While no financial assistance can undo the trauma, the Victims Compensation Assistance Program can play an essential role in helping survivors rebuild their lives.
Harrisburg, PA — In a recent op-ed published in the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, Lt. Governor and Chair of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) Austin Davis, emphasized the critical support provided by Pennsylvania's Victims Compensation Assistance Program (VCAP) to victims and survivors of gun violence and other crime.
The sustainability of VCAP is under threat due to diminishing funds. In response, the Shapiro-Davis Administration's proposed 2025-26 budget includes a $9 million transfer to stabilize VCAP and ensure uninterrupted support for victims and survivors of crime.
In the past three years alone, VCAP has paid 1,826 claims related to gun violence, totaling more than $9.5 million. This assistance helps victims cover a range of costs incurred in the aftermath of a crime, including emergency medical treatment, rehabilitation, and counseling, among other expenses.
Read the full op-ed from Lt. Governor Davis in the Times Leader; excerpt below:
A Financial Lifeline: How Pennsylvania’s Victims Compensation Assistance Program Rebuilds Lives After Gun Violence
(2/27/2025)
“Gun violence leaves lasting scars — physically, emotionally, and financially. While the immediate trauma of being shot or losing a loved one is devastating, the financial burden that follows can be just as overwhelming. From medical expenses to lost wages and even relocation costs, victims and their families often face mounting expenses that seem difficult to overcome.
Fortunately, Pennsylvania’s Victims Compensation Assistance Program (VCAP) serves as a critical lifeline for those affected by crime, offering financial relief when it’s needed most.
Imagine this: your daughter or best friend is finally ready to leave an abusive relationship. You receive a call that night and can barely understand her. She has been shot.
She is transported to the hospital, taken in for surgery, and spends the next week in the ICU.
She is finally discharged, but her apartment — now a crime scene — no longer feels safe, so she decides to relocate.
Over the next few weeks, she must take time off work to heal and go for follow-up doctor visits and physical therapy. She starts seeing a therapist to work through the trauma of that night and years of abuse.
The bills piled up, but thanks to VCAP, she is receiving financial support to help ease some of the burden that comes with the crime-related expenses.
VCAP is not just financial aid — it is a lifeline.”