Justice Assistance

Who are we? Project Victim Services

Purpose

Justice Assistance, a private 501©(3) nonprofit criminal justice services agency located at 943 Park Avenue, Cranston, Rhode Island, funds will be used for continuation funds to support the cost of staffing one Case Manager’s position to provide services to clients referred by Rhode Island’s 6th Division District Court.

Goal

The goal of Project Victim Services is to ensure that Rhode Island victims of crime referred by the state courts receive described program services. There is no cost to the victim. Most recent figures (January, 2001) show a participation level within the 6th Division District Court of approximately 1387 clients per annum. In addition, statistical data shows 945 clients pending dispositions from the previous fiscal year.

Method

Project Victim Services encompasses intake, assessment, victim impact statements, counseling, referral, court appearance preparation, restitution repayment, and follow-through—all designed to lessen the impact of the crime and provide a control mechanism for the victim. The statewide clientele represents a range of ethnic and economic strata in Rhode Island whose needs as victims are mandated by state law and constitutional amendment. Project Victim Services is evaluated through an established program evaluation process. An annual final report is shared with the Public Safety Grant Administration Office.

1. Organization Description - Provide information on the history of the program, the cultural diversity of the population served, and outreach to minorities. Outline the qualifications of each person involved in the program and their responsibilities. Also, provide a breakdown of racial/ethnic background of staff and a description of hiring practices of minority individuals by your agency.

History of Project Victim Services

From 1985 to 1988, organized case-managed victim of crime services in Rhode Island was principally provided by Justice Assistance through Project Victim Services (PVS). Begun in 1985, as a discrete service program Project Victim Services was the logical development of the agency’s work with the state’s offender and ex-offender populations and issues related to their incarceration, including the needs of victims of crime. In this period, VOCA and other funding were received, and the program serviced 1,113 clients.

In 1988, at the request of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, Justice Assistance made a formal proposal to become the first statewide victim services provider—by means of Project Victim Services—for clients referred by the Superior and District Courts. Since then, Justice Assistance has annually received judiciary budget funding for contracted PVS program services. With judicial, VOCA, and other funding, Project Victim Services assisted 52,052 clients from 1988-2000.

Population to be Served

The population to be served by Project Victim Services is again expected in FY 2000 to be largely composed of adult victims—male and female. The age ranges are 31% below the age of 20; 26% between 21-30; 40% between 31-54; and 3% over 55. The largest ethnic group served is Caucasian (78%), followed by African American (9%); Hispanic (12%); and Asian (1%) and all other ethnic groups (2%)

Participant Referrals and Caseload

Referrals by the 6th Division District Court take place at the time of disposition of cases whose outcomes result in a filing or diversion. Project services continue from point of disposition until sentence requirements are completed. The caseload builds gradually over the late summer/early fall months, peaks from October to April, and then gradually declines over the late spring/early summer months, reflecting the rise and fall of court caseloads. The goal is to enroll at an average rate of 60 clients per month.

Agency Staff

The Justice Assistance policies of advertising and job posting, as well as its Affirmative Action policy, have been and will be strictly adhered to, and all candidates must meet the stated qualifications and hiring procedures The Executive Director approves the final selection of staff based on recommendations, professional references, affirmative action compliance forms, and accompanying interview notes.

Paid Staff: As of March 1, 2001, Justice Assistance employs 14 staff (10 full-time, and 4 ½-time staff members) as follows: 1 FTE Executive Director 1 FTE Assistant to the Director/Office Manager 1 FTE Senior Case Manager/Staff Coordinator 6 FTE Case Managers 4 ½-time Case Manager

Duties/Responsibilities and Qualifications

VOCA grant funding will be applied to personnel costs for 1 Project Victim Services Case Manager responsible for the 6th Division District Court case filings; Positions in other state court jurisdictions are funded through grants administered by the Rhode Island Supreme Court and funds raised privately by Justice Assistance. The Case Manager must hold a degree in the human service field. In addition, s/he must be knowledgeable about the justice system and the local community and be able to communicate both orally and in writing, organize interns and/or volunteers, organize multiple schedules, and work easily with other Case Managers, crime victims, and the general public.

Volunteer Staff: Two to four volunteers, typically college student interns, annually assist in program activities. At present (March 2001), Justice Assistance and the coordinators of the Feinstein Institute for Public Service, located at Providence College and Johnson and Wales University, have discussed continuing a collaborative 2000-2001 school-year student volunteer service program which began in 1995-96. Through this program, four undergraduate students enrolled in public and community service studies at Providence College and six undergraduate students at Johnson and Wales University have volunteered to work at Justice Assistance as partial fulfillment of course requirements.

Under the direction of Justice Assistance staff, student-volunteers may provide client contact assistance, including intake, case activity scheduling, and data tracking; client follow-up; and grant writing and legislation tracking assistance. Students will also report to the Institute Coordinator and the relevant professors about their volunteer activities and do required course work. Students are not paid by the Institute, Providence College, Johnson and Wales University or an agency collaborating with the program. Justice Assistance has a written Volunteer Staff position description.

Training of Staff

To make Project Victim Services a success, Justice Assistance first trained the professional and clerical staff; they, in turn, organized in-service workshops to acquaint court personnel with the project, helped them establish referral mechanisms and illustrated ways to create meaningful cooperation that corresponds with the project objectives.

The intensive training of the staff occurred during the three-month start-up period. Training for new staff, conducted by Jonathan J. Houston, Executive Director, offers nine different components, including a detailed history of victim service programs, staff functions, types of cases, scheduling referral procedures, Victim Impact Statement procedures, and the restitution process, including mediation techniques.

The training also emphasizes the skills staff need to help victims resolve their problems. It reviews how a Case Manager should act in family, group, and individual sessions and explores the counselor’s role in terms of demeanor, technique, and activities. Special emphasis is placed on bridging the communication gap between client and staff in the context of a counseling session. Finally, the training focuses on perhaps the most difficult phase of victim counseling: Personal control mechanisms as well as activities which could be built upon to reach consensus opinions and levels of participation. Most importantly, however, instructions are presented on ways to bring clients’ expectations into balance, to create options that clients may want to explore, and to close a counseling session.

FY 2002 Funding Context

Justice Assistance’s current VOCA funds request is critical for the continuation of Project Victim Services.

Notification of significant court dates

Provision of the Victim Impact Statement and written request for its return, with a statement of losses

Orientation to justice system

Written notification of court outcomes

Counseling services

Referral to other services oversight of entitlements and restitution (if any) to be paid to the victim

• (h) Court escort services
• (I) Employer intervention
• (j) Child care, translation, and transportation services
• (k) Written notification of bench warrant cancellation
• (1) Oversight of court-ordered domestic violence counseling, AIDS testing, and/or substance abuse counseling

Staffing

FY 2002 VOCA funding will be applied to personnel costs for one Case Manager responsible for the 6th Division District Court case filings. Positions in other state court jurisdictions are funded through grants administered by the Rhode Island Supreme Court and funds raised privately by Justice Assistance. The Case Manager must hold a degree in justice studies or the human service field and be knowledgeable about the justice system and the local community. S/he must be able to communicate both orally and in writing; work easily with crime victims, court staff, other agency staff, and the general public; organize and coordinate multiple schedules; and coordinate activities for interns and/or volunteers. Justice Assistance has worked with and expects to continue working with student volunteers from the Feinstein Institute and the State of Rhode Island Internship Program.)

Project Victim Services will have two primary and two secondary objectives, as follows:

In the past 14 years, PVS has been

(a) independently funded (1985-88)

((b) received funds from the judiciary’s budget by way of yearly contracts (Memoranda of Agreement) with the RI Supreme Court for work with clients referred by the Superior Court and the 6th Division District Court (1988-present); and

((c) received funding from VOCA to provide services to calendar-specific clients (i.e., pre-trial calendar or filing calendar clients) referred by the above-named courts (1988-present) as well as the Family Court (1988-1995).

The latter sources had significantly cut back on their support for PVS during the 1997 and 1998 fiscal years, yet, Justice Assistance continued to provide not only the same level of services, but an increased level of service! Specifically, in VOCA’s 1995 round of funding decisions, Project Victim Services received $13,000, slightly more than ½ the $25,000 it had received from VOCA in 1994 and significantly lower than the $35,000+ it had received during the prior fiscal year. In 1996, VOCA support increased to $17,000 and increased again in 1997 to $23,500 and again in 1998 to $27,000.

Justice Assistance has been providing PVS from January 1996 to present under a decreased sum contract with the Rhode Island Supreme Court. To meet program service demands, Justice Assistance has committed a greater share of private resources. The VOCA grant has helped increase our private resources by providing a platform to redesign Project Fresh Start to supervise court-ordered filing outcomes funded through a fee-for-service. The VOCA funding consequently is money multiplying with all fees collected being used to support PVS services in Kent, Newport and Washington Counties.

Justice Assistance is Rhode Island’s most experienced and most effective private nonprofit agency on record in providing a comprehensive range of both victim assistance and victim restitution services. Justice Assistance’s increased enrollments clearly indicate the importance of VOCA funding. Based upon the first nine months of FY99, referrals from 6th Division District Court are expected to increase from 707 to 893 with an additional 945 carried over from the previous fiscal year.

Case-Specific Services

Justice Assistance’s staff interviews all clients within 3 working days of the referral date to determine case-specific services schedule, which may include the following:

Primary objectives

• (1) To provide victim service participation to 1,850 clients by June 30, 2000.
• (2) To achieve a project participation rate among victims of 45% by June 30, 2000.

Secondary objectives

• (1) To increase participating crime victims’ awareness of court procedures and of their own level of responsibility in case disposition, and
• (2) To increase crime victims’ perception of the fairness and accessibility of the court system.

Secondary objectives are subject to post-participation surveys.

Budget Narrative

Justice Assistance requests $29,773 in VOCA funds, to be applied in entirety to fund salary, payroll taxes, and employee benefits costs, for one Case Manager (based on an annual salary of $21,000).

A more explicit budget narrative follows the budget section.

APPLICANT ELIGIBILITY

Justice Assistance is a private 501©(3) nonprofit agency whose mission is to stimulate excellence in the administration of justice. It is dedicated to providing effective criminal justice services planning and program delivery to the citizens of Rhode Island. Since its inception in 1978, Justice Assistance has evolved from a group of professionals helping ex-offenders find worthwhile work into a multifaceted service provider, whose paid and volunteer staff offer case-managed programs in counseling and referral; restitution and community service placement and oversight; and victim services, offered at no charge to the victim. These programs are respectively, Project Fresh Start, Project Restitution, and Project Victim Services.

In its 21 years of existence, Justice Assistance has served approximately 49,000 clients. It has been recognized as an exemplary program by the United States Department of Justice/Division of Restitution, Educational Services, Training, and Technical Assistance; the National Organization for Victim Assistance; and the National Victim Center. In a May 1995 visit to Rhode Island the Honorable Janet Reno, Attorney General of the United States, stated the following:

What has touched me so deeply about Justice Assistance is, I have never seen a program in this country that not only talks about balance but also really adheres to a balance. You [Justice Assistance] care about ex-offenders. But just as much as you care about ex-offenders, you care about the victims. And you are one of the foremost victims’ advocates I know of.

The strong response to Justice Assistance from the criminal justice community and its representatives, particularly at the highest levels of federal government, is one example of our ability to create programs with significant goals and outcomes. Support from both public and private donors has grown and includes Rhode Island’s Supreme Court, the General Assembly, the Providence Journal, AMICA Insurance, Textron, Bank of Boston, Fleet Bank, and the Aitken Charitable Trust, to name a few. These financial commitments have enabled Justice Assistance, the most experienced justice agency in the area, to become the center of change and innovation within Rhode Island’s justice system.

What is our challenge?

Justice Assistance’s located in Cranston, Narragansett and Newport, is the only formalized statewide multi-service program for victims of crime in Rhode Island. Using FY 2000 VOCA funding, the number of eligible crime victims served will be limited to dispositions with filings at the 6th Division District Court. In the nine years to June 1998, Project Victim Services had enrolled 36,323 clients, including 4,286 clients in the 12 months to June 30, 2000--of which 1357 were referred from 6th Division District Court.

The most dramatic increases have been in the areas of personal assault and domestic violence, which include such additional and case specific services as monitoring family violence counseling, AIDS testing and restitution collection. This increase in project activity is consistent with the crime trends reported in the Public Safety Grant Administration Office, the Supreme Court Administrator’s office, and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics. It is apparent that a great need exists for the continuation of project services within 6th Division District Court, which works with victims of Felony II and III-class crimes It is equally apparent that VOCA funding is needed to support victim services within the Superior Court’s pre-trial calendar, which works with victims of Felony I-class crimes—often cases that are very serious and sensitive in nature and in need of special attention.

A policy and procedures manual relating to victim services is completed, and the task continues to be to adequately staff and demonstrate the effectiveness for full utilization of Project Victim Services.

Needs assessments show that a comprehensive victim services program is a critical need for potential clients. The following specific needs areas have been identified:

• Update computer hardware/software to permit better data entry, client tracking, and records management.
• Maintain and increase staff to meet crime victims’ service needs; FY 2002 VOCA funding will support one Case Manager’s position.
• Continue to develop emergency and scheduled procedures to provide services for the diverse populations and locations to be served.
• Continue to apply a functional model that distinguishes service functions (case management) from advocacy functions (public awareness and funds development)

What is our Action Plan?

Objectives

A) Methodology

The age group involved in Justice Assistance is generally 15 years of age and older, with the largest segment being 18-30 year-olds. A cross section of Rhode Island’s court system clientele is typically served. In FY 2000, clientele served by VOCA funding will represent a wide range of ethnic and economic groups in the state, who are referred at the time of arraignment by the 6th District Court. Efforts to increase clients’ participation, especially lower-income and/or minority participation, are reflected in non-traditional work hours; availability of translation and/or language or hearing-impaired interpreter services; improved telephone capability to direct calls to appropriate case managers; increased direct telephone follow-up; and agency access to police reports for address confirmation.

Project Victim Services is linked to the National Victim Center’s 1-800 Hotline Service and shares this information with clients. This 24-hour hotline provides immediate access to pertinent local victim services agencies, including emergency and first aid services, shelters, counseling, and other client needs. As of October 1995 Justice Assistance expanded its telephone and call response capabilities through new service contracts.

Project Victim Services is designed to assist crime victims by providing technical assistance in such areas as scheduling, notification, employer intervention, orientation to the judicial system, transportation, monitoring court ordered family violence counseling, and civil entitlements, to name a few, as well as improving clients’ understanding of and satisfaction with the judicial process. All components of this program—intake, assessment, monitoring, restitution determination, referral, and follow-through—are directed toward this goal. This proposal will continue the use of management objectives, labor management mediation techniques, and accountability as adjuncts to Project Victim Services’ reality therapy counseling model to identify a client’s strengths and weaknesses. The plan below covers the areas of intake, counseling, referral, and follow-up.

Intake Procedures

Upon referral from the court, Project Victim Services notifies the victim of the status of the case and forwards a Victim Impact Statement and Statement of Losses for completion and return within 14 days. Prior to contacting the victim, project staff review the age, type of offense, and residency to determine service appropriate referral eligibility. This is completed within 72 hours by reviewing the police report and the court complaint form, which is forwarded to the Justice Assistance office.

Project staff assess loss through liquidated and unliquidated damages. Liquidated damages include the following:

• 1. Stolen cash
• 2. Stolen property
• 3. Damaged property
• 4. Fraudulently-obtained services
• 5. Medical costs
• 6. Lost work time
• 7. Miscellaneous losses (e.g., towing expenses, alternative transportation costs, etc.)

Unliquidated losses include the following:

• 1. Pain and suffering or other claims for which no standard of value is used
• 2. Continuing medical expenses for which accurate projections cannot be made

roject staff forward the Victim Impact Statement and Statement of Losses to the Clerk of the Court to become a part of the permanent court record. The Attorney General’s Office is also provided with a copy to become part of the prosecution’s findings.

Counseling Procedures: Eight Service Stages

Counseling procedures follow the National Victim Center, the National Organization of Victim Assistance (NOVA), and the Presidential Task Force on Victims of Crime standards. Project Victim Services staff or ad hoc service providers provide all eight-victim service stages below.

1. Initial Client Stabilization

Crisis Counseling

Assisting the victim in reassuming confidence in his/her judgment is a focal point of the counseling effort. According to Department of Justice reports on victimization (June 1984; June 1989), victims often blame them-selves for their predicament, and self-doubt and self-recrimination often follow victimization. Counseling emphasizes the following:

(1) Victims’ faultlessness for their dilemmas (2) Reaffirmation of the victims’ control over their own lives (3) The importance and correctness of the victims’ need to vocalize pain and frustration

B. Assistance with Financial Claims Research

Information is gathered from and for, the client in an effort to identify available civil and private entitlements. These efforts include

(1) Review of all damages/losses incurred by the victim for which s/he is either insured or for which s/he can receive civil entitlements in the form of state, local, or federal funds (2) Review of available offender restitution payments

At this stage, the main objective of the staff is to relieve the victim of rudimentary responsibilities who in the latter’s agitated state can become impediments to normal functioning.

2. Secondary Resource Mobilization

A. Follow-up Counseling and Referrals

Project Victim Services’ commitment to the client’s counseling needs transcends the initial interview.

Follow-up counseling as well as secondary referrals play an integral role in servicing the victim’s needs.

B. Advocacy

When necessary, Project Victim Services staff provide assistance to the victim with the routine chores of communication—phone calls, correspondence—with appropriate officials in the police department, the courts, and other criminal justice agencies. The staff also assists the victim in securing needed interpreter services. In the case of disabled persons, Project Victim Services staff secures the needed specialized interpreter services of established public and private agencies. Project Victim Services staff, when necessary, provide assistance to victims during court appearances.

The principal concern at this stage is to mobilize all secondary resources—insurance companies, health coverage agencies, child maintenance agencies, schools, employers, landlords, and other agencies/individuals—with whom the client must interact.

Post-Offender Arrest Assistance

A. Counseling and Advocacy

While providing counseling to the victim, Project Victim Services staff also serve as advocates for the victim’s concern before officials at the police department, the Attorney General’s Office, and the courts. It should be noted that although this assistance is all post-offender arrest, it is generally provided post-arraignment.

B. Offender Status Reports

Initiation of the research on the offender’s arrest status as well as correlative procedures—has the suspect been booked; was there a confession; what charges; what was the court outcome; what conditions were ordered—which are explained to the victim.

With the introduction of the Attorney General’s Office into the case, which can precipitate greater emotional stress, counseling during the post-arrest stage becomes crucial to the victim’s stability. The emphasis in this stage is to provide the added support needed to transfer the client to the Attorney General’s Victim/Witness Unit and to secure the victim, as s/he must once again disclose the often-intimate details of her/his victimization.

4. Pre-Court Appearance Preparation

A. Counseling/Orientation to the Criminal Justice System

After the offense, the court appearance is often the first time the victim comes into direct contact with the offender. Staff assists the victim in overcoming the difficulties engendered by this confrontation.

Through a carefully prepared overview of what the victim can expect from police and other law enforcement officials as well as prosecutors and defense attorneys, the staff prepares the victim for the usually difficult court appearance; this is especially necessary for victims who have suffered violent activities.

B. Advocacy

Staff assists the victim by maintaining careful records of case developments that the victim can utilize for preparing testimony and/or other activities. U.S. Department of Justice research shows that for many victims, their appearance in a courtroom may be their first. Far from being in a position to control the situation, the victim feels helpless before the barrage of questions and cross-examination which are the basis _ our adversarial legal system. Project Victim Services staff work with representatives from the Attorney General’s Office and, when necessary, licensed professionals. The staff prepares the victim for her/his court appearance and introduces them to the court advocate with the Attorney General’s Victim/Witness Unit. In cases of violent crimes, great care is taken to assure that the victim fully understands the extent to which s/he will be taxed by the experience.

5. Court Appearance

A. Counseling

Reaffirmation of the victim’s right to be present and heard as well as constant emotional support in light of her/his traumatic experience cannot be overly stressed. Victims often experience stress long after the crime and can often continue to experience self-doubt and self-recrimination after the loss or destruction of property.

This counseling can be the single most important service to victims of crime.

B. Advocacy

Project Victim Services staff assist the prosecutor—through acquired information and interaction with the client—in developing a strong case for the rights of the victim before the court and/or law enforcement officials when the victim is incapacitated due to emotional and/or physical impairment.

C. Escort

When necessary for physical or other reasons, staff accompanies the victim to court/police appearances.

D. Case Status Information

Victims are kept abreast of appearance schedules, case continuations and defense and/or prosecution motions and their impact on the trial.

6. Pre-Sentence Assistance

A. Victim Impact Statement/Statement of Losses

In consultation with the victim, Project Victim Services staff prepare a Victim Impact Statement (See Appendix H: Victim Impact Statement), consisting of the details about the client’s losses as an aspect of victimization. These include but are not necessarily limited to the following:

1. Financial

• Loss of wages as an aspect of victimization any and all property destruction.
• All medical expenses incurred.
• All legal fees.
• Any and all augmentations in insurance premiums

1. Physical/Emotional Injury

Physical and emotional injuries sustained by the victim—documented when physical with police photographs immediately following the attack

B. Restitution Plan

In conjunction with Justice Assistance’s established Project Restitution program, staff, after having gathered and collated all relevant information and data, assist the victim in pursuing all public and private entitlements.

7. Referral Procedures

In the event of severe physical and/or emotional injury, the victim is referred to an appropriate professional agency or practitioner. Should it be necessary, Project Victim Services staff assist the victim in securing whatever financial resources may be necessary to pursue needed medical attention (i.e., health benefit forms, etc.)

Follow-up Procedures

Follow-up procedures follow National Victim Center, NOVA, and Presidential Task Force on Victims of Crime standards. After the offender has been sentenced, the victim may want to pursue the matter up to and including the parole hearing, if incarceration was the sentence alternative. At this point, Project Victim Services staff assists the victim in presenting a Victim Impact Statement before the Parole Board.

1. Victim Impact Statement for Parole Hearing

When the assailant is brought before the Parole Board, Project Victim Services staff, at the request of the client, assists her/him in presenting the Victim Impact Statement before the Parole Board.

B. Notice on Hearing Outcomes

In cooperation with the responsible parties and agencies, Project Victim Services staff provides detailed information on the outcome of hearings and decisions made by the Parole Board. These may include but are not limited to the following:

Information on offender status

Consultation with responsible parties to insure that the victim’s rights have been duly addressed

C. Social Service Referrals

In the event the client has been exposed to a severe or traumatic experience, the staff will continue to work with her/him unless they and the client agree that it would be in the latter’s best interest to pursue counseling at a more specialized level. In such a case, the staff refers the client to specialized treatment agencies and/or practitioners.

D. Crime Prevention Education

At this point in their relationship, Project Victim Services staff and the client discuss possible ways in which the victim can avoid further victimization.

(1) In conjunction with local crime watch programs, staff secures informational and instructional materials for the client.

(2) Staff will also make arrangements with area law enforcement officials to maintain a close watch on the victim’s premises—within the reasonable capacity of the law enforcement agency—so as to reaffirm the victim’s feeling of security and emotional health

(3) Staff makes themselves available—to the best of their ability—to insure that the client feels secure that s/he is not being abandoned.

Use of Volunteer Staff: As appropriate to the case and with direct Justice Assistance staff oversight, volunteers may assist Case Managers at any stage. See Evaluation Plan for additional potential volunteer activities.

Justice Assistance uses a summative evaluation component.

Evaluation

To successfully evaluate the results of Project Victim Services, Justice Assistance management reviews the following each month:

• The extent to which Project Victim Services achieved its stated objectives; and
• The extent to which the accomplishment of the stated objectives is attributable to Project Victim Services.

The first phase of the summative evaluation is conducted in-house by staff and is gathered through data collection as outlined on the preceding pages. Staff through a post-participation survey of Project Victim Services participants also does the second phase.

Use of Volunteers: In FY 2000, it is anticipated that Providence College and Johnson and Wales University student-volunteers in the Feinstein Institute of Public Service will begin conducting a post-participation survey in the Spring of 2000. The survey is designed to capture statistical and narrative data on client participation and satisfaction levels and on program effectiveness and areas needing improvement.

Justice Assistance
943 Park Avenue
Cranston, Rhode Island 02910
Telephone: (401) 781-7000