U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Office for Victims of Crime OVC Fact Sheet Advocating for the Fair Treatment of Crime Victims August 1999 Community Crisis Response The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), within the U.S. Department of Justice, provides Federal funds to support victim assistance and compensation programs around the country and advocates for the fair treatment of crime victims. Through its Community Crisis Response (CCR) program, OVC funds services to communities that have suffered crimes resulting in multiple victimizations or community-wide trauma. Historically, OVC, through the CCR program, responded to communities in crisis by training local service providers and deploying crisis response teams. For example, OVC's CCR program promptly deployed crisis response teams to Oklahoma City after the 1995 terrorist bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building; to Jonesboro, Arkansas, after four students and a teacher were killed in a 1998 school shooting; and, to Salt Lake City, Utah, after the 1999 fatal shooting that killed two people and injured several others in a Family History Library. In the past, OVC's goal was to provide short-term training and technical assistance to communities in crisis. However, experience has demonstrated that every community would benefit greatly by having its own extensive community-based response plan. Today, OVC is working to help States and communities accomplish this by helping them prepare crisis response plans that include local and state-based emergency counseling and intervention and long-term mental health services for victims and surviving family members. Many States and communities already have the personnel, resources, and teams to effectively respond to major crises, so OVC is encouraging them to develop or enhance their own integrated response plans to ensure victims are provided long-term services. Through training and technical assistance, OVC can help local teams mobilize. OVC recently did this in Yosemite and Eureka, California, after two teenage girls and a mother disappeared while on vacation and in Springfield, Oregon, and Littleton, Colorado, where hundreds witnessed the brutal murders of a teacher and classmates. OVC's Strategy Many States have devised and implemented centralized crisis response plans. A community may already have many resources, such as mental health and victim services, emergency preparedness support, the clergy, and search and rescue services. When a crisis occurs in a community, OVC encourages the community to first contact their State VOCA (Victims of Crime Act of 1984) administrator who will determine whether existing resources can be pooled to provide the necessary services. In cases when a State cannot provide the needed immediate assistance, OVC will continue to accept requests for training and technical assistance from eligible agencies, including victims service agencies; Federal, Tribal, State, and local criminal justice system agencies; and other agencies that regularly assist victims of violent crime. OVC can still mobilize crisis response teams to communities in need after reviewing and evaluating the request for assistance, taking into consideration the potential impact of assistance, the need for Federal support, OVC's ability to respond, and the clarity of the request. Send requests for assistance to: Office for Victims of Crime 810 7th Street, NW, 8th floor Washington, DC 20531 Tel: (202) 307-5989 FAX: (202) 305-2440 Crisis response should be rapid and effective as well as long-term and sustaining. To this end, OVC is coordinating with nationally-recognized mental health and emergency preparedness experts to devise a strategy to help States develop and implement their own centralized crisis response plans. OVC also plans to conduct a series of regional seminars and training courses to train local crisis response teams to respond to needs in their communities. States and local communities are encouraged to formulate and perform test-runs of crisis response plans similar to those for natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, fires, and hurricanes. States and communities should identify mental health experts within each community. States should coordinate as much information as possible to maximize access to resources in a crisis. Several States have already undertaken these activities. OVC encourages communities to find out more information about their community crisis response plans by contacting their State VOCA administrators. For more information about OVC, contact the following sources: OVC Telephone (202) 307-5983 OVC Web Site http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/ OVC Resource Center Telephone (800) 627-6872 OVC Resource Center Web Site http://www.ncjrs.gov Revised August 1999 FS000148 U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Office for Victims of Crime Washington, D.C. 20531 Official Business Penalty for Private Use $300 OVC Fact Sheet Community Crisis Response PRESORTED STANDARD POSTAGE & FEES PAID DOJ/OVC Permit No. G-91 U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime VOCA Victim Assistance Administrators Alabama Jim Quinn (334) 242-5811 (334) 242-0712 Alaska Jayne Andreen (907) 465-4356 (907) 465-3627 American Samoa Mike Satia (011) (684) 633-5221 (011) (684) 633-7552 Arizona Sherri Doll (602) 223-2762 (602) 223-2943 Arkansas Jerry Duran (501) 682-1074 (501) 682-5206 California Ann Mizoguchi (916) 323-7615 (916) 324-9167 Colorado Candace Grosz (303) 239-5703 (303) 239-4491 Connecticut Karen Chorney (860) 529-3089 (860) 721-0593 Delaware Corrine Pearson (302) 577-8696 (302) 577-3440 District of Columbia Andrea Edmund (202) 727-6537 (202) 727-1617 Florida Mary Vancore (850) 414-3335 (850) 487-3013 Georgia John Cook (404) 559-4949 (404) 559-4960 Guam David Gumataotao (011) (671) 475-3324 (011) (671) 472-2493 Hawaii Adrian Kwock (808) 586-1151 (808) 586-1373 Idaho Linda Caballero (208) 334-5580 (208) 332-7353 Illinois Candice Kane (312) 793-8550 (312) 793-8422 Indiana Kimberly Howell (317) 233-3341 (317) 232-4979 Iowa Virginia Beane (515) 281-5044 (515) 281-8199 Kansas Juliene Maska (785) 296-2215 (785) 296-6296 Kentucky Donna Langley (502) 564-3251 (502) 564-4840 Louisiana Susan Devenney (504) 925-1757 (504) 925-1998 Maine Jeannette Talbot (207) 287-5060 (207) 287-5065 Maryland Adrienne Siegel (410) 767-7477 (410) 333-0256 Massachusetts Alyssa Kazin (617) 727-5200 (617) 727-6552 Michigan Leslie O'Reilly (517) 373-1826 (517) 241-2769 Minnesota Emilie Tan-Graf (651) 205-4821 (651) 296-5787 Mississippi Charles Stamps (601) 359-7880 (601) 359-7832 Missouri Vicky Scott (573) 751-4905 (573) 751-3599 Montana Wendy Sturn (406) 444-3604 (406) 444-4722 Nebraska La Vonna Evans (402) 471-2194 (402) 471-2837 Nevada Chris Graham (702) 688-1643 (702) 688-1616 New Hampshire Gail Dean (603) 271-7987 (603) 271-2110 New Jersey Kathleen Lawrie (609) 588-4673 (609) 588-7890 New Mexico Robin Brassie (505) 841-9432 (505) 841-9437 New York Ann Marie Strano (518) 457-1779 (518) 457-8658 North Carolina Barry Bryant (919) 733-4564 (919) 733-4625 North Dakota Paul Coughlin (701) 328-6195 (701) 328-6651 Northern Mariana Islands Jenny Villagomez (011) (670) 664-4550 (011) (670) 664-4560 Ohio Sharon Boyer (614) 466-5610 (614) 752-2732 Oklahoma Suzanne Breedlove (405) 557-6704 (405) 524-0581 Oregon Mary Ellen Johnson (503) 378-5348 (503) 378-5738 Pennsylvania John Kunkle (717) 787-8559 (717) 783-7713 Puerto Rico Luis Gonzalez-Javie (787) 725-0335 (787) 721-7280 Republic of Palau Yusim Sato (011) (680) 488-1002 (011) (680) 488-1211 Rhode Island Joseph Persia (401) 222-4498 (401) 222-1294 South Carolina Barbara Jean Nelson (803) 896-8712 (803) 896-8714 South Dakota Susan Sheppick (605) 773-4330 (605) 773-6834 Tennessee Pat Dishman (615) 741-8277 (615) 532-2989 Texas Glenn Brooks (512) 463-1944 (512) 475-2440 Utah Christine Watters (801) 238-2360 (801) 533-4127 Vermont Lori Hayes (802) 241-1250 (802) 241-1253 Virgin Islands R. Maria Brady (340) 774-6400 (340) 776-3317 Virginia Mandie Patterson (804) 786-3923 (804) 371-8981 Washington Susan Hannibal (360) 902-7994 (360) 902-7903 West Virginia Tonia Thomas (304) 558-8814 (304) 558-0391 Wisconsin Steve Derene (608) 267-2251 (608) 264-6368 Wyoming Sharon Montagnino (307) 777-6515 (307) 777-6683