Scholarships

2024 VOCA National Joint Training Conference Travel Scholarship Request

Through funding from the Office for Victims of Crime, the National Association of VOCA Assistance Administrators (NAVAA), and National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards (NACVCB) are offering a limited number of travel scholarships to attend the 2024 National Joint Training Conference for VOCA Victim Assistance and Victim Compensation Administrators (2024 VOCA National Joint Training Conference), which will officially begin the morning of Tuesday, August 6, through 12:00 noon, Thursday, August 8, 2024 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Monday, August 5, will be a travel day with afternoon pre-conference sessions.

Scholarships are exclusively available to managers, staff, and Board members of designated state VOCA victim assistance administering agencies or state crime victim compensation programs. While we aim to assist state VOCA assistance agencies and crime victim compensation programs by sending at least one representative to the conference, the limited number of scholarships means we cannot provide for every state. Therefore, scholarships will be awarded based on need and availability. Dual program agencies (i.e., agencies that administer VOCA assistance and crime victim compensation) may request a scholarship for one person from each program. Additional scholarships to a state may be approved after all scholarship requests have been considered if funds are available. All applications must be submitted by no later than June 21, 2024.

A travel scholarship may be used to pay for only the following costs, up to a maximum total of $1,563.50 for each recipient:

• Travel: not to exceed $680 for roundtrip airfare with the roundtrip baggage fee, train travel, or reimbursement for using a personal vehicle at the established GSA rate of $0.67 per mile.  Rental cars will not be reimbursed without advance approval. Additional fees for seat upgrades, extra legroom, first class, etc., will not be reimbursed.
• Ground Transportation: not to exceed $120, including transportation to/from airports, airport or hotel parking, highway tolls, etc. Transportation costs for meals, recreation, or other non-conference activities will not be reimbursed. [Note: costs for travel and ground transportation, including use of personal car, can be combined, but the total cannot exceed $800.]
• Lodging: Up to three nights of lodging at the InterContinental New Orleans. The block room rate is $143 plus $75.50 in taxes & fees totaling $504.50, which may be paid directly by NAVAA. The attendee must pay lodging costs for additional nights.
• Meals and Incidental Expenses: At the prevailing GSA rate ($74 per day for two full days plus $55.50 per day for two travel days) (maximum = $259). Meal receipts are not required.

Note: The scholarship covers room costs only and does not cover other incidental expenses, such as room entertainment charges, telephone calls, hotel tips, or other gratuities.

Copies of receipts are required. Scholarship recipients must adhere to their state’s usual travel reimbursement policies and procedures, Federal Travel Regulations, and DOJ Grants Financial Guide policies. Upon submission of the expense voucher, NAVAA will reimburse either the state agency or, upon special request, the attendee if the attendee is personally paying for all costs. Reimbursement requests must be submitted within 30 days after the conference. A copy of the scholarship expense voucher will be provided to scholarship recipients.

The program administrator, manager, or supervisor must submit a scholarship request form by June 21, 2024. Requests can identify up to two individuals for each program (e.g., VOCA Assistance and Compensation) for whom scholarships are requested. The person listed first for each program will be considered the “priority” recipient; the second person will be considered only if additional scholarships are available. Include the recipient’s name, title, email address, phone number, and estimated scholarship cost.