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What Is Victims' Advocacy?
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The
Victims' Advocacy Office was established by
City ordinance in February 1995. This Office is charged with the
responsibility of providing integrated and coordinated
services to victims of violent crimes, with an
emphasis on problems of family violence. The Office provides
a proactive outreach program designed to intervene in the
community in a way that decreases the use of violence
as a solution to problems.
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Mission |
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To advocate for zero tolerance of violent crimes by providing
prevention, consultation and direct services to affected
individuals, families and groups. |
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Goals
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To fulfill its mission, the Victims' Advocacy Office
has four strategic goals :
- To work toward the prevention of violence through education,
coordination of efforts to ensure comprehensive community services,
and community advocacy.
- To enhance the quality of services available to affected
individuals, families, and groups through consultation with
law-enforcement, the criminal justice system, social
service agencies, volunteers, non-profit organizations, educational
institutions, professional organizations, and concerned others.
- To provide direct services to individuals, families,
and groups affected by family violence and other violent
crimes to enhance safety and reduce recurrence. This is
done through evaluations, crisis intervention, case
management, client advocacy, short-term counseling, and
referrals.
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Victims' Advocacy Services
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The Victims' Advocacy Office has an ongoing commitment to educate the public
on the importance of reducing family violence. Toward that
end, the Office :
- Provides timely and useful education to police officers
on subjects such as victimization, child abuse, domestic
violence, sexual abuse, death notification, and trauma.
- Recruits and trains volunteers who want to help
end violence in the community.
- Provides training to concerned community, civic,
educational, and religious groups.
- Convenes the Victims' Advocacy Council to coordinate
service delivery efforts by sharing, developing, and
evaluating services and information.
- Advocates for organizational changes that help
prevent violence and works closely with other
community organizations.
Direct Services
Direct Services provided by Victims' Advocacy are
built on three models:
- Community Mental Health Model:
- Provides principles, policies and procedures
that guide where and when services are delivered.
Community Health models have shown that services have to
be available in 'catchment areas' close to the
people they are designed to serve to be most effective.
VAO service providers are stationed in all of the
San Antonio Police Substations.
- Crisis Intervention Model:
- Combined with an understanding of the
impact of violence that flows from victimology and
family violence research, guides delivery of
services. Crisis Intervention is a short-term
intervention process that makes the following
assumptions:
- That ordinary people can be overwhelmed by extraordinary
circumstances to the point of becoming "non-functional";
- That active, early intervention can keep a temporary
disruption from becoming permanent;
- That education and training prior to the crisis can
help reduce the harmful impact of the same.
- Case Management Model:
- Guides how services are delivered. The
foundation of this model is the case management
process. In this process, individuals are
assisted in the stabilization of their lives so that
a collaborative assessment of their needs may be made,
and a plan of action agreed upon. The Case Management
model includes several steps: outreach, problem identification,
assessment, stabilization, education, action planning,
follow-up, and advocacy.
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SERVICES AVAILABLE
through the
Police Department's Victims' Advocacy Office include:
* Crisis Intervention Counseling
* Case Management
* Child and Family Counseling
* Support Groups
* Information and Referral Services
* E.A.S.E. (ASL interpretation for deaf & hard of hearing)
Services are provided by Crisis Response Teams of Police
Officers and Caseworkers who are assigned to each of the
SAPD Substations, by Caseworkers and Volunteers assigned
to the Victims' Assistance Walk-In Office at the Main
SAPD Headquarters Building, by Caseworkers and
Volunteers, and by Child and
Family Counselors at the Child Services Program.
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