In the past few years, the number of Battered Women’s Shelter advocates assisting domestic violence victims in court fell from five to one because of a loss of funding.
At the same time, Victim Assistance already had more advocates than this helping victims of other crimes in court.
With this in mind, the two agencies decided last year to examine what services each was — and should be — providing and sought funds for these services.
The result is a revamped process, with Victim Assistance assuming services to domestic violence victims in court beginning Monday and the Battered Women’s Shelter switching its focus to helping victims and their families outside of the courthouse. The agencies hope the new approach will lessen duplication and provide better service.
“It boils down to putting egos aside and doing what’s best for the victim,” Leanne Graham, executive director of Victim Assistance, said in a recent interview.
“There are not a lot of times when two agencies say, ‘I will stop doing this if you will start,’ ” added Terri Heckman, CEO of both the Battered Women’s Shelter and the Rape Crisis Center, which also was involved in the switch in services.
No one at the agencies lost their jobs because of the switch in services, though some of their duties changed.
The service changes have the support of judges and prosecutors who regularly handle domestic violence cases in Akron Municipal Court, Summit County Common Pleas Court and Summit County Domestic Relations Court.
“I think a lot of people have really fallen through the cracks for years,” said Carol Dezso, a longtime judge in Summit County Domestic Relations Court where domestic violence victims receive civil protection orders.
Dezso said the victim agencies work well together and are “really taking it up a step.”
Early stages
The Battered Women’s Shelter and Victim Assistance reached an agreement last summer on which services each would provide.
The agencies then sought additional federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funds. The Battered Women’s Shelter applied for funds for a new, larger shelter currently in the works, while Victim Assistance tailored its request to court services.
Both agencies received more VOCA funds than they had in the past. The Battered Women’s Shelter was awarded about $700,000, compared to its previous $130,000. Victim Assistance was awarded approximately $688,000, up from $118,000.
The first of the service changes involved the Rape Crisis Center taking over a program at Akron Children’s Hospital previously provided by Victim Assistance. The program assists children who are victims of sexual abuse. Victim Assistance asked the Ohio Attorney General’s Office last fall to transfer its funding for this program to the Rape Crisis Center.
Another switch involved Victim Assistance absorbing the Children Who Witness Violence program that the Battered Women’s Shelter had been handling. This provides help to children who see a traumatic event, whether it’s domestic violence or a shooting.
“It wasn’t our expertise serving children who witnessed a murder,” Heckman said.
The more daunting task for the agencies, though, involved who would handle what in court, where the Battered Women’s Shelter assisted 1,600 domestic violence victims last year with criminal cases and civil protection orders.
Court changes
The Battered Women’s Shelter isn’t completely giving up its foothold in court.
The agency still will provide advocates in the Family Intervention Program in municipal court, which is for first-time misdemeanor domestic violence offenders, and the felony domestic violence court in Summit County Common Pleas Court.
Victim Assistance advocates, however, will now handle misdemeanor and felony domestic violence arraignments, misdemeanor pretrials and trials, and civil protection orders. The agency will do this with a beefed-up staff of 11 employees who also will provide services for victims of other crimes.
The Victim Assistance advocates will work out of a new office in room 935 of the Harold K. Stubbs Justice Center, 217 S. High St., that is in an area that formerly served as a snack shop.
Another room on the second floor, room 205, that will be used for private consultations with victims is still in progress. Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan’s cabinet members recently removed the old carpet and painted the walls in the room. After new carpet is installed and furniture moved in, the room will be ready for use.
Victim Assistance also will continue to share space for one-on-one and group meetings with direct-indictment officers in room 210, also on the second floor.
Jillian Loftus, one of the Victim Assistance advocates, said the new offices will allow the agency to better serve its clients.
“It’s much more efficient,” said Loftus, who has been with the agency for about a year and a half. “It’s much easier for everyone in need of services to know where to go.”
A 22-year-old Akron woman who received assistance from a Victim Assistance advocate on a recent morning said the agency has been helpful since she recently was assaulted by her ex-boyfriend. She said Socorro Morgan, an advocate, answered all of her questions about criminal charges and getting a protection order and wrote a letter to help her switch her apartment because she no longer felt safe there. She said she is glad to have someone to help her through this difficult time.
“She’s a very nice lady,” she said of Morgan.
Future plans
Some details of the new process still need to be worked out.
Graham, for example, told staff from the prosecutor’s office in a recent meeting that she wants to have an advocate at every pretrial. However, she said, she will have to see whether that is possible depending on how many pretrials are at the same time and how many advocates are available.
With the help of the University of Akron, Graham plans to do a study comparing all of the arraignments with the clients being serviced by Victim Assistance to see where the gaps are. She then will decide how to address them. During her meeting with prosecutors, she mentioned that the agency plans to no longer provide help to theft victims, though she said assistance will be given if the victim or a prosecutor requests it.
City Prosecutor Gert Wilms said her office, which doesn’t have its own advocates, had a great relationship with the Battered Women’s Shelter and she hopes the same will be true with Victim Assistance. Wilms, who was a victim advocate during law school, said the advocates act like a translator, explaining the confusing court processes to victims. She said her office will provide any help it can with the new process.
“There will be some bumps, but we’ll figure it out,” Wilms said.
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705, swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com or on Twitter: @swarsmithabj.