pamdinevaCfA
commented
7 years ago Multnomah Victim Services
Answering the questions above by scouring DCJ, DA and DOJ websites
Thought I'd take Manya's finds from MN and find the analogous info in Multnomah. What MN does well is have a conversation on their website. For example "Crime is reported, police provide blue card" It makes me feel competent. There's also a nice chronological order to their FAQs and resources.
Questions answered
How do I get assistance for my financial losses or economic losses resulting from a crime? what's the difference between victim's comp and restitution Restitution Victim's Comp Application How do I get a copy of my police report? Can I attend the court proceeding? How should I testify? What to do after a homicide? How do I cope? What happens after conviction? Who can I call for local help? Who do I call if my rights aren’t being upheld? More FAQs about the process hm is there a concise centralized FAQ that covers the process like MN does? Dozens of local and national resources, by category *it says DV but there's a lot of resources that are general like Mental Health Hotline
[from Manya's exploration]
Minnesota Victim Services
When we were in Multnomah in March, I kept hearing about Minnesota as a paragon of how victim services should be rendered. I took some time this afternoon to check out what they’re doing.
What are they doing?
They provide a wealth of information
By visiting the Minnesota Department of Public Safety homepage, I was able to get connected with a huge number of resources and answers to my questions. Personally, I think the sheer amount of information was difficult to navigate, but I suppose they’d rather err on the side of providing too many guides and links than not enough.
They have answers to a number of questions a victim may have. Here are just a few of the links I clicked on, though there were dozens more:
Information provided isn’t just for victims — it’s for agencies too
Minnesota offers resources for anyone who comes in contact with a victim, not just victim advocates. For example, this reference guide is intended for criminal justice agencies and professionals (courts, police, jails, probation) and lets them know what information they can disclose to victims, and offers best practices as well. This checklist is for victims advocates, and serves as an “exit checklist” to make sure a victim has all the information he/she needs along the way. This page offers resources like brochures and posters for hospitals, jails, and advocates.
They offer & fund in-house products and services for victims
For example:
What does this mean for Multnomah County?
I don't have any concrete next steps, but it was helpful for me to see an example of a state that's leading the charge in providing services to victims. There's clearly still work for MN - the deluge of information available could be so much easier to digest - but the fact that they have information and answers to victims' (and law professionals') questions is a really good start. In thinking about future iterations for Multnomah County, I'd be curious to speak with them about the following: