Increase in federal convictions leads to Maryland grant money

The Victim of Crime Assistance grant distributed $37,000,000 to the state of Maryland in 2016. That’s $29,000,000  more then Maryland typically receives and $900,000 of it is going to the Life Crisis Center in Salisbury.

Executive director, Michele Hughes, tells us the source of the money illustrates a case not of “more money, more problems” but rather “more problems, more money.”

Those funds come not from tax dollars but from fees and penalties paid by people who break federal laws,” said Hughs.

So this means Maryland has had more federal criminal convictions than in previous years. Contributing to the fund  are fines and property confiscation from sex offenders, domestic abusers, and drug dealers along with court fees. And with Life Crisis being the only such center on the Lower Eastern Shore, that $900,000 thousand will be put to good use.

“This money is supporting 12 positions here but one is a brand new position for a child therapist,” explained Hughs.

That additional therapist will help the facility serve the growing number of child victims on the eastern shore,  like those allegedly involved in the recent sexual abuse case at Mitchell’s Martial Arts.

“When a traumatic incident happens to a child there’s a variety of different responses that a person may have or specifically children,” said Life Crisis therapist Jennifer Kelley. ” Anger guilt blaming themselves you know a lot of feelings that something’s wrong with them and when a child doesn’t go into treatment and get the therapy they may need they grow up holding on to these things.”

Kelley tells us this additional funding will also let them cut down on wait times to get an appointment, which is currently up to 2 weeks. The life crisis center now also gets twenty five dollars out of every marriage license fee.