The national compassion fund could be ready within a few months, the crime victims center said. The group is now setting up protocols for disbursement.
‘‘They came for us looking for much more transparency and a clearer solution, not only for the victims, but for the donors,’’ spokeswoman Kath Cummins said. ‘‘It should be clear when you donate where your money is going. We want a website that can be up and running and people will know this is a fund that is going directly to the victims.’’
The group is following the example of The One Fund, set up in Massachusetts after the Boston Marathon bombing to help the injured and the families of the three people killed.
‘‘Boston showed it can really work and money can go directly to victims,’’ she said. ‘‘But this is new for everyone, so we’re proceeding cautiously.’’
Only one fund in Connecticut, the My Sandy Hook Family Fund, was set up to give money directly to victims’ families. It has distributed all of the $1.5 million it has received equally among the 26 families who lost loved ones, said Rob Accomando, a Sandy Hook resident administering the fund.
Last month, Connecticut’s General Assembly created CT CARE, a quasi-public foundation designed to streamline the handing of donations. The foundation would create a central place for donors to send money in response to a tragedy, and a distribution committee, with representatives from the affected community, would dole out the money to victims and other charities.
‘‘CT CARE will serve as a trusted repository for private donations — an entity that will disseminate those funds to the victims in accordance with the intent of the donors,’’ Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said in a statement.
The problems of distribution, even from one fund, are seen most acutely in the troubles of the Newtown-Sandy Hook Community Foundation.
The victims’ share of the main fund was increased from $4.4 million after a number of the families raised concerns over how the figure was reached, and the distribution was delayed a second time when victims’ relatives went to state Attorney General George Jepsen, seeking his help in finding out how the distribution decisions were being made and by whom.
At Jepsen’s urging, the foundation’s three-member distribution committee, led by retired U.S. District Court Judge Alan Nevas, agreed to meet July 11 and 12 with each family individually to assess their needs. It will also hold a public hearing on July 11 on the disbursement plan, Nevas said.
‘‘Everybody will not be equal,’’ Nevas said. ‘‘The 26 people who lost their lives will not be treated the same as the 14 people who survived.’’
