Language and cultural barriers continue to hinder victim assistance programs in their efforts to assist victims with filing for compensation benefits.   Particularly challenging is providing ongoing or follow-up services to individuals who are victimized while they are tourists in Florida.  This is especially true when the needs of the victim extend beyond basic emergency medical assistance.  Before determining eligibility for assistance, the victim compensation program needs information from the victim's employer, out-of-state insurance coverage, out-of-state treatment providers, etc.  These difficulties are exacerbated when the victim is from out of the country, and even more so when there are language barriers. Another challenge in providing assistance results from the budget and staffing reductions being experienced at the local level.  This means there are few victim advocates, although the victim population may be increasing with the economic pressures. Few advocates translates into less assistance available to victims through these organizations.

1.  The Attorney General's CyberCrime Unit continues its collaboration with public and private educational facilities in an effort to identify child victims of sexual predators on the internet.  This effort has expanded to include specially trained school resource officers to conduct presentations and maintain follow-up with students in their schools. 


2.  In one area of the state, restaurants place posters in restrooms and display table toppers that provide contact information for patrons regarding local domestic violence programs.  In another area, grocery store employees wear buttons with a hotline number for potential victims of domestic violence.  


3.  The Orange County Domestic Violence Task Force has initiated a program to bring together the faith based community and the victim services community in an effort to increase awareness of and provide services to victims of crime.  As a result of this collaborative effort, faith based community participants have begun to focus attention on aiding crime victims.  Outreach efforts are underway to engage more religious leaders to assist their parishioners who may have been the victim of a crime.  


4.  In Orlando, public and private organizations worked together to establish a designated area in a public park to be dedicated to the memory of victims of homicide.  Participants included the Orange County Sheriff's Office, Hughes Counseling Services, the Office of the State Attorney, community members, and the Office of the Attorney General.  The memorial area provides a tranquil respite for individuals to meditate and remember crime victims. 

The Office of the Attorney General's regional victim advocates maintain an excellent rapport with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney General's victim specialists. Examples of the coordination of services include:





1. Bank Robbery in the Homestead Area (30 victims). Victim compensation training and direct advocacy were provided to employees of the bank.  


2. Victim assaulted on an airplane.  OAG regional advocate, accompanied by the FBI victim specialist, traveled to the home of the victim to explain victim compensation in Spanish and offer information and referral.


3. The OAG regional advocate continues contact and offers services to surviving family members of the four victims killed on a chartered boat last year.  

VOCA funds continue to support the statewide tuition-free victim services training for providers and allied professionals.  The training curriculum includes 4-hour issue briefings, 8-hour advanced advocate training, and the 32-hour Victim Services Practitioner Designation curriculum.  The curriculum evolves based on areas of concern identified by training participants, regional victim advocates, and other experts in the field of victim services.





In the current year, VOCA funds were awarded to five domestic violence centers for an Intimate Violence Enhanced Services Team (known as INVEST).  INVEST focuses on protecting victims of domestic violence against an escalation of violence by their abuser which could result in death of the victim.  The Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence, through a partnership with the OAG, provided training to community members and staff to increase knowledge in the areas of lethality assessments, safety planning, diversity, batterer accountability, protocol reviews and victim risk assessment.  (See attached)

1. A VOCA-funded victim advocate with the Hernando County Sheriff?s Office assisted the family of a victim who was murdered in Hernando County, more than 70 miles from where the victim lived. The advocate provided personal advocacy to the family as they dealt with the tragic death of their 19-year-old daughter. The advocate assisted with the application for victim compensation benefits for the funeral/burial and also obtained support for the family from additional sources. 


2. A victim advocate with the Ormond Beach Police Department assisted the child victim of a non-English speaking family through the law enforcement interview and suspect identification, and then worked diligently to locate a Burmese interpreter (located in Seattle, WA) so the victim and family could understand the criminal justice process.  The child victim testified in court and received counseling.  


3. Services provided to victims of domestic violence at Martha's House. (see attached) 


4. The Children's Place at Home Safe/Safety Net program, provides services to adults and their children who are the victims of family violence.  A new innovative component of this program is a project called "Garden Away."  (See attached)

Emerging issues in Florida include CyberCrime (particularly those crimes that exploit children), CyberCrime bullying, human trafficking (identifying victims and providing services), and the lack of shelters/centers for male victims of sexual assault and/or domestic violence.

Through the use of VOCA administrative funds, extensive tuition-free training continues to be provided to victim advocates and allied professionals (see D. above).  An additional use of administrative funds is the support of a multi-disciplinary VOCA grant review team.  Administrative costs are minimal but the outcome is immeasurable.  Experts from a variety of disciplines provide their expertise as they assess the viability of programs, the victims served, and the services provided.  The outcome of this review is improved service delivery to victims of crime in Florida.