Camille S. Biros and Kenneth R. Feinberg, administrators of the New Jersey statewide Independent Victim Compensation Program (IVCP), announced Jan. 2 that the program’s deadline has been extended to Jan. 31, 2020, for the registration of new allegations and to Feb. 15, 2020, for the submission of all claims.

“We have had several requests from individuals who have just recently become aware of the program and did not submit their registrations or claim forms before the deadlines,” said Camille S. Biros, IVCP co-administrator. “We and the Dioceses want to be as inclusive as possible in allowing victims to file with the program. Therefore, we are extending the deadlines and are reaching out to those individuals who missed the original filing deadlines to inform them of the extension. We urge anyone who has yet to file to do so.”

To date, more than $9.2 million has been paid or authorized for payment by the program administrators to claimants determined eligible by the IVCP program administrators.

The program was implemented and supported by all five Roman Catholic dioceses in the state of New Jersey (the Archdiocese of Newark and the Dioceses of Trenton, Camden, Paterson and Metuchen) to provide compensation to eligible victims who were sexually abused as minors by clergy of the New Jersey Roman Catholic Dioceses.

The program provides victims with an alternative to litigation providing victims a speedy and transparent process to resolve their claims with a significantly lower level of proof and corroboration than required in a court of law.