The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said Monday that more than 1,000 Michigan crime victims have received a combined total of more than $5 million in benefits. The money helps cover medical bills, funeral expenses, lost wages, mental and physical health treatment, and other expenses like relocation and security. The department is touting bipartisan legislation that went into effect last year, which expanded the Crime Victim Compensation program.
Last year, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed a package of bills that added to the number of eligible categories. It also increased the maximum amount of compensation to $45,000 from $25,000 and added funding for bereavement, residential security, and relocation. The legislation expanded services to those impacted by crime physically, emotionally, psychologically, or mentally.
“The expansion allowed us to serve a lot more victims, a lot more claimants,” said Shalonna H. Banks, the director of crime victims compensation and victims rights at the health department's Victim Services Division. “All of these types of benefits really expanded the program, made it more accessible to those in the community … removed some of the barriers that were stopping people from accessing the program,” she said.
Banks gave examples of benefits that help people deal with the trauma of crime. “People are entitled to up to 35 sessions of counseling,” she said. Banks said the program helps with therapeutic services, medical bills, and lost wages.
“Maybe the child's parents have been the victim of homicide and the grandparent has now taken over the care for that child,” Banks said illustrating lost wages support. “We will pay that claim until either the maximum or until they're 18, whichever one comes first, the maximum is 45,000.”
Ultimately, Banks said the legislation and other initiatives have helped address disparities in who can access resources for victims. She said that the department has changed its methods in enforcing the requirement that victims must cooperate with authorities throughout an investigation to its conclusion. “If you report to the police, that is the cooperation piece that meets the litmus test for us. We don't want to victimize people a second time,” she said.
“It's a case review, it's not an investigation. We're not investigators; my staff are not investigators. They're analysts. They look at what's submitted, they try to find a way to yes,” said Banks.
