Victims of Crime Helpline

Crime in the State of Rhode Island, as well as throughout the United States, has reached epidemic proportions. If victims of crime in Rhode Island are to have access to the support and services they need to begin rebuilding their lives, it is essential that we have one centralized hotline for victims of crime, that can provide not only referrals, but immediate quality crisis intervention and support to victims of all types of crime. The Network, a model statewide partnership of eight agencies dedicated to serving the needs of victims in Rhode Island, has collaborated with the project to develop a statewide Helpline for Victims of Crime so that victims can reach a skilled, well-trained advocate when they make their, first call for help. Network agencies offer proven expertise in service provision to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, youth violence, and family and friends of homicide victims.

The Rhode Island Helpline for Victims of Crime offers callers one centralized and well-publicized hotline number. Launched on January 1, 1997, the Helpline is in its third year of operation. Available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the hotline is staffed by trained victim advocates who have completed a thirty-six hour, state-of-the-art training program.

It is projected that the Helpline serves over 3,400 victims of crime from October 1, 2001 to September 30, 2002. Callers to the Helpline receive one or more of the following services: crisis counseling, referrals, advocacy, information and emotional support. VOCA funding for this project ensures that after having been victimized once already, victims who call for help get the emotional support, crisis intervention, and advocacy they need without having to make another phone call.

HELPLINE FOR VICTIMS OF CRIME

INTRODUCTION

The Network was originally convened in 1995 after the Violence Against Women Act provided federal funding to enhance victim services for underserved populations. After focus groups with victims and survivors, service providers, front-line police and hospital emergency department staff, the need for coordinated and unduplicated services was apparent. As a result of many of the planning activities triggered by the Violence Against Women Act, the Network participants determined that having multiple crisis hotlines for victims in the State (six shelter hotlines, the Sexual Assault and Trauma Resource Center of Rhode Island, the Coalition 800 hotline, and a VOCA hotline) is not in the best interest of victims of crime in Rhode Island. Multiple hotlines contribute to confusion among victims about where to turn for help. Victims we had spoken with had had to make two or more phone calls to get the help they needed. During the spring of 1996, plans developed to consolidate the domestic violence shelter hotlines and the Sexual Assault and Trauma Resource Center hotline so that victims experience less confusion, and the overall quality of hotline services could be enhanced through collaborative training efforts.

The Network envisioned one centralized hotline for victims of crime that could provide not only referrals to quality service providers, but immediate quality crisis intervention and support to victims of all types of crime. Because the skills that domestic violence and sexual assault advocates provide to victims of violence can be applied to people who have experienced other types of violent crime, and because it draws from the expertise of eight agencies from throughout the state, the Network is well positioned to provide outstanding quality hotline services to all victims of crime throughout Rhode Island. Victims of crime need to reach a skilled, well-trained crisis intervention advocate when they make their first call for help. People who have been mugged or robbed often experience shock, disbelief and feelings of anger and betrayal. The Network’s trained Helpline advocates provide support to all victims, and assist them in coping with their experiences of violence and in taking the next steps to regain control of their lives. By providing in-depth helping services above and beyond a referral/information service, victims of crime receive a quality, comprehensive service through the Helpline for victims of crime.

1. Organization Description

a) The Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence

The Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence is an association of the six domestic violence shelter and advocacy programs which have been providing free, confidential, direct services to victims of domestic violence throughout Rhode Island for twenty years. Our six member agencies receive funding from federal, state, local, and private sources, and have a history of providing direct services to victims of crime in a cost-effective manner. In addition, the Coalition and its member agencies enjoy the support and approval of the communities we serve, as evidenced by the multitude of donations we receive from individuals, through the United Way (both cash and in-kind), and by countless donated volunteer hours. The Coalition and its member agencies rely heavily on volunteers, who enhance the work of the paid victim advocates and enable us to serve more clients than we would otherwise.

The structure of the Coalition has enabled us to successfully offer coordinated, unduplicated services to Rhode Island’s victims of domestic violence, including emergency shelter; statewide toll-free hotline assistance; advocacy; support groups; children’s groups; community education and outreach; assistance in filing compensation claims; and advocacy for victims of federal domestic violence crimes. Member agencies of the Coalition operate specialized outreach programs for underserved populations, included Latina outreach, Southeast Asian outreach, lesbian services, and elderly services for victims of abuse. In terms of the ethnic background of staff and general hiring practices, the staff of the Coalition includes 30% people of color, and adequate bilingual capacity for Spanish-speaking callers.

The Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence was incorporated in 1979 in order to assist Rhode Island’s shelters for battered women in statewide planning and development, and has been providing free services to victims of domestic violence for twenty years. The Coalition applies for grants on behalf of its member agencies, from private, corporate, state and federal sources. The Coalition has the ability to meet the financial match requirements for VOCA funding. The Coalition and its member agencies have consistently improved and expanded victims services throughout Rhode Island while effectively providing the comprehensive support and personal advocacy needed for an abused woman and her children to escape a violent relationship.

The Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence collaborates with the primary national and local domestic violence programs. Nationally, we accomplish our mission as an active member of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence, and we have worked closely with the National Domestic Violence Hotline since its establishment this past year.

The Coalition is applying for these funds on behalf of the Network to End Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (outlined below).

b) The Network

In 1995, a unique statewide partnership developed among eight agencies dedicated to ending violence against women, with the goal of enhancing the services available to victims of abuse in Rhode Island. This partnership, The Network to End Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, is comprised of the Sexual Assault and Trauma Resource Center of Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic

Violence, the Blackstone Shelter, Elizabeth Buffum Chace House, Sojourner House, the Women’s Center of Rhode Island, the Women’s Resource Center of South County, and the Women’s Resource Center of Newport & Bristol Counties. The Network is the first of its kind in the country and has been hailed as a pioneering model for the nation by the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta and the Office of Violence Against Women in Washington D.C.

The Network has successfully recruited and trained 850 advocates of whom 188 are certified. The diversity of the pool of volunteers reflects the diversity of the populations of Rhode Island, with a greater proportion of volunteers being people of color than that found in the general population. Language capacity is broad within the volunteer base, with advocates on call to speak with victims who do not speak English. Current capacity for languages includes the following: Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, French, Cambodian, Laotian, German, Italian, and Sign Language. In addition, the Network is considering expanding the language capacity of the Helpline by purchasing services through AT & T’s Language Line program. This enables callers speaking any of 140 different languages to be able to communicate through the Helpline. Recent hiring patterns of the Network member agencies reflect an overall commitment to diversification within the Network member agencies.

Each of the Network agencies strives to respectfully consider their clients’ racial and cultural backgrounds in every facet of their service provision, from ensuring translation services for non-English speaking victims, to monitoring the posters on the facility walls for multi-cultural representation. In recent years, priority initiatives have included outreach programs to underserved populations, such as collaborative programs with Native American tribes, volunteer and staff training within the Southeast Asian community, programs which specialize in outreach to the Latina community, and specialized services for lesbian victims of domestic abuse.

Our current collaborative Network is made up of agencies that have recognized track records of successfully administering and implementing effective programs for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. All eight agencies are recognized as reputable and distinguished leaders in the state on the issues of victim advocacy. The structure of the Network enables us to successfully offer coordinated, unduplicated services, (including hotline assistance, advocacy, crisis counseling, support groups, children’s groups, emergency shelter, community education and outreach, assistance in filing compensation clams, and advocacy for victims of federal domestic crimes). The Sexual Assault and Trauma Resource Center of Rhode Island recently established the only support program in Rhode Island for friends and family of homicide victims. Our combined expertise in direct service provision includes work with survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, youth violence, and family and friends of homicide victims.

Current funding for the statewide Helpline for Victims of Crime provides support for the coordination and implementation of 24-hour crisis intervention and advocacy services, as well as an outreach and publicity campaign, designed to get the word out to a broad range of individuals and community groups about the 800 line.

The Helpline has made tremendous progress during the first year and a half of its operation; and we are anxious to enhance the project with an evaluation component (currently under way) and a comprehensive publicity and outreach campaign (currently in production). The publicity campaign involves several elements: design of a Helpline brochure and poster, media materials, outreach to other human service and community agencies, and outreach to police departments. By working with a professional public relations consultant (Angela Gora, of Gora Communications Associates), the Network staff oversees the development of creative materials that focus on outreach to ALL victims of crime.

All printed materials are printed in two languages (English and Spanish), with considerations made for the possibility of expanding the numbers of languages in the future. While the initial plans for creation of materials include the production of palm cards, posters and brochures, the next phase of our publicity/outreach plan includes the development of actual products to reflect recommendations form the stakeholders (such as stickers, magnets, decals, or other publicity collateral materials).

The Network recognizes that success of such outreach efforts depends on building communication with other professionals who work with victims of crime, particularly local law enforcement officers, probation staff, human service professionals, and other VOCA-subgrantee programs. The Network s utilizes existing networks and organizations (i.e., the Crime Victim Services Providers, the Police Chiefs Association, Victim Witness, RI Victims Compensation Program, etc.) to promote the publicity campaign and ensure that the materials are distributed statewide.

Personnel

Deborah DeBare - Coalition Executive Director

Deborah DeBare has been involved with domestic violence work since 1982, as an advocate, shelter executive director, and in her current position as Executive Director of the Coalition. She has a proven track record of initiating and overseeing collaborative projects with varied agencies and state departments, and represents the Coalition on a variety of multi-disiciplinary task forces and committees. The Coalition’s Executive Director is responsible for overseeing the implementation of this program and reporting to the Public Safety Grant Administration Office on its progress.

Olga Xavier- -Blackstone Shelter

Olga Xavier is the Helpline Advocate responsible for coordinating the program at the Blackstone Shelter. Her full time position at Blackstone involves monitoring the quality of the Helpline services, ensuring the timely data entry for the Helpline database, overseeing monthly updates of referral resources in the community, and coordinating with other agencies to ensure smooth operations of the program.

Tanya Marselli - SATRC

Tanya Marselli coordinates the Victims of Crime programs for the Sexual Assault and Trauma Resource Center of RI. She is responsible for coordinating the daily operations of the Helpline with the Blackstone Shelter, and for ensuring the on-call advocate response is fully staffed with well-trained volunteers. Together with the Blackstone Shelter staff, she oversees three volunteer trainings on an annual basis, including the recruitment, training and supervision of the on-call advocates.

Executive Directors

Peg Langhammer, Executive Director of the SATRC, and Linda Impagliazzo, Executive Director of the Blackstone Shelter are responsible for the overall daily operations of the project.

2. What is our challenge?

a) Scope of the Problem/Need for Services

Crime in the State of Rhode Island, as well as throughout the United States, has reached an epidemic proportions. While overall crime rates have been stable in recent years, violent crime has increased for some groups, including teenagers. In general, one is more likely to become the victim of a violent crime than to be injured in a motor vehicle accident, according to the United States Department of Justice. The report issued by the Bureau of Justice Statistics based on twenty years of data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (1973-1992) reveals that one in four households (24%) in the United States are victimized by one or more crimes each year; about half of all violent crimes are reported to the police, handguns are used in about 10% of all violent crimes; and in 9% of all violent victimizations the victim experienced three or more similar victimizations within a six month period.

b) How the Need was Identified

In 1996, the Network held focus groups with victims and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, and revealed that there is considerable confusion among the general public about which number to call for which services. Callers who had made calls to our hotlines and had been referred to other agencies had become very frustrated and hand, in some cases, ceased trying to get through to someone who could help them. A woman recently told us that when she had been raped by her abusive husband, she didn’t know if she should call the Coalition or the Sexual Assault and Trauma Resource Center. When she did make the call, the person answering the phone was only able to assist her with one aspect of her crisis situation and was forced to ask her to make yet another phone call to obtain further assistance.

Through their ongoing work with crime victims on their own hotlines, members of the Network also discovered that people are more comfortable making a phone call for assistance when they are not labeled "victims" and can call a "helpline" for assistance. Thus, the notion of he Network’s statewide, toll-free victim of crime Helpline was created in 1996.

In 1996, the Network was awarded a VOCA grant to begin consolidating hotline services into one statewide Helpline for Victims of Crime, to serve victims of crime more effectively, and to create a pool of specialized advocates who are trained and certified in assisting victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and violent crime. This project has been designed to enhance the quality of services provided directly to victims throughout the state.

During the second full year of operations, the Network embarked on an Evaluation/ Assessment of the Helpline, in order to ensure that the program continued to develop effectively and efficiently. Doris Donovan authored the report, in May 1999, which resulted in the Network’s subsequent decision to reorganize the management of the Helpline for smoother operations. As a result, two of the Network agencies (Blackstone, and SATRC) have taken the lead in overseeing the management and implementation. A follow-up assessment of the program was conducted in 2000 by consultant Eleanor Lyon

c) Estimated Numbers of Victims needing Services

The Network estimates that there are thousands of victims of crime who have never called the police, health care professionals, or community agencies for help. Each year, the Network member agencies provide comprehensive services to over 10,000 victims of crime each year, primarily victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault. Collectively, the eight Network agencies have been providing support and assistance to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse and child sexual abuse, and homicide through their own individual programs and services for over 25 years. Such services include shelter, counseling, educational programs and crisis intervention.

In reviewing the data during the past three years, the Helpline data indicates the following:

Total Calls:

• 1998: 2,999
• 1999:3,155
• 2000: 3,144

• Domestic Violence 1,981
• Emotional Abuse 280
• Hate Crimes 10
• Homicide 5
• Mugging/Theft 13
• Physical child abuse 62
• Sexual Abuse 730
• Sexual Harassment 24
• Stalking 61
• Vandalism 17
• Other 151

The Network estimates that 3,400 new callers will access the toll free Victims of Crime Helpline in the coming year, as publicity for the phone number increases thepublic awareness of the service availability.

Additional data from 2000 provides the following information for the Helpline:

Types of Callers Using the Helpline

• 9.4% of the callers were family members of victims
• 7.1% of the callers were friends of victims
• 2.5% of the callers were offenders
• 10.8% of the callers were professionals seeking referrals or support
• 61.4% of the callers were victims
• 8.9% of the callers were other types of callers

Age of Callers

• 97.9% of the callers were adults
• 1.8% of the callers were children/teens
• .4% of the callers were elders

Type and Number of Services Currently Available

Currently, with the existing VOCA support, the Victims of Crime Helpline provides crisis intervention, referrals and information, and support to all callers. In addition, victims of domestic violence and sexual assault may access an on-call advocate who is available to accompany them to the police department or hospital emergency department.

In 2000, 39 victims received this police accompaniment service (representing a 56% increase over the previous year), and 245 victims received hospital accompaniment (representing a 46% increase over the previous year).

During the past year, 81 calls were handled in languages other than English. The majority were Spanish callers, but thanks to the abilities of the AT & T Language Line services, there were 10 other languages handled through the Helpline’s Language Line translation services.

How VOCA funds is used to fill the gap

The funds from VOCA are critical to the implementation of the Helpline. Now that it has been established for nearly three years, the initial kinks in the system have been worked out, and the funds are needed to assure quality, provide staff continuity for a volunteer-based system, and enhance the publicity relating to the Victims of Crime Helpline phone number. While this system is intensely volunteer-based, the need for quality staff to oversee the immediate response provided to callers, manage the database effectively, and improve on the quality of the program overall cannot be underestimated. As the system has grown in the past year, and the anticipated numbers of callers (and volunteers involved) will continue to grow, the need for additional staff has become evident. The increased VOCA funds will provide the stability for such staffing, and will allow the staff and volunteers the opportunity to conduct effective outreach with a publicity campaign.

The Network estimates that thousand of new callers access the toll free Victims of Crime Helpline in a year, as publicity for the phone number increases the public awareness of the service availability.

The funds from VOCA are critical to the implementation of the Helpline. Now that it has been established for almost a year, the initial kinks in the system have been worked out, and the funds are needed to assure quality, provide staff continuity for a volunteer-based system, and enhance the publicity relating to the Victims of Crime Helpline phone number. While this system is intensely volunteer-based, the need for quality staff to oversee the immediate response provided to callers, manage the database effectively, and improve on the quality of the program overall cannot be underestimated. As the system has grown in the past year, and the anticipated numbers of callers (and volunteers involved) continue to grow, the need for additional staff has become evident. The increased VOCA funds provide the stability for such staffing, allow sthe staff and volunteers the opportunity to conduct effective outreach with a publicity campaign.

3. What is our action Plan?

This program is designed to address the great need for coordinated, enhanced crisis intervention and advocacy efforts for victims of crime by providing: (1) advocates who are trained to provide crisis intervention and support victims; and (2) one centralized point of entry through which crime victims can easily access services.

Goals and Objectives

The FY 2001/2001 Victims of Crime HelpLine Project has the following goals and objectives:

Goal 1 To provide easy access to immediate, quality crisis intervention, support and referrals for all victims of crime in Rhode Island .

Objective A: to provide a 36-hour certification program for 65 new advocates to ensure they have the training they need in order to respond to all victims of crime with quality crisis intervention and advocacy services.

Objective B.: to develop and implement a plan (including specialized publicity materials in Spanish and English) for outreach among constituencies (i.e. advocates, case managers, police, probation, prosecution, corrections, human service agencies, etc.) that work with victims to publicize the HelpLine services.

Goal 2: to improve the quality of the Helpline for Victims of Crime

Objective A: to improve quality within the Helpline, based on recommendations from the 2000 Evaluation/Assessment.

Objective B.: to enhance the volunteer training program (i.e. Certification Program for hotline volunteers)

Goal 3: to publicize the phone number and services of the Helpline for Victims of Crime, so that ALL victims of crime have access to the services.

Objective A: to promote specialized public relations materials targeting all victims of crime, using professional marketing strategies to get the word out.

Objective B.: to expand the Helpline’s language capacities through the establishment of AT & T’s language line.

The Helpline for Victims of Crime has established Rhode Island as a model for the nation with a state-of-the-art statewide hotline for crime victims. Funding for the third year of the project ensures that trained advocates can provide immediate crisis intervention to callers in crisis, in addition to providing state-of-the-art information and referrals.

The Helpline staff is working during the coming year with Angela Gora (from Gora Communications Associates), and with the public relations staff from the Sexual Assault Trauma Resource Center of Rhode Island and the Coalition to develop specialized materials to market the Helpline throughout Rhode Island. Materials that are produced are circulated, using the existing VOCA-funded victim service providers, as well as all other human service agencies, police departments, community centers, and other local outreach strategies.

b) Management Plan

Responsibility for overall management of the Helpline project rests with the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence. The Executive Director of the Coalition ensures proper and effective administration of the project, accountability for all funds and reporting as required. The day-to-day operations for the Helpline are overseen by the Network’s Coordinator of Advocacy and Helpline Services, OLGA Xavier who is supervise by Deborah DeBare (RICADV) and Tanya Marselli who is supervise by Peg Langhammer (SATRC).

5. How we measure our success?

The Network has several considerations to address when measuring the success of its Helpline program:

1. The number of contacts received by the Helpline (the number of calls for assistance).

a. The Network expects to see an overall increase of 10% in the number of contacts made to the Helpline during the proposed funding period of this program.

2. The level of awareness in the community about the availability of the Helpline services and phone number.

a. The Network expects to see a raised awareness of the availability of the Helpline as a statewide resource, based on the numbers of public requests for information about the Helpline.

b. The Network expects to see an increase in the number of requests from professionals for information on the Helpline.

3. Points of origin of contacts.

a. The Network expects to see a diversification (according to population) of points of origin (of initial contact) among the municipalities of Rhode Island, and the referral sources.

4. Tracking available data on client referrals made.

a. The Network expects to see an expansion and diversification of resources and referrals made available to Helpline callers.

We measure our success through a set of protocols and strategies that addresses all of the above considerations. Therefore, the goals and objectives of the service aspect of this program is measured through statistical analysis of the numbers of victims receiving our Helpline services as well as the types of services they seek and receive, the type of crime victimization they report, and the types of referrals provided. Helpline data currently collected includes a breakdown of callers by town/region, length of call, outcome of call (or disposition), and type of assistance provided. The Network has developed a computerized database specifically for measuring the Helpline’s activities and outcomes. Using the application Lotus Notes, we are able to obtain data on callers to the Helpline to evaluate the program, and to track referrals. All Network agencies have upgraded their hardware and software to enable inter-agency communications within the Network, and the database for the Helpline has been utilized since July 1997. A substantail revision in the data base format was implemented on January1, 2000, so that additional details are now available for evaluation and management reports.