For crime victims, Minnesota fund helps ease some pain

Five years ago, Amy Christiansen's husband pointed a loaded gun at her head, cocked the trigger and told her, "I'm going to kill you and I'm going to kill myself."

Christiansen says her then-16-year-old daughter heard the commotion, came downstairs and persuaded her dad to drop the gun. Although she was not physically injured in the attack, Christiansen says it scarred her.

"I'd get up 10 times a night to double-check the doors, make sure they were locked," she recalled. "I couldn't walk down a crowded street. I couldn't even go into the parking lot of grocery stores."

Christiansen turned to the state's Crime Victims Reparations Board to help pay for counseling for herself and her three teenage children who witnessed the confrontation. She doesn't know how much money she received in total. But Christiansen says she remembers the board took care of co-pays not covered by her insurance, and paid a portion of her salary while she took time off from work.

Board officials say it pays out $2 million to $3 million per year to an average of 1,500 claims. The Legislature, which created the board in 1974, capped the maximum total payment at $50,000. Most of the people who file claims are women. In fiscal year 2015, women filed 57 percent of claims. And most claims were filed by victims of assault.

The most expensive pay outs are associated with homicide and gun violence, said Marie Bibus, the board's reparations director.

The board pays up to $7,500 for funeral and burial costs. The most common expenses incurred by crime victims are a result of medical treatment. However, board officials say they have been paying less in medical reimbursement since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, which has helped to reduce the number of uninsured Minnesotans.

Bibus says gunshot victims often require extensive medical treatment. And she says the board keeps a fund reserve to respond to mass violence such as the shootings in Red Lake in 2005 and the Accent Signage shooting in 2012. Nine people were killed by a gunman at the Red Lake School and seven were wounded. Six were shot to death at the Minneapolis sign-making company and two more were injured.

"In those types of incidents, where there are multiple fatalities and multiple injuries, we expect to have expenses well in excess of $500,000 up to $1 million to our program," Bibus said.

Some violent crimes have increased, so has the number of claims related to those crimes, she added. While the total number of claims fell to 1,376 in 2014 from 1,490 in 2013, the number of claims related to homicides and robberies increased.

Not everyone who applies for reparations is eligible. Bibus says the board accepts just over half the claims it receives. She says the most common reason for denial is that the victim has insurance that will pay the expense. However, Bibus says those cases can be reopened if the victims' circumstances change.

Board Chair Robert Goodell says under state law, crime victims will be denied reparations if they don't fully cooperate with law enforcement or if they themselves were committing a crime at the time they were hurt. And he says people found to be partially at fault may receive reduced benefits. Goodell says that could apply to a person injured after knowingly riding with a drunk driver. The board also doesn't compensate people who are the victims of property crimes, such as burglary.

Goodell says in that regard, the board serves as a steward of taxpayer dollars. State and federal funds pay for nearly three quarters of the program. Goodell says much of the rest of that money comes from the people who commit crimes.

"I believe last year, we received something close to $900,000 in reclaimed restitution payments from the offenders."

Reparations come in other forms as well. Christiansen, who received financial assistance after she was assaulted by her husband five years ago, is now a member of the Crime Victims Reparations Board. She says the chance to help others has helped her with her own struggle.