management that will be of general interest to a broad range of surgeons and surgical researchers. The articles presented need not have been the products of surgeons or of surgical laboratories.
The Journal of Surgical Research also features review articles and special articles relating to educational, research, or social issues of interest to the academic surgical community.