Скачать или смотреть Mother of son lost to gun violence speaks out in favor of expanded access to victim compensation

In 2014, Carolyn Dixon lost her son, Darrell Lynch to gun violence. She was so distraught, she was unable to file for victim compensation on her own. Although a family friend filed on her behalf, they were eventually denied victim compensation which would have helped her pay for burial costs and other expenses related to her son's murder.

Victim compensation funds are available to victims and survivors of violence to help them recoup costs associated with being harmed. Funded by both the federal and state governments, this money can cover medical expenses, the cost of things like crime-scene clean up and lock replacement, in circumstances where a loved one passes away, burial expenses, and more. While victim compensation can be lifesaving for victims and survivors, there are far too many people, like Ms. Dixon, who cannot access these funds.

The Fair Access To Victim Compensation Campaign is a state-wide campaign, led by several local New York-based groups and national organizations who are fighting for expanded and equitable access to victim compensation funds. Currently in New York State, survivors of violence are subject to onerous law enforcement reporting requirements when filing for victim compensation funds, and barred from access if they allegedly contributed to the crime in question or failed to show physical injury associated with their harm. This denies resources to countless survivors that could be used to pay for medical bills, funeral expenses, replacement of personal property, relocation expenses, and other costs associated with the harm they experienced.

Our goal is to raise awareness about the victim compensation program and propose several legislative bills to eliminate any barriers to access that survivors face. The first bill of the campaign removes the requirement that survivors report their harm to police in order to be eligible for victim compensation by expanding the forms of evidence that could be used to show that a survivor suffered harm. We are calling on elected officials in New York State to support and pass the Fair Access to Victim Compensation bill S.214 (Myrie) / A.2105 (Meeks) to ensure that all survivors have access to healing.

Take action now and sign the petition to make this bill become law in NY state: https://oneclickpolitics.global.ssl.f...

Learn more about the Fair Access to Victim Compensation campaign at: www.commonjustice.org/fairaccess