We need to support victims of gun violence
Growing up, I never thought gun violence was a problem in my neighborhood. At least I never thought it was until I was a high school student living in McKeesport, and there was a shooting on my block, just steps from my family’s home.
That day changed my life forever and eventually put me on the path toward public service, becoming a state representative and now Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor.
I’ve been working on this issue for nearly two decades, and I’ve met countless survivors and family members who’ve lost loved ones to the epidemic of gun violence. In the aftermath of a shooting, victims experience devastating mental, physical, emotional and financial impacts that echo throughout their lives.
We must do more to address the epidemic of gun violence. That starts with supporting gun violence victims and investing in the service providers who help crime victims recover and heal.
Last month, Gov. Josh Shapiro announced a plan to transfer $5 million in state funds to the Crime Victims Compensation Fund in our proposed 2024-25 state budget. This unprecedented proposed funding would provide financial assistance, through Pennsylvania’s Victims Compensation Assistance Program, for expenses like medical bills, counseling, funeral costs, crime scene cleanup and other costs that may burden victims.
As chair of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, which administers the compensation funds, I had the opportunity in October to hear from Tiffiney Hall, a domestic violence survivor, who shared how this important funding helped her deal with one of the most traumatic moments in her life. The program paid to clean her Dauphin County home — a literal crime scene — before she was discharged from the hospital, and it provided her with muchneeded funds after she was laid off from her job because of her injuries.
The Victims Compensation Assistance Program serves as a critical financial lifeline for people who have experienced crime victimization. It receives more than 12,000 claims annually, on average.
For the last few years, the program’s victimization expenditures have been outpacing the revenue of the Crime Victims Compensation Fund, putting the fund at a critical low level.
The proposed infusion of state funding in the Shapiro-Davis budget would set the program on a more stable course, ensuring that crime victims can continue to receive the support they need and deserve.
In total, the Shapiro-Davis Administration’s 2024-25 budget proposal would invest more than $100 million to address gun violence in our communities and to support victims, including funding to stand up Pennsylvania’s first-ever Office of Gun Violence Prevention and to create a statewide program providing after-school learning opportunities for young people.
The state budget is just one way to increase our support for gun violence victims. Under my leadership at the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, we announced a new Resources for Victims of
Gun Violence initiative, which will gather input and develop recommendations for improving the availability of services and resources for survivors and communities, from those who know best — individuals personally affected.
The Shapiro-Davis administration is taking these critical steps at the state level, but we need action at the federal level too.
Attorney General Michelle Henry recently joined her colleagues from across the country in calling on Congress to authorize much-needed 2024 bridge funding for the federal Crime Victims Fund, which supports Victims of Crime Act grants to states and victim service programs. If Congress does not act, VOCA grants are facing a 40% cut in the upcoming fiscal year. That could lead to victim service programs across the country — including here in Pennsylvania — having to close their doors, leaving too many victims without access to life-saving resources.
We often hear the adage “hurt people hurt people.” We know that victims who don’t grapple with their trauma can continue a cycle of violence that creates even more victims. Last summer, I heard from a mom who lost her son to gun violence and now works for Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley, and she reminded me that “healed people can heal people too.”
That’s why we must not turn our backs on victims of gun violence. The Shapiro-Davis budget — and our proposed investment of $5 million into the Crime Victims Compensation Fund — will help heal our communities and save lives.
People like Tiffiney Hall are counting on us to get this right.