The Pima County Attorney Office's Victim Services Division was established in 1975. It was the first in the country to provide assistance to victims of crime at the scene and in court.
Caitlin Schmidt On a recent Tuesday, a trio of Pima County victim advocates went to assist police with a possible neglect case involving an older woman who was blind and spoke only Spanish.
People are also reading… But the program's volunteer force is down to nearly half its pre-pandemic size, and the County Attorney's Office is looking to rebuild its ranks as the need to support victims of crime grows. With a second and unrestricted training scheduled for September and staffers hitting the streets in August to get the word out, Rodriguez hopes for a full class of advocates to help fill in the gaps in crisis coverage that have resulted due to decreased numbers.
During a recent session on working with children, Victim Compensation Fund coordinator Rosanna Cortez spent two hours walking attendees through tactics that take into account the different impacts trauma can have on a person, to help them sensitively approach and assist a child who was the victim of or witness to a crime.
"Given the statistics, we know people in this room have been impacted by adverse childhood experiences," she said."Do whatever you need if you need to step out, but you know the drill. Someone will step out and check on you and make sure you're ok." Attendees watched videos, participated in discussions and role played ways to work with children in the aftermath of trauma, with Cortez explaining that advocates are mandated by law to report suspected abuse.
"We want you to recognize that every person in the room has the ability to help a child who is suffering," Cortez said. Now that county pandemic restrictions have been lifted, advocates are back in the field providing crisis response and Pima County's courts have opened up. "We'd love to have folks on those shifts, but also having people in the office in the afternoon covering court is very helpful," Rodriguez said."Crime has gone up and our law enforcement partners are short-staffed. We appreciate when they call us and trust that they call when they need us."
Their first call — the possible neglect case — came in minutes after the start of their 5:30 shift, with Tucson police officers calling them to assist in the situation, which also involved a family dispute. Davis, a University of Arizona graduate and military wife, returned to Tucson with her husband roughly 9 months ago.Being a volunteer with victim services is a full-circle experience for Davis, who had her first experience with victim advocates 19 years ago when her best friend's daughter, Brandi Fenton, was killed in a car crash.
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