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| Personnel
from the five sites came
together in 2003 from across
the country to gather in
Maryland for a time of
learning and networking. |
Collaborative Project Consultants Janice Lord and Sharon English meet with Editor-in-chief of "Hinduism Today"
Acharya Palaniswami |
|
Crime victims, like others
in crisis, frequently turn
to spiritual or faith leaders
for support in times of
need.
Although members
of the clergy are often
experienced with issues
arising from a range
of social justice problems,
such as poverty, homelessness,
drug abuse, and even
offender rehabilitation, they
are frequently not trained
to understand and deal
with the particular dynamics
of crime victimization.
In contrast, victim assistance
programs possess the
knowledge and practical resources
for responding to the
immediate needs of victims,
but they may not be able
to address the profound spiritual
crisis brought on by
criminal victimization.
The Maryland Crime Victims'
Resource Center (MCVRC)
received a grant from the
Office for Victims of Crime
in the Department of Justice
to create systems of services
that link faith-based organizations
and victim service programs
in five “high crime” urban
neighborhoods. Through
a competitive process,
MCVRC chose five sites
described below.
The purpose of this project
is to create collaborative
models for local victim
assistance programs in
conjunction with faith-based
organizations in high crime,
urban settings to improve
the range, quality, and
accessibility of services
to crime victims. Maryland
Crime Victims’ Resource
Center, Inc. (MCVRC) is
to assist the five urban
communities in establishing
links between faith-based
organizations and victim
assistance programs.
St. Paul, Minnesota
Faith Communities Alliance
for Crime Victims
The Faith Communities Alliance
for Crime Victims (FCACV) project
is a three-year project funded
by The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) and managed by the Maryland Crime Victims' Resource
Center, Inc. The project is a collaboration
of two organizations: Civil Society
and The Saint Paul Area Council
of Churches.
The purpose of the project
is to develop a collaborative
model for spiritual communities
and victim service providers
in high crime neighborhoods
in Ramsey County to improve
the range, quality and accessibility
of services to crime victims – particularly
those victims who underreport
and who are re-victimized.
The primary outcome of the
project is an ongoing program
that implements the model on
an ongoing basis. The project
spans the three-year period,
from June 1, 2003
until May 31, 2006.
The two partner organizations
and their multidisciplinary
advisory committee will utilize
data from a needs assessment
to develop five faith and culturally sensitive
cross training models in an
effort to increase the community’s
ability to serve underserved
victims of crime.
The specific geographic focus
of FCACV’s services is
the Frogtown area in Saint
Paul, Minnesota, including
the Aurora/ St. Anthony corridor.. Back
to Top
Nashville, Tennessee
Interdenominational Ministers
Fellowship Peniel Initiative
Finding Strength in the
Struggle—Building Partnerships
for Survival
The IMF Peniel Initiative
is a collaboration between service
providers and faith-based organizations
that pledge to work together
in the city of Nashville. Metropolitan
Interdenominational Church
serves as the lead agency for
the Nashville site and the
Interdenominational Ministers’ Fellowship
(IMF) provides guidance in
the implementation of the project.
This project will strengthen
and support the Nashville community’s
resources to assist crime victims
in the four highest crime areas
of the city. The highest crime
areas were identified based
on statistics compiled by the
Nashville Metropolitan Police
Department; they include the
communities surrounding James
C. Napier/Tony Sudekum, Sam
Levy, John Henry Hale, and
James Cayce Homes. The majority
of residents (approximately
90%) in these target areas
are African American, many
of whom cope with poverty and
discrimination as well as victimization.
These residents tend to distrust
public agencies, particularly
those affiliated with the criminal
justice system. Consequently,
they look to the faith-based
community, especially churches,
for support in times of crisis.
Few of these organizations
offer structured crime victim
services.
The IMF Peniel Initiative
is specifically designed to:
Increase faith-based organizations
awareness of services to crime
victims
- Improve the range and
accessibility of services
to crime victims
- Establish
links between faith-based
organizations and
victim assistance programs
- Increase service providers’ awareness
of the spiritual
needs of crime victims
This project has a three person
staff, which includes a Project
Director, a Victims Assistance
Services Coordinator, and a
Community Resources Coordinator.
The Victims Assistance Services
Coordinator interfaces with
service providers and the Community
Resources Coordinator works
with the faith-based organizations
and community-at-large. These
coordinators, under the leadership
of the Project Director, assist
in the planning and execution
of various activities designed
to build and formalize the
collaboration between the faith-based
organizations and service providers,
so that the target communities
will have a coordinated comprehensive
culturally sensitive system
of care for victims of crime. Back
to Top
Baltimore, Maryland
East Baltimore: Spirituality
and Victim Services Initiative
Sidran Institute is a national
nonprofit organization that
helps people understand, recover
from, and treat traumatic stress.
A leader in traumatic stress
education and advocacy since
1991, Sidran’s program
serves people who have experienced
traumatic life events, and
those who live with or work
with trauma survivors. In 1998-99,
in collaboration with a multi-disciplinary
team of clinicians, agency
personnel and victim/survivors,
Sidran developed and published Risking
Connection: A Training Curriculum
for Working with Survivors
of Childhood Abuse for
the professional and paraprofessional
service provider audience.
The curriculum stresses respect,
connection and empowerment
as the active ingredients for
recovery from victimization.
Building on that work, Sidran
developed a second curriculum, Risking
Connection in Faith Communities (in
press, 2005) for
faith leaders who wish to help
victims more effectively. In
assessing the needs of the
clergy audience, Sidran learned
that although victims most
frequently turn to clergy for
help, many clergy members feel
unprepared to deal with the
aftermath of victimization.
Additionally, they feel that
they are not sufficiently aware
of or well connected with traditional
victim services, and are unsure
of how to work in partnership
with these secular organizations.
The grant award from the
Maryland Crime Victims’ Resource
Center, Inc. to be one of the five Collaborative
Responses Crime Victims in
Urban Areas sites was the
natural next step for Sidran.
Our “ East Baltimore
Spirituality and Victim Services
Initiative” seeks to
cultivate connections between
faith-based and victim services
organizations to develop a
collaborative network of diverse
organizations based on a shared
vision, shared resources, and
shared leadership.
The Initiative’s two
primary goals are: 1)
To develop a collaborative
framework for providing victim
services that will promote
emotional, physical and spiritual
well-being; and 2) To enhance
the existing support network
to provide multiple well-linked
points of access for victims
of crime, increasing their
likelihood of receiving appropriate
services. We are pursuing these
goals through a variety of
strategies, including: fostering
dialogue by convening focus
and discussion groups of secular
and spiritual organizations;
providing training and cross
training opportunities; and
developing a database/directory
of multi-disciplinary resources
so that both faith-based and
secular service organizations
are well-equipped to assist
crime victims and their families.
As of September, 2004, a diverse
Advisory Committee of 17 members
(including members of faith,
service, and community organizations)
is actively functioning and
extremely engaged. To date,
connections have been made
with approximately 40 individuals
from faith-based organizations
located in east Baltimore and
50 individuals from traditional
service provider organizations,
both private and public, that
serve east Baltimore.
The Initiative participants’ vision
is that all providers of support
services to crime victims (faith
community leaders, victims’ services,
mental health practitioners,
health practitioners, educators,
members of the criminal justice
community, youth and family
service agencies, community
advocates, and others) will
learn to work together. All
collaboration members will
commit to learning what each
individual and organization
has to offer, making use of
the strengths of the other
members, and relying on each
other to provide valuable,
complementary and unique supports
to Baltimore City crime victims. Back
to Top
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Anti-Violence Partnership
of Philadelphia
The Anti-Violence Partnership
of Philadelphia began in 1980
as a victim assistance program
serving homicide co-victims
(family members) and later
expanded to address the entire
cycle of violence and violence
prevention.
Philadelphia’s crime
rate is above the national
average. Although the victim
service community is strong,
the system is not prepared
to deal with the spiritual
aspects of victimization. According
to the University of Pennsylvania’s
Center for Research on Religion
and Urban Society, nearly 90%
of the city’s 2000 congregations
offer at least one community
service, including after-school
programs, job counseling and
soup kitchens. Although many
of these congregations do service
victims of crime, there is
a need for a seamless collaboration
between the victim service
agencies and the faith community.
AVP anticipates that their
multidisciplinary advisory
committee will meet bi-monthly
with the possible development
of sub-committees to assure
that the Project continues
after grant funding ends. They
will use several methods to
assess Project needs including
mail, e-mail and telephone
surveys of crime victims, victim
assistance providers, and leaders
of faith-based organizations.
Information from the assessment
will guide development of coalition
building, volunteer training,
and cross-training of victim
assistance and faith-based
organizations to eliminate
service gaps in years II and
III. At the end of Year I,
AVP will develop a Resource
Guide and host a one-day conference
on “Collaboration Between
Faith-Based and Victim Assistance
Organizations.” Back
to Top
Richmond, California
STAND! Against Domestic Violence
Once a primarily African
American community, Richmond
has become home to increasing
numbers of Asians, including
Chinese, Laotian, Mien, Korean,
and Vietnamese. The community
includes substantial populations
of Pacific Islanders and Latinos,
with Whites making up just
over 20% of the population.
Richmond suffers a crime rate
twice that of other cities
its size in California, and
gang activity in the city is
rising.
STAND! will build on its
established relationships with
the faith community and victim
services community in Contra
Costa County and Richmond to
improve faith-sensitive services
to victims. They have developed over
the years strong partnerships with
service providers from various
disciplines including services
addressing elder abuse, sexual
assault, child abuse, and law enforcement.
STAND! also partners with
agencies working with the underserved
Latino and Asian populations
and various faith-based communities.
STAND! will plan trainings,
publications, and products,
attempting representation of
diverse languages and faith
groups. They will offer Faith
Breakfasts and Community Roundtables
to assess gaps in services
and to identify cross-training
needs. STAND! will also create
and distribute a Resource Guide
for victims and their families,
as well as hold at least two
forums on “Faith Communities
and Victims of Crime.” Back
to Top
 This
Project was supported by
Grant No. #2002.VF.GX.K017
awarded by the Office for
Victims of Crime, Office
of Justice Programs, U.S.
Department of Justice.
Points of view in this
document are those of the
author and do not necessarily
represent the official
position or policies of
the U.S. Department of
Justice. |
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