The Role of Sexual Assault Victim Advocates : A Primer for Supervision Officers

1. The Role of Sexual Assault VictimAdvocates: A Primer for Supervision Officers Kris Bein, Resource Sharing Project

2. Welcome to Today’s Webinar! • For technical support, call: 888-447-1119 or email:conferencingcenter@level3.com. • Use the chat box to the bottom left of the screen to type in questions or comments throughout the webinar. • Please type in your name, agency and the number of people viewing this webinar with you. • During the presentation, all phones will be muted. • Please complete the brief survey at the end of the webinar.

3. Specialized Training and Technical Assistance to Enhance Probation Response to Sexual Assault This webinar is supported by Grant Number 2013-TA-AX-K034, awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this workshop are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women.

4. Project Goal and Deliverables Goal: To promote well-informed, victim-sensitive probation responses to cases involving sexual assault by providing specialized assistance and support to probation agencies and officers responsible for supervising sex offenders. Deliverables: • Conduct a needs assessment • Create tools and resources: e-curriculum, resource package/toolkit • Provide training and technical assistance to probation agencies and officers: on-site training, on- and off-site technical assistance, webinars

5. Presenters

6. “High Stakes” Cases Unique dynamics, highly personal nature Impact of sexual victimization, trauma Potential for system-induced trauma Impact of supervision non-compliance, re-offending

7. Pivotal Roles of Supervision Officers • Reduce, manage re-offense risk, prevent further sexual violence • Ensure accountability, monitoring, compliance • Promote behavioral change • Help ensure – throughout supervision process – that victims’ safety needs, interests, and rights are: • Recognized, heard • Respected • Addressed

8. Polling Question Do you believe victim advocates and supervision officers have shared goals in terms of sex offender management? • Yes • No • Not sure

9. Agreement about Goals Victim Advocates and Sex Offender Management Professionals – Including Supervision Officers – Could Share

10. Which Brings Us to Today’s Webinar...

11. Meaningful collaboration between victim advocates and sex offender management professionals can help address safety needs and other interests for survivors, enhance interventions for individuals who have committed sex offenses, build community capacity to respond to sexual violence, and support public safety and prevention goals.

12. Polling Question How often do victim advocates and supervision officers collaborate in your community? • Always/often • Sometimes • Rarely/never

13. Collaboration • In our needs assessment: • Most (87-96%) agree that multidisciplinary collaboration is effective in reducing re-offense • Few (8-13%) perceive that collaborative activities occur routinely in their communities

14. Collaboration • In our needs assessment: • Roughly all (98-99%) concur that increased collaboration is needed currently to promote more victim-centered approaches. • A majority of officers (82-94%) and treatment providers (69%-81%) believe they can benefit from a greater understanding of survivor-related matters

15. Supervision Officers’ Beliefs about How Much They Would Benefit from TTA to Understand Key Survivor-RelatedIssues Percentage indicating belief in moderate to great benefit

16. Communication & Collaboration • The majority of sex offense-specific treatment providers (87%) and supervision officers (87%) believe that treatment and supervision approaches can be improved to be more victim-centered; • Many (47-65%) express having limited confidence in understanding specific ways in which victim advocates can inform or contribute to sex offender management efforts.

17. Supervision Officers’ Beliefs about How Much They Would Benefit from Better Understanding about How Victim Advocates Can Inform/Contribute to Sex Offender Management Efforts

18. How can communication promote victim-responsive sex offender management practices?

19. Communication • The majority agreed that advocates and sex offender management professionals shouldcommunicate about: • Victim safety concerns • Potential violation of conditions • Treatment planning for offenders • Steps and status in the system

20. Percentage of supervision officers reporting that they actually do communicate with victim advocates regarding these issues

21. Polling Question How important do you believe it is for supervision officers to understand the roles of victim advocates? • Very important • Somewhat important • Not important

22. Understanding What Advocacy Means – and What Victim Advocates Do – Is Essential

23. What is advocacy?

24. Advocacy • Community-based advocates most commonly work in a non-profit organization, typically a rape crisis center, domestic violence center, or one that serves victims of multiple types of crime. • A system-based advocate is employed within the formal criminal justice system, such as the courts, prosecutor’s or district attorney’s office, corrections department, or probation or parole agency.

25. Community-based Advocacy • Primarily focus on the needs of the survivor; • Work with any sexual assault victim regardless of involvement with law enforcement or criminal justice system. • Often use an “Empowerment Model” (i.e., do not impose requirements or give advice, but rather provide options and respect the victims’ choices without judgment); • Can offer confidential services;

26. Community-based Advocacy • Typically provide victim services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; • May work with a victim over a long period of time, or long after the incident(s) occurred; • May work with family members; and • May staff hotlines, run support groups, and provide counseling.

27. Systems-based Advocacy • Must balance the needs of the victim with the goals of the agency (e.g., to successfully prosecute the case or to prioritize community safety); • Generally offer services only to victims whose cases are being processed or managed in the criminal justice system, such as those in which the perpetrator is being prosecuted or sentenced, is incarcerated, or under supervision in the community;

28. Systems-based Advocacy • May be limited to working with victims only while their case is active within the agency; • May not be able to guarantee absolute confidentiality to victims; • May be available only during standard office hours, which may mean that a victim has to wait a few days, or must seek other resources and tell their story to yet another person.

29. What Do Advocates Do? • Support victims by believing them, sitting with them, and helping them obtain basic needs and services; • Help create a sense of physical and emotional safety; • Accompany victims to appointments and proceedings if desired; • Help restore a sense of empowerment and control by providing options, information, and factors to consider, and allowing the victim to make their own decisions;

30. What Do Advocates Do? • Provide information and explanations, such as informing them of their rights; • Advocate for the victim, as needed, with systems such as medical, law enforcement, legal, or mental health. • Make referrals to local resources and assisting with paperwork; • Provide ongoing support, information, and notifications as requested;

31. What Do Advocates Do? • Provide resources, support, and referrals to family members; • Offer training, education, resources, and prevention activities to the community; • Participate on multidisciplinary sex offender case management teams; and • Assist colleagues with creating victim-centered systems and approaches.

32. Advocates always represent the voice of the victim, strive to ensure their safety and well-being, and provide information and resources.

33. Things to Know About Your Friendly Neighborhood Advocate • Most advocacy services are free • Some communities have culturally specific services • Confidentiality protects survivors, and sets limits on what community-based advocates can share with others • Coalitions support advocates and systems professionals in all states and territories

34. How Can an Advocate Help You? • Ensure that the voice of the victim is heard throughout the criminal justice processes; • Provide training to colleagues about the impact of sexual victimization; • Assist with victim notification and community notification processes;

35. How Can an Advocate Help You? • Provide information, education, and resources to victims, family members, and communities; • Identify and improving processes that may contribute to a more victim-centered approach; • Assist colleagues with case management and policy decisions; • Work with teams to develop safety plans that take into account the needs of victims and families;

36. How Can an Advocate Help You? • Promote sound family reunification policies and procedures; • Challenge commonly held ideas or comments that may be perceived as victim-blaming • Provide community education on safety and prevention; and • Promote informed public policies and legislation.

37. So How Can You Promote Collaboration Between Victim Advocates and Supervision Officers? • Identify who the advocates/officers are and reach out • Call one another to ask questions or opinions about issues • Advocate for inclusion of your counterparts in multi-disciplinary meetings • Invite one another to attend workshops, trainings in their respective lines of work • Develop and/or participate in cross training

38. Questions?

40. Resource Package is Accessible via: www.nsvrc.org www.csom.org

41. Additional Webinars What Does Supervision of Those Who Offend Sexually “Look Like?” An Overview for Victim Advocates Thursday, June 1, 2017, 2:00-3:30 pm ET Presented by the Center for Sex Offender Management Promoting Victim-Centered Supervision: Practical Tips and Promising Examples Wednesday, July 12, 2017, 2:00-3:30 pm ET Presented by the Center for Sex Offender Management

42. Other Products, Resources being Developed Online curriculum System map Resource package/toolkit

43. Thank you! Please complete the brief survey/evaluation.

44. Thank you! • Kris Bein, Resource Sharing Project • kris@iowcasa.org • 515-401-8722 • www.resourcesharingproject.org • www.csom.org