Some major issues that hinder victim assistance programs in assisting crime victims in filing for compensation benefits and in understanding victim eligibility requirements include:


1. Language and cultural barriers, that aids in confusion about the American criminal justice system.  


2. Lack of trust in government agencies   


3. Underreporting of crimes; It takes more than thirty minutes, sometimes an hour, for a police officer to respond to a crime scene; Communication problems are contributing factors on underreporting of crimes.


4. Some victims are not aware of the D. C. Crime Victim Compensation Program since some victims are identified during service provider outreach efforts years after the crime occurred.

All service providers have been committed to providing services to the underserved population in the District of Columbia through its bi-lingual staff and partners from government agencies and community based organizations.  By serving as intermediaries between government service providers and the community, VOCA Victim Service Providers have:


1) sustained a partnership that brings the key agencies and service providers together every month to track individual victim cases; 


2) developed a systematic intake and monitoring process; 


3) provided culturally specific and culturally linguistic services


4) obtained timely assistance from government partners to expedite compensation claims; 


5) launched outreach campaigns to help identify crime victims;


6) encouraged victims? participation in the criminal justice system





Ongoing partnerships continue to evolve with the Office of the Attorney General and 2) the FBI Crime Mobile Lab 3)HIV/AIDS Administration 4) the Dept. of Health and Human Services and 5) the Washington Hospital Center.





Although cores services are in place for crime victims, OVS has directed its focus to sustaining core victim services.  Moreover, OVS has prioritized the following ?Special Initiatives? that are currently in the pipeline.





?	Addressing Teen Victimization


?	Expanding Emergency, Transitional and Long-Term Supportive Housing


?	Examining the Rights of Crime Victims in the District


?	Implementing a District Crime Victim Assistance Academy


?	Implementing a District SANE Program








Other Notable activities performed by service providers included:





Door-to-Door visits

All VOCA supported service providers assist all victims of crime whether the cases become a federal case or not.  DC's VOCA provider's social services programs assist federal crime victims access a myriad of resources available to facilitate recovery from the crime(s) they have suffered.  Those services inlude but are not limited to crisis intervention,safety planning, accessing Crime Victim's Compensation, court accompaniment and bilingual therapy.





Providers also provide information to military installations about their service programs and coordinate with CSOSA, a federal agency that monitors perpetrators that are charged with a federal crime, as well as the FBI.

All service provider strive to provide quality services to clients and ensure that staff receive the appropriate supervision and training necessary to do so.  VOCA funding has allowed providers to do this by supporting continuing education workshops and staff development training to increase skills for using structdured clinical assessment tools and to continue to improve on services to best assist clients.  

When Victim A, a young Mexican immigrant, first met with Ayuda?s clinical social worker, she was frightened, tearful, and confused.  A few nights before, her long time live in boyfriend, had beat her, as he often did, after heavily drinking.  This time, however, a concerned neighbor called the police.  Her abuser was arrested, and the police referred Victim A to Ayuda.  





At Ayuda, Victim A immediately received crisis counseling, safety planning, and domestic violence education from the social services staff.  She also met with an Ayuda family law attorney to learn about her legal rights and civil protection orders.  Victim A was especially hesitant to speak with an attorney, fearing that she would cause problems for her abuser. She was also extremely emotional and felt very alone now that she finally left the only support system she knew.





Victim A began weekly therapy sessions with the clinical social worker.  She confessed to the social worker that she still loved Enrique and hoped they would be able to work things out. Victim Aa received education on patterns of abuse and the cycle of violence from Ayuda?s social worker which made her think twice about returning for fear he would beat her again. Despite her reservations, Victim A worked with the Ayuda attorney to obtain a civil protection order.  At this early stage, however, Victim A was not ready to break all ties and insisted that the protection order contain provisions allowing her and her abuser to have contact.  Victim A was still hoping that she could help her abuser so that they could be together.    





Victim A continued in weekly therapy sessions with Ayuda?s clinical social worker.  She suffered from low self-esteem and felt lonely in this country where she knew no one and did not speak the language.  Years of physical and psychological abuse left Victim A depressed, isolated, and believing that the abuse was her fault.  With continued therapy, Victim A was gradually able to learn to value herself.  She eventually accepted that the abuse was not her fault and realized that her abuser did not really love her.  She began attending weekly group meetings with Ayuda?s grass roots support group Hermanas Unidas, and slowly started overcoming her depression and loneliness. Participation in the support group enabled Victim A to gradually start reintegrating herself in to social situations and ultimately reconnected with her brother, from whom she had become isolated because of abuse.  Victim A also learned that she was happier without her abuser and no longer needed him.





Additionally, with the social worker?s encouragement, Victim A helped in the criminal case.  Victim A worked with one of Ayuda?s immigration attorneys to apply for a U-Visa, a remedy available to crime victims who cooperate with law enforcement.  Several months later, Victim A received a work permit and legal status in this country.  Victim Aa was amazed that after so much difficulty in her life, her decision to leave brought such positive consequences.  She continues in therapy to deal with the extensive psychological abuse of this relationship but has made incredible progress.  With her new work permit, she plans to find a job and to study English.  With the support of Ayuda, Victim Ais leading a stable, emotionally healthy, and productive life.   





Victim B is a 9-year-old African American male. He currently resides with his guardian and two sisters. Victim B has a history of neglect and physical abuse inflicted upon him by his biological mother. Victim B has difficulties expressing his feelings. He is aggressive towards others in school and at home. He has frequent PTSD symptoms such as nightmares and night sweats. He has difficulty sustaining attention for long periods of time and he has anger outburst and displays impulsivity. Victim B?s treatment goals are to establish relationship with the therapist to promote feelings of safety and trust. Also, the therapist helped Victim B develop healthy coping skills when he becomes angry. The therapist encouraged Victim B to discuss his nightmares and to decrease the number of times he is awaken by nightmares. In addition, Victim B worked on identifying and connecting his feelings with his behaviors. Lastly, psycho-education was provided to Victim B?s guardian. Victim B has made significant progress in treatment. He has become more comfortable talking about his feelings. The number of nightmares he experienced has decreased significantly and he is able to sleep through most nights. The above is an example of the continued need for counseling services for child victims of abuse and neglect. The child victim above has been showing remarkable improvements in his ability to control his anger about his current life circumstance because of the work being done with him in therapy. 


It is noteworthy to consider that VSC has made strives to engage the families that are referred to the agency.





Victim C was of a four-year-old African American girl who was physically abused by her biological father. Her mother called the center to request counseling services for her daughter because after the abuse, the four-year-old began displaying aggressive behavior towards her mother and younger brother. This child victim is currently engaged in play therapy with a VSC therapist to address her anger, anxiety, and feelings associated with her abuse.





Victim D is another child victim that was referred for services.  He is a four-year-old African American boy. He was referred to VSC by CFSA because he was severely neglected by his biological mother. This child victim along with his older brother was placed in kinship care with his aunt and uncle. The social worker at CFSA was concerned because this child victim began wetting the bed, became socially withdrawn, and had a difficult time adjusting to his new placement with his relatives. The therapist at VSC worked with this child victim in a play therapy setting where he was able to express his feelings through play and gain coping skills to deal with his current life circumstance. Unfortunatly, this child victim?s case was closed at the end of the 3rd quarter of FY08 because his social worker wanted him and his older brother to be seen at an agency that provided medication management as well as therapy services. 

The most notable trends impacting crime victims include:





1.  Need for Increased Emergency Response for Sexual Assault Victims


2.  Teen Dating Violence and the lack of access to services


3.  Shortage of  Emergency, Transitional and Long-Term Supportive Housing


4.  Increased assaults on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender youth


5.  Need for evidence based practices in serving children who witness domestic violence

VOCA administrative funds have been utilized on resources to support and manage the grant and sub-grantees, the sub-awarding process including public notification, proposal review and the processing of sub-grantee expenditure reports, review of programmatic and annual reports, ensuring compliance with VOCA guidelines and providing oversight and technical assistance to sub-grantees.  More importantly VOCA administrative funds all the agency to maintain an administrator whose time and efforts are strategically outlined to foster communication between stakeholders and assist in building a coordinated community response to serving crime victims in the District.