Section 13957.

(a) The board may grant for pecuniary loss, when the board determines it will best aid the person seeking compensation, as follows:

(1) Subject to the limitations set forth in Section 13957.2, reimburse the amount of medical or medical-related expenses incurred by the victim, including, but not limited to, eyeglasses, hearing aids, dentures, or any prosthetic device taken, lost, or destroyed during the commission of the crime, or the use of which became necessary as a direct result of the crime.

(2) Subject to the limitations set forth in Section 13957.2, reimburse the amount of outpatient psychiatric, psychological, or other mental health counseling-related expenses incurred by the victim or derivative victim, including peer counseling services provided by a rape crisis center as defined by Section 13837 of the Penal Code, and including family psychiatric, psychological, or mental health counseling for the successful treatment of the victim provided to family members of the victim in the presence of the victim, whether or not the family member relationship existed at the time of the crime, that became necessary as a direct result of the crime, subject to the following conditions:

(A) The following persons may be reimbursed for the expense of their outpatient mental health counseling in an amount not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000):

(i) A victim.

(ii) A derivative victim who is the surviving parent, sibling, child, spouse, fiancé, or fiancée of a victim of a crime that directly resulted in the death of the victim.

(iii) A derivative victim, as described in paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 13955, who is the primary caretaker of a minor victim whose claim is not denied or reduced pursuant to Section 13956 in a total amount not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for not more than two derivative victims.

(B) The following persons may be reimbursed for the expense of their outpatient mental health counseling in an amount not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000):

(i) A derivative victim not eligible for reimbursement pursuant to subparagraph (A), provided that mental health counseling of a derivative victim described in paragraph (5) of subdivision (c) of Section 13955, shall be reimbursed only if that counseling is necessary for the treatment of the victim.

(ii) A victim of a crime of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor committed in violation of subdivision (d) of Section 261.5 of the Penal Code. A derivative victim of a crime committed in violation of subdivision (d) of Section 261.5 of the Penal Code shall not be eligible for reimbursement of mental health counseling expenses.

(iii) A minor who suffers emotional injury as a direct result of witnessing a violent crime and who is not eligible for reimbursement of the costs of outpatient mental health counseling under any other provision of this chapter. To be eligible for reimbursement under this clause, the minor must have been in close proximity to the victim when he or she witnessed the crime.

(C) The board may reimburse a victim or derivative victim for outpatient mental health counseling in excess of that authorized by subparagraph (A) or (B) or for inpatient psychiatric, psychological, or other mental health counseling if the claim is based on dire or exceptional circumstances that require more extensive treatment, as approved by the board.

(D) Expenses for psychiatric, psychological, or other mental health counseling-related services may be reimbursed only if the services were provided by either of the following individuals:

(i) A person who would have been authorized to provide those services pursuant to former Article 1 (commencing with Section 13959) as it read on January 1, 2002.

(ii) A person who is licensed by the state to provide those services, or who is properly supervised by a person who is so licensed, subject to the board's approval and subject to the limitations and restrictions the board may impose.

(3) Reimburse the expenses of nonmedical remedial care and treatment rendered in accordance with a religious method of healing recognized by state law.

(4) Subject to the limitations set forth in Section 13957.5, authorize compensation equal to the loss of income or loss of support, or both, that a victim or derivative victim incurs as a direct result of the victim's or derivative victim's injury or the victim's death. If the victim or derivative victim requests that the board give priority to reimbursement of loss of income or support, the board may not pay medical expenses, or mental health counseling expenses, except upon the request of the victim or derivative victim or after determining that payment of these expenses will not decrease the funds available for payment of loss of income or support.

(5) Authorize a cash payment to or on behalf of the victim for job retraining or similar employment-oriented services.

(6) Reimburse the claimant for the expense of installing or increasing residential security, not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000). Reimbursement shall be made either upon verification by law enforcement that the security measures are necessary for the personal safety of the claimant or verification by a mental health treatment provider that the security measures are necessary for the emotional well-being of the claimant. For purposes of this paragraph, a claimant is the crime victim, or, if the victim is deceased, a person who resided with the deceased at the time of the crime. Installing or increasing residential security may include, but need not be limited to, both of the following:

(A) Home security device or system.

(B) Replacing or increasing the number of locks.

(7) Reimburse the expense of renovating or retrofitting a victim's residence or a vehicle, or both, to make the residence, the vehicle, or both, accessible or the vehicle operational by a victim upon verification that the expense is medically necessary for a victim who is permanently disabled as a direct result of the crime, whether the disability is partial or total.

(8) (A) Authorize a cash payment or reimbursement not to exceed two thousand dollars ($2,000) to a victim for expenses incurred in relocating, if the expenses are determined by law enforcement to be necessary for the personal safety of the victim or by a mental health treatment provider to be necessary for the emotional well-being of the victim.

(B) The cash payment or reimbursement made under this paragraph shall only be awarded to one claimant per crime giving rise to the relocation. The board may authorize more than one relocation per crime if necessary for the personal safety or emotional well-being of the claimant. However, the total cash payment or reimbursement for all relocations due to the same crime shall not exceed two thousand dollars ($2,000). For purposes of this paragraph a claimant is the crime victim, or, if the victim is deceased, a person who resided with the deceased at the time of the crime.

(C) The board may, under compelling circumstances, award a second cash payment or reimbursement to a victim for another crime if both of the following conditions are met:

(i) The crime occurs more than three years from the date of the crime giving rise to the initial relocation cash payment or reimbursement.

(ii) The crime does not involve the same offender.

(D) When a relocation payment or reimbursement is provided to a victim of sexual assault or domestic violence and the identity of the offender is known to the victim, the victim shall agree not to inform the offender of the location of the victim's new residence and not to allow the offender on the premises at any time, or shall agree to seek a restraining order against the offender.

(E) Notwithstanding subparagraphs (A) and (B), the board may increase the cash payment or reimbursement for expenses incurred in relocating to an amount greater than two thousand dollars ($2,000), if the board finds this amount is appropriate due to the unusual, dire, or exceptional circumstances of a particular claim.

(9) When a victim dies as a result of a crime, the board may reimburse any individual who voluntarily, and without anticipation of personal gain, pays or assumes the obligation to pay any of the following expenses:

(A) The medical expenses incurred as a direct result of the crime in an amount not to exceed the rates or limitations established by the board.

(B) The funeral and burial expenses incurred as a direct result of the crime, not to exceed seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500).

(10) When the crime occurs in a residence, the board may reimburse any individual who voluntarily, and without anticipation of personal gain, pays or assumes the obligation to pay the reasonable costs to clean the scene of the crime in an amount not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000). Services reimbursed pursuant to this subdivision shall be performed by persons registered with the State Department of Public Health as trauma scene waste practitioners in accordance with Chapter 9.5 (commencing with Section 118321) of Part 14 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code.

(11) Reimburse the licensed child care expenses necessarily incurred by a victim or derivative victim as a direct result of a crime that resulted in physical injury or death, if the following conditions are met:

(A) The injured or deceased victim was a primary caregiver for the victim's dependent children.

(B) The total reimbursement for all child care expenses does not exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000). The board shall have the ability to set a lower reimbursement amount if necessary to protect the solvency of the Restitution Fund.

(C) The periods of time for which child care expenses may be reimbursed do not exceed a total of 180 days. The time periods need not be continuous.

(D) The child care expenses are consistent with the usual and customary rates charged by the child care provider for other children in the provider's care. If the provider only cares for the victim's children, the reimbursement rate shall not exceed two hundred dollars ($200) per week for one child or four hundred dollars ($400) per week for two or more children subject to the limit in subparagraph (E).

(E) No victim or derivative victim may receive reimbursement for child care expenses in addition to reimbursement subject to paragraph (4).

(F) This paragraph is a pilot program and shall be operative only until January 1, 2010.

(b) The total award to or on behalf of each victim or derivative victim may not exceed thirty-five thousand dollars ($35,000), except that this amount may be increased to seventy thousand dollars ($70,000) if federal funds for that increase are available.

(Amended by Stats. 2009, Ch. 578, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2010.)