Many agencies report that one of the biggest obstacles encountered with crime victims applying for victim compensation is their reluctance to report the crime to law enforcement.  This is especially true for victims who are elderly, victims of domestic violence, and victims that are illegal immigrants.  Other issues reported by subrecipient agencies are that crime victims sometimes feel that the process of gathering the required documentation is overwhelming, especially when trying to deal with their victimization; language / communication barriers are problematic when interpreters are not available; and victims sometimes do not understand that victim compensation is the payer of last resort.  

VOCA-funded agencies must demonstrate coordination with other service providers in the community to ensure a continuum of care to crime victims and participate in community collaborations to promote quality victim services.  As a result,   

VOCA-funded agencies actively participate in local task forces and coordinated community response efforts.  This involves regularly scheduled meetings with private and public agencies across a broad spectrum to network, share information and resources to ensure an effective and integrated community response to crime victims. Due to the many remote and rural areas of Arizona, coordination of services can sometimes be challenging.  

 

Some VOCA-funded agencies have established crisis response teams that work in concert with police and fire departments which have a profoundly positive impact on crime victims.  Agencies have found that the immediate involvement of victim services staff helps victims with the immediate trauma and increases victim participation in the criminal justice process.  



VOCA-funded agencies develop partnerships with other local agencies to ensure a continuum of care for crime victims.  These partnerships include agencies such as local law enforcement, prosecutor?s offices, Department of Economic Security, educational institutions, jobs programs, Red Cross, doctors, health care agencies, food banks, housing, and other social service agencies.  Several years ago, one domestic violence program in North-Central Arizona developed a workplace violence prevention kit, which is updated annually and provided to local businesses.  Each year, more businesses become involved and call requesting the new kit.  This has been a very positive effort in bringing together the community and educating them about this issue.  



A local child abuse program (Crisis Nursery) has entered into contract with Arizona?s Child Protective Services to recruit, train and supervise family foster homes for children temporarily unable to live with their own family; provide transportation and supervised visitation services for children in out-of-home care and their birth families to ensure that familial connections are maintained and strengthened; and serve as a receiving center and provide short term care (up to 24 hours) for children at time of removal from their birth families due to abuse and neglect to ensure immediate needs are met until alternate placements are identified.    



Arizona is seeing the establishment of more Advocacy Centers with criminal justice, forensic, medical available in the same facility to develop a ?one-stop? team approach which helps reduce the  stress and anxiety that can be experienced by the victim and family during the investigative and legal process.  In the larger centers, mental health services are also often available.  At this time, there are 16 open Centers, including one mobile unit.  A 17th tri-city Advocacy Center is due to open early next year.  There is also talk of two additional centers, one of which will be a mobile Advocacy unit.   

VOCA-funded agencies are required to assist federal crime victims should the need arise.  Due to vast areas of reservation land and the large Native American population in Arizona, efforts are made to ensure culturally sensitive services are available to assist members of Indian tribes.  Formal agreements are being developed with tribal agencies to provide services to tribal members, such as medical/forensic, advocacy through Childhelp?s Mobile Advocacy Center, and other agencies that provide shelter services to Native American domestic violence and child abuse victims.  When requested by tribal police, the Pima County Attorney?s Office provides crisis response on the reservations with their 24-hour mobile unit.  



Crisis Nursery, a non-profit child abuse program in Phoenix, recently opened Marcus House, a program that provides a family-like setting for Gila River Indian Tribe sibling groups.  Marcus House has provided the opportunity to reunite a sibling group of four who have spent most of their young life living in two separate shelter facilities with very few visits.  Marcus House has allowed these four siblings to reacquaint themselves and to build their relationship as a family.  



Additionally, services are provided to individuals who are victimized at the Grand Canyon, and other national parks in the state; residents of military installations located in Arizona; and victims of human trafficking from Mexico.

The state victim assistance office continues to require utilization of victim-related outcome measures which are identified in the victim assistance application process.  Achievement of outcomes is measured through feedback surveys administered by all subrecipient agencies to victims receiving services.  As a result, agencies report that this feedback assists them in identifying specific program successes and provides information on services that need enhancement/improvement.  Agencies also survey other local service providers and referring agencies to elicit feedback from the community.



A number of subrecipient agencies report they have implemented Quality Assurance programs that monitor various aspects of service delivery to include best practice utilization, compliance standards and internal policies. 



Local Tucson newspapers have begun ?blogs? allowing people to write comments which are published on-line. In collaboration with Crime Victim Compensation, Homicide Survivors, Inc., is ?blogging away? to reach out to victims and the community in a new way, which seems to be working, as contact was made through blogs with several homicide survivors and assault victims.  These victims are receiving services they may not have otherwise been aware of.  



Subrecipient agencies are committed to ensuring that staff members are adequately trained in various areas of victim services and some agencies have annual continuing education requirements for their staff.  Agencies report cross-training with collaborative partners, which helps strengthen relationships and improves service delivery (Childhelp Mental Health).  Through a collaborative effort, a local social service agency providing services to domestic violence and sexual assault victims developed a video and pre/post test about victim and legal rights.  This educational video is shown to victims accessing services in the hopes that it will increase the number of women who either file for victim compensation or use the legal system more to protect their rights.



The Arizona Attorney General?s Office of Victim Services provided 61 victims? rights / victim compensation training sessions throughout Arizona to over 1400 employees of public and private agencies.  These training sessions are successful due to collaborative efforts among the Arizona Attorney General?s Office, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, and the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission.  



Nation?s Missing Children Organization, in partnership with Fox Valley Technical College, Criminal Justice Center for Innovation, developed the first training curriculum for local, state, federal, and tribal law enforcement that is specifically focused on missing adult cases.   



The Arizona Coalition for Victim Services partnered with Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff to develop, implement, and evaluate the Arizona Victim Assistance Academy (AVAA).   The Academy is a 40-hour training course for victim advocates to standardize and improve service delivery to Arizona?s diverse crime victims, with particular emphasis on overcoming the geographic and cultural barriers unique to this state.  An Academy has been offered in Arizona each summer since 2004.   

#1 - A woman requested assistance from a Central Arizona DV agency because her daughter had been molested by her father (and the woman?s husband). There was an open investigation but due to a Spanish language barrier, efforts to proceed were at a standstill. With both legal advocacy and translation assistance, vital school records and testimony were obtained, an arrest was made, and the perpetrator was charged with several counts of sexual conduct with a minor. The woman is now divorced from the perpetrator and is being assisted with emergency immigrant relief through a U-Visa.  The woman and her family have received various services from the community and are now able to concentrate on healing.



#2 - The bodies of a family of three were discovered in a home in south-west Arizona.  Deceased were a 19-year old female, a 5 month old baby, and a 22 year old male.  Investigation revealed the 22 year old male, husband and father, apparently shot his wife while she slept, then fatally stabbed and decapitated his 5 month old daughter, and then shot himself.  The mother and younger sibling of the 19 year old female had gone to the home and called police when they found mail and newspapers piled up.  Law enforcement called the local advocacy center to request on-scene crisis intervention and stabilization, and then provide services later at the home with other family members. The advocate provided services throughout the investigation and prepared the family for the release of information to the media and autopsy details.  



#3 - The value of Art Therapy is evident in the case of three-year old twins who survived a fire allegedly set in retaliation of a drug related crime.  The twins suffered third degree burns over most of their bodies and underwent years of skin-graft and reconstructive surgeries, however both children still suffer severe facial disfigurement and difficulty using their hands and fingers. At age six, they were referred to ?Grounds for Healing? because they were isolated from peers, severely withdrawn, and completely nonverbal. Within the first month each child began to incorporate images of the fire in their artwork and began to speak a few words in group and to smile. As the process of art therapy progressed, the twins emerged from their isolation to reveal easy laughter, a sense of humor and playfulness that helped them make friends.  



#4 - In 1995, the bodies of 18 year old parents were discovered beaten to death inside their duplex in Tucson.  Their unharmed 6-month old daughter was also found inside.    For several years the families attended support group meetings and candlelight vigils, however, the case remained unsolved.  After more than a decade, the case was picked up by the local ?cold case? team.  Soon after, police arrested and charged a man with two counts of first degree murder in the death of the young couple. Throughout the trail, the family and the surviving 11 year old daughter were provided counseling (supported through Victim Compensation), emotional support, advocacy and financial assistance.    



#5 - A hospitalized elderly client in her 70?s was deemed unable to return home and lacked the capacity to manage her affairs. She was placed in an emergency Elder Shelter program until state services were accessed.  Adult Protective Services and the Public Fiduciary become involved when it was discovered that the client had recently signed property of significant value over to her attorney and ?friend?.  The Attorney General?s Office accepted the case, as they had prior knowledge of the alleged perpetrator from another case.  The public fiduciary filed for an emergency guardian and conservator ship with the courts and the return of the woman?s property was pursued. The victim was able to stay in the adult care home and is comfortable there today. The perpetrator has been forced to give back a large portion of her assets so she will be taken care of for the rest of her life.    

During this year, the Arizona Court of Appeals decided in State v. Klein that the Victims? Rights definition of a criminal offense is unconstitutional.  This decision had the immediate impact of making victims? rights available to all misdemeanor crime victims, not just those who were victimized by physical injury, the threat of physical injury or a sexual offense.  The new decision means that misdemeanor crime victims now have the same notification rights as their counterparts involved in felony cases.  This will result in an overwhelmingly increased workload on agencies providing mandated notification services. 



Agencies are seeing a radical increase in the number of people using methamphetamine and crimes associated with the addiction to the drug.  



Tremendous growth in areas of Arizona has created the need for additional services and resources for crime victims.  



There is a lack of resources for undocumented women who are crime victims.  The current climate in the country around immigration and border issues has caused additional fear, mistrust, and stress for these victims. 

In 2006/2007, the Arizona Department of Public Safety utilized the allotted five percent of its VOCA Assistance award to strengthen and enhance Arizona?s VOCA program and to improve services across the state.  



Funds were used to support salary and benefits for 2.5 full-time VOCA grant coordinators and a full-time administrative assistant.  Staff conduct site inspections, provide technical assistance to grantees, and monitor project performance throughout the year to ensure compliance with state and federal guidelines.  Inspections include a review of each program?s management functions, inventory of services provided, examination of the delivery of services, evaluation of fiscal services, and review of daily duties.  Regular site inspections help to identify agencies that may need technical assistance, and innovative approaches that can be shared.  Subrecipients are asked to complete an on-line evaluation following the site inspection to provide DPS with feedback on the usefulness and quality of the inspection process.  

 

State assistance staff participate on statewide committees and task forces, such as the State Agencies Coordinating Team (SACT), the Maricopa County Association of Governments (MAG), Arizona Coalition for Victims Services (ACVS), and the Arizona Child and Family Advocacy Network (ACFAN).  Participation on these and other committees assists staff in keeping abreast of issues impacting victims.



Quarterly Newsletters are published and made available on-line, advising subrecipient agencies of activities of the state assistance office, training opportunities, and other victim service information.  



Administrative funds were used to enhance the Web-Based Automated Grants System (WAGS) to improve the application and reporting processes, on-line site visit documentation and evaluation, and provide on-line completion of the annual statewide survey administered by the state assistance office to evaluate availability of services, gaps in services, and underserved populations.  Subrecipient agencies continue to provide a positive experience in the utilization of the numerous on-line features of WAGS.