Victim's compensation: procedure.

Existing law provides that crime victims and derivative victims, as defined, may be awarded compensation by the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board from the State Restitution Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, for the pecuniary losses they suffer as a direct result of criminal acts. The board is required to approve or deny applications, based on recommendations of the board staff, within an average of 90 calendar days and no later than 180 calendar days of acceptance by the board or victim center. This bill would require the board, for purposes of meeting the requirement for the timely processing of applications, to adopt written procedures and timeframes for approving or denying applications and specified procedures for use in communicating with entities when verifying the required information. The bill would require the approval of the office of the State Chief Information Officer for the expenditure of $5,000 or more by the board on or after January 1, 2010, with regard to any technology system that is utilized for the review of applications. The bill would also require the board to inform that office of any proposed changes to the technology systems utilized to review applications and would authorize the office to take appropriate action, as necessary, to review and evaluate those proposed changes.