Ruby Marichalar didn’t have the money to pay for her son’s funeral after he was stabbed to death in September 2012. Like thousands of Californians every year, she turned for help to a state agency that was created to support survivors of crime.
The California Victim Compensation Board collects restitution and provides financial aid for crime recovery expenses such as funeral costs, income loss and mental health services to eligible survivors and their families.
It twice denied Marichalar’s application without ever meeting with her.
“They didn’t lift a damn finger to help me,” she said. “I didn’t get a hearing. I didn’t get anything.”
Under California law, the compensation board is required to offer in-person evidentiary hearings for people like Marichalar, who contest a denied application. But for over a decade, a recent court order says the agency relied on an invalid regulation that allowed it to limit hearings to a written record. Now, the compensation board is scrambling to bring itself in line with the law as it works through thousands of appeals.
In a recent request to the Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom, the agency asked to spend an additional $4.4 million in order to comply with the order and more quickly process its appeals.
California established the first-of-its-kind victim compensation program 60 years ago. Today, it’s overseen by three members: State Controller Malia Cohen; Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton; and a representative from Newsom’s cabinet, Government Operations Secretary Amy Tong. The agency receives the majority of its funding through restitution fines, federal grants and the general fund.
In the last state budget year, the compensation board approved 31,214 applications. It denied 9,326…
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