N.J. Admin. Code § 13:75-1.4

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 9, May 6, 2024
Section 13:75-1.4 - Definitions

The following words and terms shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

"Child" means an unmarried person who is under 18 years of age and includes a stepchild or an adopted child.

"Child care/day care services" means those services that involve supervising and/or tending to the needs of a child or an adult who may or may not have been physically injured as a result of a crime where such services would enable a victim, spouse, surviving spouse of a deceased victim, or guardian to continue employment rather than incur a loss of earnings because of the need to provide care for an adult or minor victim or a dependent adult or child of a victim. Also included are after care services for school-age children for the period between school dismissal and the time a parent, guardian, or one delegated the responsibility, picks up the child, and before-care services for any additional period required prior to the start of the school day.

"Claimant" means the person applying for compensation, who may or may not also be the victim of the crime that forms the basis for the application for compensation.

"Decedent" means a person who is deceased.

"Dependent" means:

1. A relative of a deceased victim who was wholly or partially dependent upon the victim's income at the time of the victim's death and shall include the child of a victim born after the victim's death; and

2. A victim who relied upon an offender for financial support.

"Direct victim" means the person who is injured or killed as a result of a crime. In the case of criminal homicide, "direct victim" shall also mean the spouse, parent, legal guardian, grandparent, child, sibling, domestic or civil union partner of the decedent, or parent of the decedent's child.

"Domestic help" means those services to the victim or claimant that are not medically related. Domestic help includes those services that provide needed day-to-day living support for the victim or claimant because of injuries related to their victimization, including housecleaning, laundry tasks, cooking, and companionship and provide assistance so that the victim may take prescribed medicine and do simple therapeutic exercises.

"Family" means a spouse, parent, grandparent, stepfather, stepmother, child, grandchild, great-grandchild, brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, or spouse's parents.

"Homicide survivor" in cases of homicide, a secondary victim survivor shall be treated as a direct victim for purposes of counseling only.

"Legal assistance" means assistance provided to a crime victim in the enforcement of victims' rights in all:

1. Courts;

2. Family law matters, including, but not limited to, child protection actions, divorce, custody, parenting time, child support, emancipation, dependency, guardianship, and family reunification;

3. Obtaining protective and restraining orders;

4. Employment matters, including, but not limited to, wage and hour claims;

5. Accessing public benefits;

6. Life planning; and

7. Any other situation for which an eligible crime victim needs legal services related to the victimization.

"Office" means the Victims of Crime Compensation Office. The Office is located at 50 Park Place, 5th Floor, Newark, NJ 07102.

"Other sources" means any source of money, benefits, or advantages received or receivable by a claimant or victim, except that life insurance payments and private donations received by the dependents of the victim shall not be considered as other sources.

"Out-of-pocket expenses" means crime-related financial losses for which the victim or claimant is responsible and for which there are no other sources available to reimburse the losses.

"Person in close relationship" means any person, whether related by blood or adoption or not, who was actually domiciled with the direct victim on the date of the crime for which assistance is sought; any person who is no longer living with the direct victim but who has the legal responsibility to care for a child they have in common by birth or adoption, solely where the treatment or presence of said person is medically required for the successful treatment of the child; any person who has publicly announced his or her engagement to become married to the direct victim prior to the commission of the criminal act and who remains engaged to the direct victim at the time of the crime; or any other person whom the Office deems, under all the circumstances of a particular case, to have had a close personal relationship with the direct victim.

"Personal injury" means actual bodily harm and includes pregnancy and mental or emotional trauma.

"Relative" of any person means the person's spouse, parent, grandparent, stepparent, child, grandchild, great-grandchild, brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, or parent of the person's spouse.

"Relevant evidence" means evidence having a tendency to prove or disprove any fact of consequence to the determination of the action and that is deemed to be admissible under the rules of evidence. It does not include rumor, supposition, speculation, hearsay, or opinion, except as otherwise deemed admissible under the rules of evidence.

"Restitution" means financial compensation for the injury, losses, or damages incurred as a result of the crime, which is ordered by the court at the time of the offender's criminal sentencing. Restitution paid directly to a victim shall be considered an "other source" for purposes of determining the amount of compensation to be allowed on any claim.

"Review Board" or "Board" means the Victims of Crime Compensation Review Board established by 52:4B-3.2.

"Secondary victim" means any person who has sustained an injury or pecuniary loss as a direct result of a crime committed upon any member of the secondary victim's family or upon any person in close relationship to such secondary victim.

"Victim" means a person who suffers personal, physical, or psychological injury or death as a result of the conduct of another person who commits against that person any of the offenses specified at N.J.S.A. 52:4B-11, or an act by a juvenile that, if committed by an adult, would constitute a violation of any of these offenses. The term shall include, in the case of a criminal homicide or an act by a juvenile that, if committed by an adult, would constitute a criminal homicide, the spouse, parent, legal guardian, grandparent, child, sibling, domestic or civil union partner of the decedent, or parent of the decedent's child.

"Victim's representative" or "representative" means any person who represents or stands in the place of a victim or claimant for the purpose of filing an application for compensation with the Office, including, but not limited to, a spouse, parent, relative, guardian, dependent, heir, or executor.

N.J. Admin. Code § 13:75-1.4

Amended by 53 N.J.R. 1852(c), effective 11/1/2021