California is Failing Crime Victims: Survey

A survey of 711 victims of crime in California by the Prosecutors Alliance Center for Survivor Policy found that most participants were victims of multiple violent crimes and nearly 40 percent had not been offered victims’ compensation, reports Davis Vanguard. Fifty-five percent of respondents said they did not have money to pay for out-of-pocket expenses like mental health or relocation, so they opted not to access services or to move as a result, with twenty-five respondents actually turning to fundraising in order to pay for expenses. Survivors reported needing more support, not just immediately after the crime, but for a significant time after the crime and outside of business hours.

Survivors surveyed also wanted access to needed resources for healing and recovery, regardless of who or how they were harmed. Thirty percent of participants discussed barriers for them or family members due to probation, parole status or those who had experienced violence at the hands of law enforcement. While 66 percent of respondents said restitution was ordered, respondents reported that payments were slow and unpredictable, and many never received enough to make them whole from their financial losses. That reality resulted in one of the survivor recommendations being to reform restitution such that survivors are paid upfront regardless of an offender’s capacity to pay.