GovernmentExecutive.com

The Justice Department on Monday unveiled $1.7 million in funds for national, regional, state and local organizations and agencies that assist victims of identity theft and financial fraud.

The grants, awarded through the Office of Justice Programs, are intended to expand existing services and strengthen law-enforcement response. Justice is committed to tackling the problem and providing groups on the front lines the resources they need, acting Assistant Attorney General Cybele Daley said in a statement.

The Identity Theft Resource Center, a national organization that provides free assistance to victims of ID theft, will get $500,000 to improve and expand its counseling and case work. The money also will allow the San Diego, Calif.-based group to expand the staff of its call center.

The center, which has tracked security breaches for the past three years to detect patterns, reported last week that there were more than 315 publicized breaches in 2006 that affected nearly 20 million people.

The Texas Legal Services Center, a state support office and victim services provider, is receiving $500,000 for an advocacy project that will give free legal assistance to ID-theft victims in the Lone Star State, as well as in Colorado, New Mexico and Oklahoma.

Paula Pierce, the state attorney tapped to run the program, told Technology Daily the money is crucial because Southwestern states are disproportionately affected by ID theft. "I can't tell you how excited we are to have this funding," she said. "We're hitting the ground running."

A recent FTC report showed that three of the four states being serviced by her initiative were in the top 10 states per capita for ID theft. The study also indicated that there were more than 26,000 ID-theft complaints from Texas reported to the FTC in 2006, Pierce said.

Another $500,000 is going to the Maryland Crime Victims' Resource Center to enhance its free victim-assistance effort. The organization plans to partner with other national programs to assist victims of ID theft and fraud nationwide.

Atlanta Victim Assistance Inc., a Georgia nonprofit organization, also will receive $200,000 for a public education campaign aimed at stopping ID theft and financial fraud in Atlanta.

Cyber Security Industry Alliance President Tim Bennett called the Justice Department's announcement "a positive step in what must be a multi-step approach to address the growing problem of the theft of personally identifiable information."

To minimize the need for such grants, Congress should pass a federal data-security and breach-notification law and also legislation that would strengthen prosecutorial tools to fight cyber criminals, he said.

The Senate passed one such bill, S. 2168, last month. The measure was introduced by Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy. The Vermont Democrat issued a statement Monday saying he hoped the House would move swiftly to enact the bill before the end of the year.