VOCA Funding Update
Over the last several months, many of you have contacted your legislators encouraging them to preserve and expand VOCA funding. Some of you have contacted the media and shared your stories as well.
The good news is: you were heard.
During the summer, legislation was introduced in both the House and the Senate that would ensure a continued and substantial increase in VOCA funding. The bills:
- Specify that a minimum of $705 million be allocated in FY 2010.
- Increase the funding cap by 23 percent in each of the next four years.
This means that by FY 2014, the VOCA cap would be $1.6 billion.
COPCVO continues to join with other victim advocacy and criminal justice organizations in encouraging Congress to adequately fund victim services. We co-signed a letter to both the Senate and House Judiciary Committees asking them to support the above referenced legislation. We encourage you to contact your federal legislators and request their support.
For more information on VOCA funding, go to www.navaa.org.
Grant Management Training
Managers, Directors and Supervisors, mark your calendars for a one-day training on grant management and grant writing. Join your colleagues from across the state to discuss pertinent issues and gain helpful information relevant to your needs.
This training is free for COPCVO members and $20 for non-members. Five hours of this training may be used to fulfill VOCA, RASA and VOJO training hour requirements.
What: Grant Management & Writing Training
When: October 22, 2009, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: Radisson Hotel and Convention Center, Camp Hill
To register, simply e-mail or call Billie Jo Matelevich-Hoang at bhoang@copcvo.org or (888) 378-0188. Please register no later than October 15, 2009.
Congratulations, Certified Victim Advocates
Certification is a professional designation acknowledging an individual’s commitment to education, experience and ethical conduct in basic victim assistance. For more information on certification, click here. The next application deadline is December 31, 2009.
Congratulations to the following advocates who were recently certified or renewed their certification.
New Certified Victim Advocates
- Susan Bamford, Victim Advocate, Rape and Victim Assistance Center, Schuylkill County
- Jennifer Boyle, District Attorney’s Office, Victim Services Division, Cumberland County
- Michelle Stackfield, Homicide Support Advocate, Victim/Witness Assistance Program, Dauphin County
Renewals
- Mary Betts, Victim Service Coordinator, District Attorney’s Office, Butler County
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Dawn Dixon Carr, Victim/Witness Coordinator, District Attorney’s Office, Philadelphia
- Tracey Cook, Crime Victims Compensation Coordinator, Victim Services Inc., Cambria and Somerset Counties
- Judith Detwiler, Counselor, Network of Victim Assistance, Bucks County
- Irene Docherty, Victim/Witness Coordinator, Schuylkill County
- Maureen Egley, Director of Victim Services, District Attorney’s Office, Monroe County
- Susan Fritsch, Victim/Witness Coordinator, District Attorney’s Office, Lehigh County
- Marcia Gregory, Victim Witness Field Coordinator, District Attorney’s Office, Mercer County
- Erica Johnson, Victim/Witness Coordinator, District Attorney’s Office, Susquehanna County
- Rochelle Nestlerode, Counselor Advocate/Child Advocate, CAPSEA, Elk and Cameron Counties
- Darlene Piotrowski, Victim Witness Juvenile Notification Advocate, Crime Victims Center of Erie County
- Betsy Reisinger, Victim Advocate, Victim Witness Assistance Program, Adams County
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Vivian Ritchey, Victim/Witness Coordinator, Huntingdon House, Huntingdon County
- Pamela Schnierle, Coordinator/Counselor Advocate, District Attorney’s Office, Victim Services Division, Cumberland County
- Gretchen Skiba, Counselor Advocate, Family Service and Children’s Aid Society, Venango and Crawford Counties
- Tara Skudera, Assistant Director, Crime Victims Center of Lehigh Valley, Lehigh and Northampton Counties
- Danean Snyder, Assistant Director, Safe Home – YWCA of Hanover, York and Adams Counties
Planting the Seeds of Change …
One Story at a Time
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. If you’re planning a rally, vigil or other event to commemorate this month of awareness and remembrance, consider a speaker from the Survivors Speakers Bureau (SSB).
The SSB has more than 10 passionate, trained speakers who can share their stories as survivors of domestic violence, domestic violence and sexual assault, domestic violence attempted homicide and domestic violence homicide. These speakers can speak individually, participate in a panel discussion, and answer questions from audiences and the media.
For brief bios on these and the other survivor speakers, click here. If you need additional information on the Survivors Speakers Bureau or would like to schedule a speaker, contact Mary Walsh at maryw@copcvo.org.
Are Victims of Crime Receiving Their Rights?
Survey results indicate more work is needed
In Pennsylvania, the law says crime victims are to receive certain rights, including notification, input and accompaniment. Many entities are responsible for ensuring that victims receive these rights, including victims, victim service providers, law enforcement, prosecutors, correctional facilities, the Department of Public Welfare and mental health institutions, and juvenile probation offices.
For several years, COPCVO has been working with the Victims Rights Subcommittee on the Victims Rights Compliance Project. To determine the extent to which victims in Pennsylvania are receiving their rights, COPCVO contracted with Abt/SRBI, an internationally recognized research firm, to conduct the 2008 Pennsylvania Crime Victims Rights Survey.
The telephone survey was administered to a random sample of residents age 18 and older who were victims of a major crime in Pennsylvania between 2005 and 2008. There were 402 completed interviews with victims who reported the crime to police.
The draft* summary of the survey indicates that 56 percent of respondents said they were informed of their rights, 38 percent said they had not been informed and 6 percent said they did not know.
What do these survey results tell us? They tell us that while we are doing a fair job, the job we are doing is not good enough. We will achieve “good enough” when every victim of crime receives every legal right every time.
What can you do to help ensure that victims of crime receive the rights to which they are entitled by law?
- Review the rights for victims at www.pavictimsrights.org.
- Review the responsibilities you have under the law: click here
- Make sure everyone in your office or agency is aware of their responsibilities under the law and make a commitment as an agency to succeed at providing every victim every legal right every time.
- Schedule an in-service training presentation on victims rights compliance, presented by COPCVO staff.
- Encourage victims to provide feedback by participating in a survey.
If you have any questions or would like more information about the Victims Rights Compliance Project, please contact Mary Walsh at maryw@copcvo.org or (888) 378-0188.
*The results of the survey are considered to be in draft form pending final report approval by the Office for Victims of Crime. This project was supported by Grant No. 2005-VF-GX-k006 awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Victims’ Feedback Needed
As part of the Victims Rights Compliance Project, COPCVO has designed a survey that gives victims the opportunity to provide feedback regarding their experience in receiving their rights. The ongoing survey results will help us create awareness and training that will ultimately provide better services for victims of crime.
The survey is being administered by APPRISS, the same company that administers PA SAVIN. Several counties piloted the survey over the summer and we are now inviting other programs to participate by encouraging victims of crime to provide feedback through the survey. Here are a few important things about the survey:
- The survey is anonymous. No information about the individual will be collected.
- The survey does not collect specific data about your agency or the victim’s experience with your agency.
- To take the survey, the crime must have happened in Pennsylvania within the last three years.
The survey can be taken online here or by phone by calling (877) 787-8389.
COPCVO is Going Green
COPCVO is going green … and while we do our best to preserve the environment, we’re not talking recycling here. Rather, COPCVO’s new color is green.
Earlier this year, COPCVO held a fundraising campaign where participants could vote on a new color for the organization. The competition was stiff between “blue” supporters and “green” supporters, but “green” was declared the winner in the end.
The new ribbon representing COPCVO will be green with a silver background. Look for your ribbon at upcoming COPCVO-sponsored events.
Thank you to everyone who participated in the campaign by voting and financially supporting COPCVO.
Rally Recap: Justice for Victims, Justice for All
On April 27, 2009, hundreds of victim service providers from across the Commonwealth convened in the Capitol rotunda to celebrate COPCVO’s 17th annual Victims’ Rights Rally. This annual rally is a key opportunity to call attention to the rights and needs of victims, and to speak to state legislators about victim-related issues.
This year’s speakers included Marjorie and Susan Aaron from the Survivors Speakers Bureau, Cumberland County District Attorney David J. Freed, Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Colonel Frank E. Pawlowski and Pennsylvania Victim Advocate Carol Lavery.
Mark your calendars for next year’s rally on Monday, April 19, 2010. More details to follow.
Technical Assistance Helps Build and Sustain Organizations
Did you know COPCVO is available to provide technical assistance to all crime victim programs in Pennsylvania? Technical assistance will help you build skills, access resources, and develop and implement agency policies. Technical assistance can contribute to the success of a struggling organization and help a successful organization grow stronger and more effective.
If you need technical assistance with programming or managerial issues, please call COPCVO. We can provide assistance onsite, over the phone or via e-mail. Your PCCD monitoring consultants can also help with technical assistance.
For program assistance: Billie Jo Matelevich-Hoang, bhoang@copcvo.org
or (888) 378-0188.
For managerial assistance: Mary Walsh, maryw@copcvo.org or (888) 378-0188.
Mark Your Calendars
October 8, 2009
KCIT Simulation
Holiday Inn, Grantville, PA
Lynn Feldman, (215) 343-6543, kcit@novabucks.org
October 22, 2009
COPCVO’s Grant Management & Writing Training
Radisson Hotel and Convention Center, Camp Hill
Billie Jo Matelevich-Hoang, bhoang@copcvo.org
(888) 378-0188
November 18-20, 2009
Pennsylvania Pathways for Victim Services
Sheraton Station Square Hotel, Pittsburgh, PA
April 19, 2010
Crime Victims Rights Rally
Harrisburg, PA
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