To support crime victims, invest in safety solutions for Michigan residents
Last year, against a challenging backdrop of a public health crisis and political turmoil, Michigan leaders took bold moves to make residents of our state safer. Bipartisan leaders in the Legislature paved the way for creating four new trauma recovery centers that would help hard-to-reach victims of crime in Michigan recover from their injuries.
They also enacted Clean Slate legislation to remove some of the obstacles that people living with past convictions face in seeking stable, productive lives for themselves and their families. I was proud to speak at the governor’s ceremonial signing of the bipartisan bill.
As a survivor of crime, I am hopeful that Michigan will continue taking steps to support crime victims and make communities safer. The state can start by shifting our safety priorities towards modernizing the state’s victim compensation program to better help survivors.
Despite Michigan spending nearly $2 billion (one-fifth of our state’s general fund budget) on its prison system, crime victims like me don’t receive access to the support we need to recover. There are immense barriers to the state’s crime victim compensation program, which can help people with medical care, mental health counseling and other supports.
In fact, Michigan’s victim compensation program has the lowest application rate of any state in the country, and a higher denial rate than the national average. Even if a crime survivor is lucky enough to actually access the program, we still are shortchanged by the state’s below average level of coverage. Whether trying to make up for lost wages as a result of being victimized or attempting to relocate for our safety, the program falls far short of helping us get to safety.
In order to help heal trauma in communities and stop the cycle of crime, the Legislature should remove the barriers to this program and modernize its levels of support for crime victims.
Another key way to improve public safety in Michigan is by reducing wasteful prison spending and ensuring that rehabilitation is prioritized. For the billions of dollars spent on prisons, too little focus is on rehabilitation.
Yet, we know from all the research that incentivizing rehabilitation — rather than just long prison sentences — decreases recidivism. This is also what survivors of crime support — nearly 2 out of every 3 Michigan crime victims support shorter prison sentences and more spending on prevention and rehabilitation over sentences that keep people in prison for as long as possible.
Yet, Michigan imposes some of the longest sentences in the nation for serious offenses. Nearly 40 percent of people in our state prisons are serving a sentence of 15 years or longer. In many cases, these sentences are, on average, 2.5 years longer than they would be in other states.
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These long sentences actually undermine our ability to build safer communities. According to the National Academies of Sciences, longer sentences and harsher, punitive measures do not translate into reduced recidivism; drug treatment, education programs, vocational training and other forms of in-prison programming do.
Prioritizing rehabilitation in our correctional system and more support for victims of crime, while ensuring we invest in communities, is the most effective way to break cycles of crime.
To truly support crime survivors, cut back on bureaucratic waste and invest in safety, Michigan must champion new safety solutions that are proven to be effective.
Just as Michigan lawmakers united across party lines to advance safety last year, there is an opportunity for them to build on those efforts. Across the state, crime victims will once again be prepared to stand side by side with you in support. I know I will.
Priscilla Bordayo is a Lansing-based survivor of sexual abuse and member of Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice.