Victim compensation programs often require victims to pay costs for funerals or other needs upfront and file for reimbursement. But advocates say the model can leave out people already on the edge of financial disaster who are most vulnerable to crime.
to offset costs like funerals, medical care, relocation and other needs. Many programs require victims to pay for those expenses first and exhaust all means of payment before they reimburse costs, often at rates that don’t fully cover expenses.
Programs also require victims to exhaust other payment options first, like insurance, lawsuit awards or even crowdfunding. If a family member or friend starts a GoFundMe drive, it could cause some programs to reduce an award or claw back already granted money. Those funding streams can fluctuate greatly. Temporary court closures early in the pandemic, sentencing reforms and changes to how some prosecutors charge misdemeanor crimes have all meant fewer dollars for many state programs.
Hawaii’s program has relied primarily on fines and fees since 1998. But chronic shortfalls nearly forced the program to close in 2022. An influx of general funds from the legislature to pay staff “saved” the program, according to an annual report. Many states rely heavily on matching dollars they get from the U.S. Justice Department’s Office for Victims of Crime. But even its Crime Victims Fund depends on fluctuating criminal fines, penalties, forfeited bail and other special assessments, which has also meant financial uncertainty.
During her appeal hearing, White pleaded with the board, saying that even if a fight had led to her son’s killing, he was still a person who didn’t deserve to die. Programs have lagged less in raising limits on individual expenses like funerals. But many states don’t offer enough money to cover the actual cost of burying a loved one. The National Funeral Directors Association estimated the median cost of a funeral with burial vault was more than $9,400 in 2021. Only a dozen states offer enough to cover that median cost.
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