If your California Victims Compensation Board (CalVCB) application or expense request(s) are recommended for denial and you or your attorney representative do not agree with staff’s recommendation, you have a right to file an appeal. Keep in mind that your appeal must be filed within 45 days of the date the CalVCB mailed the notice to deny the application and/or expense request. In some cases, if additional information is provided, the denial may be reconsidered immediately. Otherwise, most appeals are scheduled for a hearing before a Hearing Officer. This hearing gives you the opportunity to present information supporting your claim.
Our HEART4Victims volunteers can help you understand why your application and/or expense request was recommended to be denied and explain what you may do to resolve the issue.
Denial recommendations are often related to missing required information. For example, if a crime report was not available at the time your application was reviewed, staff may recommend denial of eligibility because they were unable to verify that you were a victim of a crime. However, if a crime report was submitted after the recommendation was made, the issue may now be resolved and your application can be re-evaluated.
Another example could be that staff was not able to verify with your employer that you were employed at the time you became a victim of a crime. This could result in a request for income loss to be recommended to be denied. In this case, you need to ask your employer to verify your employment and you would provide that information with your appeal.
