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2007 National Crime Victims' Rights Week The honorees received special recognition during the awards ceremony hosted April 20, 2007, by the Office for Victims of Crime to honor victim advocates, organizations, and programs in the field of victim services.
Award for Professional Innovation in Victim Services To view more details, click on a photo for an enlarged view.
Dr. Ludy Green Ludy Green, Ph.D, is President and Founder of Second Chance Employment Services (SCES), a not-for-profit organization serving financially at-risk women with free training and employment placement services in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. SCES is a no-fee placement agency that connects victims of domestic violence with human resource professionals in an innovative effort to find them employment with full health benefits. SCES offers its clients résumé building assistance, job training, interview skills coaching, and access to potential employers who will give them serious employment consideration. Additionally, SCES provides traditional victim services as well as nontraditional services such as financial support for facial reconstructive surgery for women entering the workforce who have been badly scarred by their abuser. Since SCES was founded in 2000, it has served more than 1,600 domestic violence victims, which has included assisting 1,200 domestic violence victims with direct and referral services and 400 domestic violence survivors who found employment. Success of SCES clients validates the fact that victims of long-term abuse can successfully rebuild their lives and become financially secure. In 2006, Dr. Green was appointed Commissioner for the Advisory Council on Domestic Violence Against Women by U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Dr. Ludy Green was nominated by Barbara Friedman, Association of American Medical Colleges, Washington, D.C.
Intimate Violence Enhanced Services Team – InVEST The Intimate Violence Enhanced Services Team (InVEST) is an investigative unit within the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO) established in 1999 as a community-based, collaborative response to domestic violence. InVEST reaches out to some 2 thousand victims of domestic violence every year. The team consists of a detective from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, two advocates from Hubbard House, and administrative support staff from the JSO Victim Services Division. InVEST reviews police reports and referrals daily to determine if victims of domestic violence are at risk of being killed. If victims are identified as being at risk of serious harm, team members contact them and offer a wide range of services such as shelter, safety planning, relocation, financial assistance, and referrals to other victim service providers. InVEST uses the Threat Assessment Checklist (TAC), a technique that allows the team to assess individual domestic violence victims for risk of serious harm. TAC is completed by either the police officer at the site or by an agency staff member assisting the victim. This process not only helps InVEST identify the risk to victims but it also gives victims a greater awareness of the threat to them and in many cases their children. Since InVEST began in 1999, domestic homicides in Jacksonville have decreased by 62 percent, and not one of the clients served in the program has died from domestic violence-related causes. InVEST was nominated by Dr. Shannon H. Perry, Division Chief, Victim Services Division, Jacksonville, Florida. |
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