SAINT PAUL, Minn. - Yesterday, the Minnesota House Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee held a public hearing for HF 1437, chief-authored by Representative Athena Hollins (DFL-Saint Paul). HF 1437 establishes grants for organizations that deliver direct services to crime victims.
“We need to prioritize families when they are in crisis,” said Rep. Hollins. “More often than not, these shelters and service providers are working around the clock to ensure families in crisis are not permeated by toxic stress and trauma. Parents have to compartmentalize their emotions and trauma responses, while having to navigate systemic barriers that entrench survivors reliving their trauma to receive service. It is inhumane to treat people who have been harmed with more systemic oppression. We must establish more funding to shelters and service providers who are representative of the community they are serving.”
The bill will appropriate investments from the General Fund to the Department of Public Safety’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP) for organizations that provide direct support to crime victims, including direct financial assistance, hotel stays, and programming. A key element of the legislation would require the OJP to prioritize grants to organizations led and staffed by people of color that primarily serve communities of color.
Additional information and documents from the hearing are available on the committee webpage.
The bill has been laid over for possible inclusion to a larger package of public safety legislation.