We are unaware of any issues we would consider to be major hindrances to assisting victims filing for compensation. Through our site review and needs assessment project, VOCA grantees have consistently told us they would like to have more training in victim compensation. In response, the Senior Compensation Specialist is available for training in Lansing or will travel to individual or regional trainings at the request of the VOCA Project Director. Several of these trainings are held each year and training materials for VOCA funded staff have been developed and distributed. Also, in partnership with the Michigan Prosecutors Association (PAAM), VOCA agency personnel are invited to attend the new advocate and regional trainings that PAAM sponsors for its members across the state. Compensation program instruction is offered at these venues as well. We believe that it is possible that some victims only begin to become concerned about financial compensation after the initial trauma has been addressed through counseling and advocacy and, at this point, it is possible that the victim has begun to have decreasing contact with the VOCA advocate. This reinforces the need for continued advocate initiated follow-up contact. The CVSC issued a strategic report in FY 2005 recommending increases in statutory resources and CVC benefits for crime victims. These recommendations were approved in the recent legislative session to enhance benefits and health and advocacy services for crime victims.

Grant eligibility criteria developed by the CVSC, as required by VOCA, asks applicants for VOCA funding to demonstrate their commitment to a coordinated public/private community effort on behalf of crime victims in the VOCA Grant Application for funding by listing and describing the nature and scope of their working relationships with other community stakeholders, coordinating councils, etc. The CVSC requires all funded programs to notify all prosecution and law enforcement offices in their service area of their services and to provide contact information for system-based advocates to make referrals to the VOCA grant funded services under the Crime Victims Rights Act. VOCA Training funds support the Michigan Victim Assistance Academy; and the selection criteria include preferential application treatment for broad based multi-agency local teams of responders and advocates.

All victim service providers are given service eligibility criteria that specifically include service to victims of federal crime. CVSC has funded several projects in Indian Country. The CVSC staff is available to assist the US Attorney offices with inquiries regarding services. The federal Victim Coordinators in the US Attorney Offices are included in many efforts to coordinate state services and training including the training initiatives listed in section G.   

The CVSC has developed the Grant Compliance Review and Needs Assessment process which included the performance of 21 site visits to confirm compliance with VOCA regulations and contract provisions. The reviewer also engages the agency staff in discussions regarding their specific needs, viewpoints, concerns and problems. Reports and conclusions from these sessions are reviewed after the visited agency has the opportunity to review the findings and provide comment. In addition to the site reviews, the CVSC convenes an annual day-long Council of Advocates (COA) meeting in which state leaders in the field of victim assistance have the opportunity to informally engage the CVSC staff in an open discussion about any topics or questions that are of interest or concern to them. These topics include funding criteria at the federal and state levels, program reporting, training recommendations, contract administration, local coordination issues and program evaluation. As a direct result of comments received at the site visits and COA input, the CVSC has initiated an on-going Evaluation Training Program specifically developed for providers of direct services to victims of crime. The CVSC also publishes a newsletter, the Michigan Advocate which provides an opportunity to highlight the approaches and successes of local victim assistance projects.

Facilitate victim cooperation with law enforcement and criminal justice agencies. --





Project staff worked with a 24-year-old man who was stabbed in the abdomen by a former roommate. In that case, the victim had been driven to the hospital by a neighbor and had been rushed to the Operating Room within minutes of arriving at the hospital. When we met with the man, the police had not yet been able to speak to the victim, and the assailant was still at large. The victim was afraid to return home and was convinced that even if the assailant was caught, she would not be incarcerated very long, believing that the police would take a woman?s side. He also thought the police would make fun of him for being a man that was attacked by a woman. Our VOCA team contacted the police and an officer came to the hospital that afternoon. He was respectful and professional. We learned the next day from the detective that the assailant had been apprehended. The victim was educated on PPO's, Safety Plans, and Crime Victim Notification as well as educated about common reactions to life threatening events. He decided to press charges and co-operated with the police. In our one-month follow up call, the victim stated that the woman denied the allegations, but that there was enough evidence to prosecute. His lawyer felt that she would be convicted. He had written a victim impact statement. 





Facilitate emergency response/crisis intervention support to crime victims. --.?





A parent discovered explicit photos of her child on a camera belonging to her partner in the family home. She immediately moved her family to safety and brought her child and the camera to police to file a complaint. An immediate interview was set for the child at the CAC at the request of the detective. The multi-disciplinary team members came together to assure the child?s and family?s safety. The suspect was questioned, made partial confessions, and was charged and lodged in the county jail pending criminal justice process. A high bond prevented this suspect from being released. Crisis counseling, advocacy and support were provided for the parent and child at the CAC, and counseling appointments were scheduled on site for later in the week for both. A non-acute medical-forensic examination was performed by a physician referred to the victim from the CAC. Court advocacy and crisis intervention were provided.  These services were provided for meetings with the prosecutor and at the preliminary examination, pre-trial conference, and trial. The child and parent both testified at the trial where the defendant was convicted of numerous counts, including 1st degree CSC. The defendant is now serving a minimum 25 year sentence in prison. Counseling for the parent and the child continues. The child joined other children at the program?s summer camp experience for child victims. This case highlights a comprehensive emergency response to the family immediately following the child's disclosure. Outstanding efforts by the multi-disciplinary team, as well as the victim's mother provided immediate safety and offender accountability.  





Facilitate assistance to victims in securing rights, remedies, and services from other agencies. --  





Many crime victims need the services of other providers in the geographic area our program serves. Staff have been trained to provide appropriate referrals and to assist victims in contacting outside agencies, as needed. We help people to contact legal aid, or for victims' advocacy at the Prosecutor's Office to help with the stress of attending trials and other issues in the criminal justice system. We provide psychological services to people who have been victims of violent crimes. Some are already on hard times, and are vulnerable to street criminals. If they are homeless, we help them find shelters. If there is a substance abuse history, we refer them to treatment centers.  Our team helps victims find appropriate shelters or refers to facilities for jobs-skills training. 





A 59-year-old man was assaulted. The beating was so severe that he was unconscious for several hours. The local hospital admitted him as a John Doe. When he regained consciousness, he was confused and was not able to provide his name. Confounding the presentation, he was an emaciated-looking man and was thought to be homeless, possibly mentally ill or a substance user. The physicians planned to discharge him to a nursing home. When our VOCA staff met the victim, he was awake, but still confused. He kept asking for his brother, then his sister, then a friend. The phone numbers he gave didn?t work, so family had not been notified he was in the hospital. He told the therapist he had been ill. The therapist advocated for the victim to remain in the hospital until more suitable home arrangements were secured. With the enlistment of the social work staff, the victim?s family doctor?s office was contacted and a family contact was obtained. The victim remained confused for several more days. As it turned out, the victim lived alone, but was very connected to family. They had been looking for him, and since we had him listed as a John Doe, they were told he wasn?t at hospital. The friend he wanted us to call was a neighbor who had been checking in on him. The friend was concerned about the victim?s ability to care for himself. The victim was in the end-stages of a chronic condition and had become increasingly debilitated. The police were contacted. Witnesses and friends came forward. It was learned that the victim had been robbed on his way home from the pharmacy. Because of his condition and the seriousness of the assault and subsequent Closed Head Injury, the family was referred to Legal Aid, for guidance with guardianship. A referral to hospice was made, and the family made arrangements for a home-health aid. 





Victims that seek services from VOCA grant funded projects often require involvement with many other agencies and systems. Community partnerships and collaborations are essential in order for victims to obtain the resources they need. An example of advocacy within the community that led to a victim being secure is when a victim came to our agency through walk-in emergency services and seen the VOCA funded crisis counselor. The victim was brought here by her Protective Service worker. Protective Services removed the victim?s five children due to domestic violence. The women entered shelter and the staff at our agency worked closely with the protective service worker and the payments worker to work towards the victim getting her children back. The victim was also developmentally disabled; therefore our worker was able to advocate with the local Housing Commission and they were able to provide her housing at a very low rent based on her pending SSI. This housing allowed her to begin having overnight visits with her children. Following the overnight visits the victim will regain custody and DHS will assist her in getting a bigger home with reunification funds. The victim did not fully understand the dynamics and impact of domestic violence when she first entered. Through education and support from the community she is now living independently from her assailant and is working to get her children back into a violence free home.

The State of Michigan is gravely concerned that the elimination or reduction in federal crime victim fund revenues will severely decrease and limit the accessibility of services for victims requiring immediate advocacy, counseling and other services unless something is done to bolster revenues into the fund. All over the country, systems for victims have been expanded by VOCA victim assistance funding. Any reduction in funding will be translated into un-served victims, unmet needs, additional suffering and potential tragedy resulting from the reduction in systems established to safeguard the health and well being of victims of crime.   

The application of federal administrative funds has permitted the CVSC to leverage its small staff resources into a much more comprehensive administrative effort. VOCA administrative funds have been instrumental in developing the successful initiatives that improve CVSC?s ability to manage the many state responsibilities inherent in victim assistance leadership. VOCA administrative funds support the administrative support and Grant Compliance Review and Needs Assessment (GCRNA) positions, Evaluation Training for providers, development, installation and maintenance of the state's first comprehensive, web-based, online grant management system. These Federal funds have also had an impact on the ability of individual sub-grant projects to more efficiently carry out their administrative responsibilities. As example of this, we are advised that the on-line application, sub-grant and reporting system (SIGMA) saves nearly as much time and effort for local agencies as it does for CVSC staff in meeting many of the administrative burdens of grant administration. Successful training initiatives to improve response to crime victims were supported. In FY 2008, CVSC continued the Building Cultural Competence Training and Hate Crime 101 trainings for crime victim service providers and allied professionals in Michigan. The Building Cultural Competence training is a four-hour participatory workshop that enhances understanding of five major cultural groups in Michigan: African American, American Indian, Arab American, Asian American, and Latino American. The training helps participants recognize, understand and control their personal biases, and interact more effectively across cultural boundaries. These sessions also provided LEP information to audiences and raising awareness of an agency's possible obligations under Title VI, has a direct impact on both personal and organizational cultural competence.  The Hate Crime 101 training is a two-hour training designed to assist crime victim service providers and law enforcement to better understand how to define and respond to hate crimes and bias incidents. Participants learned the definition of a hate crime, examined the hate crime laws, and were provided various resources to respond effectively to hate crimes and bias incidents within their community. Both trainings were provided at 16 locations across Michigan. OVC's Online Directory of Crime Victim Services was promoted to all organizations attending CVSC?s trainings. OVC's Online Directory was updated with agencies, organizations, and governmental entities in Michigan which are eligible for inclusion. This information will be included in the VOCA outreach efforts so that Michigan crime victims will have the referral resources necessary to continue with their lives after crimes are committed. MI Response to Hate Conference was offered and 344 attended.  The conference provided a structured learning opportunity for the development of community-based response systems to counter hate and bias incidents. The conference was necessary because hate groups in Michigan are proliferating while the state ranks high nationally in the number of reported bias-motivated criminal offenses. National level speakers addressed conference participants.  Nearly 50 moderators and panelists on the workshop panels volunteered their time and expertise to address a wide cross-section of Michigan's crime victim community.