Overview
The Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance (MOVA) was established in 1984 by Section 4 of Chapter 258B of the Massachusetts General Laws. It is governed by a five-member board that is chaired by the Attorney General of the Commonwealth and also includes two district attorneys and two members of the public, one of whom must be a victim of violence, all appointed by the Governor. The board’s role is to appoint an executive director who oversees the agency’s day-to-day operations and to provide oversight of MOVA’s activities, including determining which organizations will receive funding to provide assistance to victims of crime.
According to MOVA’s brochure The Massachusetts Victim Bill of Rights: Understanding Your Rights as a Crime Victim,
The mission of the Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance (MOVA) is to empower all crime victims and witnesses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. MOVA strives to ensure access to equitable services, across the Commonwealth, which meet the unique needs of those impacted by crime through survivor-informed policy development, fund administration, training, and individual assistance.
MOVA provides this brochure in both English and Spanish. Using the Massachusetts Trial Court’s Language Access Plan (which outlines information about statewide spoken languages, including the languages spoken most commonly in the state), we determined that the brochure in these two languages could be readable by approximately 94.6% of the state’s population.
During our audit period, MOVA had 27 employees working in its administrative office at One Ashburton Place in Boston and a satellite office at 403 Pleasant Street in Northampton. During fiscal years 2019 and 2020, MOVA received state appropriations totaling $892,531 and $1,009,450, respectively.
Garden of Peace
The Garden of Peace is a memorial at 100 Cambridge Street in Boston dedicated by the Commonwealth in 2004 to victims of homicide. Initially, its operations were administered by a nonprofit organization, Garden of Peace Inc. However, on May 22, 2018, the state Legislature enacted Chapter 91 of the Session Laws of 2018, which amended Section 4 of Chapter 258B of the General Laws by adding Section 4(e). Effective January 17, 2019, this transferred the following responsibilities to MOVA’s board:
The management and administration of the Garden of Peace, a public memorial garden located on the plaza of 100 Cambridge Street in the city of Boston to honor victims of homicide, to receive gifts or grants of money or property to assist the board in the maintenance and operation of the memorial and to establish an advisory committee which shall consist of individuals who have served on the board of directors of the Garden of Peace or other interested citizens appointed by [MOVA’s] board to provide ongoing advice to the board.
Currently, MOVA performs all of the Garden of Peace’s administrative functions, including managing the receipt and deposit of funds1 and purchasing goods and services for the maintenance of the memorial.
According to the Garden of Peace’s website,
The Garden of Peace was dedicated in 2004 with a mission to create and maintain a memorial to victims of homicide that through its location in Boston near the Massachusetts State House:
- Raises the awareness of citizens, public officials, and business leaders of the human cost of violence
- Stands as a symbol of connection for the many and diverse communities and constituencies in Massachusetts touched by violence, who share a common grief and common hope; and
- Provides a site for anti-violence education and advocacy groups, survivor groups and individual survivors, that is both evocative and inspirational.
| Date published: | March 4, 2022 |
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