COLUMBUS — After Lynn Cunningham was attacked in a Cincinnati hotel room during a business trip two years ago, she applied for financial help from a state fund for crime victims.

COMPARISONS

The number of claims filed and awards made under the new and old system (numbers do not add up because awards and denials do not always involve claims made in the same year):   Under Attorney General Betty Montgomery's office only:   Fiscal year 2001:   Claims filed: 5,968   Awards: 3,051   Denials: 3,429   Average award: $2,454   Total awards: $15.8 million Under Court of Claims and Ms. Montgomery's office:   Fiscal year 2000   Claims filed: 5,856   Awards: 2,403   Denials: 1,536   Average award: $3,106   Total awards: $7.5 million   Fiscal year 1999:   Claims filed: 5,314   Awards: 3,985   Denials: 1,997   Average award: $2,837   Total awards: $11.3 million   Fiscal year 1998:   Claims filed: 4,769   Awards: 4,740   Denials: 2,665

        Eleven months after filing her initial claim in February 2000, she received about $8,000 from the Victims of Crime Compensation Program.

        The money saved her, said Ms. Cunningham, 36, a saleswoman from East Dundee, Ill. She was assaulted in her hotel on Oct. 25, 1999, suffering multiple bruises and emotional trauma, according to the Attorney General's office.

        “My house would have gone into foreclosure, I wouldn't have been able to make mortgage payments,” Ms. Cunningham said. “They were going through the transition when they were releasing funds to me, but they still handled it quickly.”

        More than a year has passed since Attorney General Betty Montgomery took sole control of the program in July 2000. The change came after lawmakers voted to change the program from one run jointly by the attorney general and the Ohio Court of Claims.

        The goal was to streamline the system to speed up the processing of claims and the awarding of funds and to reduce administrative costs.

        In a report Ms. Montgomery released Monday, she says improvements have been made.

        Some attorneys who regularly handle compensation claims say the program is faster and more efficient, but questions remain.

        “There's no doubt things are moving faster,” said Philip Sheridan, a Columbus attorney and former claims commissioner. “To the extent that benefits victims, everyone should applaud them. To the extent it leads to mistakes by the attorney general's office, that should be a concern. And I think both things are true.”

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