You can often request these items be released to the next of kin through the assigned case agent. Conditions to consider before personal effects are released:

• It must first be determined if the item has value as evidence in the case.
• Permission is needed from the district attorney’s office.
• Ownership of the item must not be in dispute.

Who can apply?

• a victim
• a dependent of a deceased victim
• or a person authorized to act on behalf of the victim or dependent.

What financial assistance is possibly available?

• Medical and dental care
• Prescriptions
• Reasonable counseling and rehabilitation expenses
• Work loss or loss of support
• Caregiver work income loss not to exceed $3000
• Reasonable crime scene clean-up expenses not to exceed $2000
• Reasonable funeral, cremation, or burial costs not to exceed $7500
• Mileage for transport to and from medical treatments
• Reasonable cost of vehicle impound fees associated with the collection and security of crime scene evidence not to exceed $750
• Many expenses for funeral associated with traditional American Indian culture

For applications and more detailed information regarding the Oklahoma Crime Victims Compensation Act there are direct links to the act located on:
District Attorneys Council Website
under the CRIME VICTIMS COMPENSATION ASSISTANCE section.

More Details:

• Property loss and pain and suffering are not covered
• No attorney is needed to file a claim
• No arrest or conviction is required
• You must cooperate fully with law enforcement
• The maximum award is $20,000 except claims including work loss up to $40,000

When to file a claim?

• Should be filed with OCVC within one year of incident
• All other sources of payment, such as insurance, should be used prior to OCVC funds

How to file a claim?

• Contact your nearest District Attorney’s Office (phone list included in this packet)
• The Oklahoma District Attorneys Council Oklahoma Crime Victims Compensation Board at the links below.

Oklahoma Crime Victims Compensation Board
Oklahoma District Attorneys Council
421 NW 13th Street, Suite 290
Oklahoma City, OK 73106

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation understands the importance of supporting and building relationships with victims and survivors of violent crime. Therefore, the OSBI Victims Support Program is available to meet these needs. The OSBI coordinators can direct family of victims in need to the available grief support counseling across the state of Oklahoma. The OSBI Victims Services Coordinators also assist with the OHSSG-Oklahoma Homicide Survivors Support Group.

• Non-profit Organization
• Members Meetings
  to discuss new events and legislation directly affecting the group.
• Open to all family and friends of homicide victims.

Meeting are held at the OSBI Headquarters

6600 N Harvey Place
Oklahoma City, OK 73116

The Mental Health Association of Oklahoma has support groups for the family survivors of violent crimes. Support groups offer a place to share and develop coping skills. The group participants come together with others experiencing the same loss. Together participants can help one another through a difficult process.

For current information on times and locations for the groups go to website below or for contact Business Hours: Monday-Friday 8:30am- 5pm.

• Groups are led by mental health professionals.
• Free of charge.
• Weekday evenings twice a month in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

Classes include:

• Survivors of Suicide – a family member or friend of the person who died by suicide – you may need help coming to terms with suicide.
• Depression Management – talk through your struggles with depression, or those of a loved one, and learn from others engaged in the recovery process.

Crime scene cleanup is an essential part of the process of restoring a crime scene environment and making it safe for habitation. Unfortunately, many homicides take place in the victim’s place of residence. Once the scene is processed for evidence, it is released and the scene restoration can be addressed.

Cost of Services

The OSBI does not cleanup the crime scene nor does the OSBI pay for the cleanup expenses. However, in many cases, the homeowner’s insurance policy will cover crime scene cleanup services. Additionally, assistance with the cleanup cost can be covered through the OCVC assistance program. While the OSBI is not permitted to endorse specific cleanup service companies, there are many reputable cleaning companies that specialize in crime scene clean up. Often, they can be located by an internet search within the area of the crime scene location.

Crime Scene Cleaning Process

The primary role of a crime scene cleanup technician is to thoroughly disinfect the area to safeguard that all biohazardous materials are properly removed. Certain items would not be cleaned, rather they would be bagged up for incineration. The overall process is a time consuming task to completely clean the trauma scene with the ultimate goal to meticulously sanitize the property.

Choosing a Cleanup Company

Although cleaning of crime scenes is not officially a regulated industry, there are regulations, restrictions and guidelines for crime scene cleanup staff to follow that ensures rigid public safety standards are met. There are several regulatory agencies that are responsible for overseeing adherence to these protocols: the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and the Department of Transportation (DOT). Any company that offers crime scene cleanup services would be recognized by the above organizations as being capable of accomplishing the necessary cleaning tasks at crime scenes, while the company itself would have a rigorous training program to certify that all their employees meet the very high standards that this type of work demands.

In 2019, the Oklahoma state legislature enacted the OSAKTS website as a program designed to track all sexual assault kits collected in Oklahoma and provide a mechanism for victim notification of kit status. A sexual assault kit is a collection of swabs, envelopes, and instructions used to gather and preserve physical evidence from a person’s body following a report of a sexual assault. This evidence is collected by a medical professional that has been specially trained to identify, collect, and document the forensic evidence that might be found on the person’s body.

Authorizing Legislation that provides further program details:

How to use the OSAKTS website:

Victims of sexual assault can view the history and current status of their sexual assault evidence kit by going to the website. On the website enter the sexual assault evidence kit tracking number specific to each kit at the right side of the screen labelled “serial number” and click the adjacent magnifying glass icon search button to look up the collected kit tracking details.

A growing number of Oklahoma law enforcement agencies are partnering with their local school districts to help students who are exposed to trauma through a program called Handle With Care. When police officers or deputies encounter a child who has experienced a traumatic situation, such as a shooting, domestic violence or a family member’s arrest, they contact the school district with the child’s name, age or grade and three simple words: "Handle with care."

• The Handle with Care Notice provides the involved child’s school the necessary notification that a student in their care may exhibit emotional/behavioral/academic signs of difficulties resuming normal activities. If observed by the teacher, they will refer the child to the school counselor or the school mental health team.
• The school counselor will assess the child’s needs to determine if counseling services are needed and make a recommendation to the parent/guardian.
• The program ensures that schools provide trauma sensitive training to all school employees with a process to alert appropriate school staff of the child’s exposure to violence.

For more information on the Handle with Care program for the State of Oklahoma please go to website https://handlewithcareok.org/handle-with-care-for-schools/ The intention of the program is to notify school officials with a limited amount of information regarding the incident exposure in order to allow the school’s resources the opportunity to be a part of the child’s development and healing with greater understanding.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is a private, non-profit corporation to help find missing children, reduce child sexual exploitation, and prevent child victimization. NCMEC works with families, victims, law enforcement, and the public.

Missing person records can be entered into NamUs by anyone, including the general public; however, all cases are verified with the appropriate law enforcement agency prior to publication in NamUs. Unidentified and unclaimed person records are entered into the NamUs database by medical examiners, coroners, and other criminal justice designees. The NamUs program database is funded through the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Program, U.S. Department of Justice.

Created in 2009, the Native Alliance Against Violence (NAAV), is a nonprofit organization operating as Oklahoma’s only tribal domestic violence and sexual assault coalition. The NAAV is not a direct service provider, however the NAAV does serve Oklahoma’s federally recognized tribes and their tribal domestic violence and sexual assault programs.