SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A proposal has been made in the state legislature for the state to cover the upfront funeral costs for poor families who lose children to gun violence.
The bill is named after Mychal Moultry Jr., a 4-year-old boy whose life was cut short last year when bullets burst into his family’s South Side home. The little boy’s father was braiding young Mychal’s hair at the time in their apartment on 65th and Ellis in the Woodlawn neighborhood.
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The Strength to Love Foundation paid for the boy’s funeral and its founder, Dr. Dave Nayak said, “Not only are these families dealing with the trauma of losing their child suddenly, but then they’re faced for the added financial hardships of paying for their funeral.”
The sponsor of the legislation, State Senator Jacqui Collins said her measure would have the state pay up to $10,000 for the funeral of a murdered child whose family makes up to 150 percent of the federal poverty rate, which is about $40,000 a year for a family of four.
“We just wanted to alleviate some of that pain and to give them support. Emotional support and financial support,” said Sen. Collins.
There’s currently a state law that provides funeral cost reimbursements to families of victims killed by gun violence, but Senator Collins said that reimbursement can take months, if not a year or more for people who can least afford waiting.
“Many of these families are dealing with other financial burdens on their families, especially during a pandemic, and what happens is they have to resort to a GoFundMe page," Sen. Collins said.
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Senator Collins introduced Senate Bill 2985 on Jan. 5. She’s hoping to get it through the Illinois General Assembly during the spring session.
Dr. Nayak pointed out that while 45 children under the age of 17 were killed in Chicago in 2021, “this epidemic, this crisis is not just affecting Chicago. This is affecting the entire State of Illinois. For example, in Peoria, [in] 2021 there were five children under the age of 17 who were murdered and in East St. Louis there were seven.”
Dr. Nayak added there have already been five children killed in Chicago in 2022.
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