The United States Justice Department says it has proposed updated rules for its Office for Victims of Crime, which oversees programs and grants aimed at helping violent crime victims, with the goal of increasing victims’ access to compensation.
The federal guidelines overhaul could help address issues with racial disparities and lower the number of subjective denials to compensation that victims may face from state programs, The Associated Press reported.
“This notice is the culmination of two years of listening sessions, literature reviews, data analyses and interviews with service providers, survivors and other stakeholders — all in an effort to ensure equitable and increased access to crime victim compensation,” the Office for Victims of Crime’s director, Kris Rose, said in a statement to Atlanta Black Star.
“We cannot allow costs associated with medical and dental bills, funeral services, relocation expenses and others to be an additional burden for crime survivors to bear – their burden is heavy enough,” Rose said, referring to the proposed changes as a “major milestone” for the office’s efforts to uphold crime victims’ rights, access and equity.
Last year, an investigation by the AP revealed that in 19 of 23 states that provided racial data, Black victims were disproportionately denied compensation, “often for subjective reasons rooted in implicit biases that are felt across the criminal justice system,” according to the AP report.
The news organization found that states including Michigan and Iowa were among those where “behavioral denials” prevented Black applicants from participating in state crime victims’ compensation programs.
In Michigan, claims can be denied for behavioral issues if a person is “criminally responsible” – which includes “breaking into property, firing a weapon first and being injured, or assaulting someone and becoming injured,” Bob Wheaton, a Michigan Department…
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