By Maria Rocha-Buschel
State Senator Brad Hoylman is pushing to extend the revival window for the Child Victims Act (CVA) by another year because the pause on non-essential court filings cuts short the full 12-month period for survivors to file suit.
“Pausing all non-essential court filings is a difficult but necessary step to protect the health and well-being of our judicial system,” Hoylman said. “When we finally passed the Child Victims Act, we attempted to guarantee a full 12-month period for survivors to file suit. Yet because COVID-19 has indefinitely paused our judicial system, the CVA’s revival window has effectively closed as of today.”
The Office of Court Administration (OCA) last month announced an indefinite pause on non-essential filings and Hoylman argued that as a result, the CVA’s revival window is now effectively closed. The year-long lookback window opened last August when the law went into effect and it is unknown if survivors will be able to file claims again before the window was supposed to close this coming August.