February - Victims of Crime Assistance
Our Victims of Crime Assistance (VOCA) staff members - Lara Downing (program manager), Alma Diaz (Spanish speaking case manager), and Amal Mohamed (Somali speaking case manager) – work with anyone who has been a victim of a crime and has limited English proficiency. VOCA services are available to anyone on the spectrum, from those who are victims of scam to those who have survived attempted homicide. Despite this broad coverage, the biggest portion of VOCA’s clients are those who experience domestic violence. Program manager, Lara Downing, stated that if you were to divide the amount of people that VOCA serves, they would fall into two categories: those have been victimized by family and those who have been victimized by anyone else. The familial violence category makes up approximately 40% of VOCA’s cases. There are no restrictions for assistance based on immigration status. The only requirement is that the crime itself took place in Ohio.
VOCA’s work begins when a client is referred to them. This referral can be from a hospital, another community organization or service provider, or from another program at CRIS. Additionally, both Alma and Amal are well known in their respected communities and people will be referred to them personally. The next step is the intake where the client can discuss what happened to them, what their goals are, and what they would like to get out of VOCA. VOCA can assist with anything that falls in the following categories: criminal justice, financial stability, housing, safety, civil and family matters, and others. This includes taking clients to court hearings, accompany them while they file a police report, help them apply for benefits, refer them to the CRIS’ employment program, assist in the finding of stable housing, assist with safety planning (which looks different for every client), assist with divorce and child custody cases, apply for civil protection orders, help find a lawyer or refer them to CRIS immigration lawyers, Paul and Morgan, ensure they are able to continue their education, or refer them to the CRIS Community Connectors mentorship program. Following the intake and assessment, intervention acts as a way to ensure these goals can be executed. From this point, case managers consistently evaluate and check on the progress of these goals with their clients. There are no restrictions on timing or how long a case manager can work with a client. The timing of each case depends on each crime. For example, a car break in case can last a day, whereas a criminal case can go on for a year and case managers might only need to see their clients for court hearings. Or on a different note, domestic violence cases typically require intensive case management at first, where the case manager might need to meet with the client multiple times a week. Slowly, VOCA’s role becomes less essential as time goes on, as clients will be given more resources.
Due to client’s client confidentiality, VOCA is not able to describe a specific client story. A case that can be described is one that VOCA sees frequently, involving the intersection of immigration status and domestic violence. After the initial referral, domestic violence survivors can indicate where they feel safest for an interview, whether that be at home, in the CRIS office, or at an outside location. They can then share their experience with domestic violence and if it occurs in the physical, emotional, mental, immigration, or economic sense. As aforementioned, VOCA often sees cases where immigration status plays a role in the violence a survivor might face. For example, US citizens can bring someone here on a fiancé visa, which allows them three months to get married and later apply for a green card. In this specific example, abusers will withhold documents from their spouse and will not file paperwork for the green card application, subjecting their spouse to a life of fear. The spouse remains undocumented in this case, meaning they cannot work, cannot go to school, and are not eligible for benefits or housing. This is a powerful tool of the abuser as they can often threaten deportation, which could result in the separation of children from their parents. VOCA can assist with safety in this sense, planning for both short-term and long-term safety. This can look like helping clients find the safest room in the house to go to or escape to, giving clients a backup phone, a place to safely store their documents, helping clients apply for immigration relief, bringing them in to see CRIS’ immigration lawyers, or giving them resources on how to protect their children. Additionally, VOCA can provide them with information on the ways domestic violence impacts familial dynamics, so they can recognize these patterns within their own lives. The goal of course is to help each client, however, VOCA wants to ensure that the clients have the resources they need to reach their goals themselves.
Services of VOCA come at no cost; however, if there is criminal or immigration issues where a lawyer is needed, VOCA will refer clients to CRIS lawyers, which clients will need to pay for. We also refer to other attorneys, including private immigration lawyers, Legal Aid, and Capital Law Family Advocacy Clinic. Additionally, CRIS works with several interpreters to fit the needs of every client.
VOCA is funded through the Victims of Crime Act grant which comes from the fees and penalties from people convicted of federal offenses. As a direct result of the Trump administration not centering their efforts on prosecuting white collar crime, funds are continuously being cut, as settlements from federal convictions are decreasing. In light of these national cuts, VOCA at CRIS is diversifying their funding. Donations are always appreciated and can range from household supplies to toys for kids. More often than not, clients are trying to start their lives over and donations like this are so helpful in achieving this. If you are interested in a more involved role at VOCA, an intern position might be for you! VOCA is grateful for the work of its current interns, Marah Bae and Claire Howard.