U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
Office for Victims of Crime

OVC Fact Sheet
Advocating for the Fair Treatment of Crime Victims
August 1999

Community Crisis Response
  
The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), within the U.S. Department of Justice, provides Federal funds to support victim assistance and compensation programs around the country and advocates for the fair treatment of crime victims.  Through its Community Crisis Response (CCR) program, OVC funds services to communities that have suffered crimes resulting in multiple victimizations or community-wide trauma.  Historically, OVC, through the CCR program, responded to communities in crisis by training local service providers and deploying crisis response teams.  For example, OVC's CCR program promptly deployed crisis response teams to Oklahoma City after the 1995 terrorist bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building; to Jonesboro, Arkansas, after four students and a teacher were killed in a 1998 school shooting; and, to Salt Lake City, Utah, after the 1999 fatal shooting that killed two people and injured several others in a Family History Library. 

In the past, OVC's goal was to provide short-term training and technical assistance to communities in crisis.  However, experience has demonstrated that every community would benefit greatly by having its own extensive community-based response plan.  Today, OVC is working to help States and communities accomplish this by helping them prepare crisis response plans that include local and state-based emergency counseling and intervention and long-term mental health services for victims and surviving family members.  Many States and communities already have the personnel, resources, and teams to effectively respond to major crises, so OVC is encouraging them to develop or enhance their own integrated response plans to ensure victims are provided long-term services.  Through training and technical assistance, OVC can help local teams mobilize.  OVC recently did this in Yosemite and Eureka, California, after two teenage girls and a mother disappeared while on vacation and in Springfield, Oregon, and Littleton, Colorado, where hundreds witnessed the brutal murders of a teacher and classmates.

OVC's Strategy
Many States have devised and implemented centralized crisis response plans.  A community may already have many resources, such as mental health and victim services, emergency preparedness support, the clergy, and search and rescue services.  When a crisis occurs in a community, OVC encourages the community to first contact their State VOCA (Victims of Crime Act of 1984) administrator who will determine whether existing resources can be pooled to provide the necessary services. 

In cases when a State cannot provide the needed immediate assistance, OVC will continue to accept requests for training and technical assistance from eligible agencies, including victims service agencies; Federal, Tribal, State, and local criminal justice system agencies; and other agencies that regularly assist victims of violent crime.  OVC can still mobilize crisis response teams to communities in need after reviewing and evaluating the request for assistance, taking into consideration the potential impact of assistance, the need for Federal support, OVC's ability to respond, and the clarity of the request.  Send requests for assistance to:
     
Office for Victims of Crime   
810 7th Street, NW, 8th floor
Washington, DC  20531
Tel: (202) 307-5989
FAX: (202) 305-2440
     
Crisis response should be rapid and effective as well as long-term and sustaining.  To this end, OVC is coordinating with nationally-recognized mental health and emergency preparedness experts to devise a strategy to help States develop and implement their own centralized crisis response plans.  OVC also plans to conduct a series of regional seminars and training courses to train local crisis response teams to respond to needs in their communities.  States and local communities are encouraged to formulate and perform test-runs of crisis response plans similar to those for natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, fires, and hurricanes.  States and communities should identify mental health experts within each community.  States should coordinate as much information as possible to maximize access to resources in a crisis.  Several States have already undertaken these activities.  OVC encourages communities to find out more information about their community crisis response plans by contacting their State VOCA administrators.

For more information about OVC, contact the following sources:

OVC Telephone  (202) 307-5983
OVC Web Site   http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/
OVC Resource Center Telephone (800) 627-6872
OVC Resource Center Web Site  http://www.ncjrs.gov

Revised August 1999
FS000148

U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
Office for Victims of Crime

Washington, D.C.  20531

Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300

OVC Fact Sheet
Community Crisis Response

PRESORTED STANDARD
POSTAGE & FEES PAID
DOJ/OVC
Permit No. G-91

U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime
VOCA Victim Assistance Administrators
  
Alabama   		Jim Quinn 		(334) 242-5811		(334) 242-0712
Alaska    		Jayne Andreen  		(907) 465-4356 		(907) 465-3627
American Samoa 		Mike Satia     		(011) (684) 633-5221	(011) (684) 633-7552
Arizona   		Sherri Doll    		(602) 223-2762 		(602) 223-2943
Arkansas  		Jerry Duran    		(501) 682-1074 		(501) 682-5206
California     		Ann Mizoguchi  		(916) 323-7615 		(916) 324-9167
Colorado  		Candace Grosz  		(303) 239-5703 		(303) 239-4491
Connecticut    		Karen Chorney  		(860) 529-3089 		(860) 721-0593
Delaware  		Corrine Pearson     	(302) 577-8696 		(302) 577-3440
District of Columbia 	Andrea Edmund  		(202) 727-6537 		(202) 727-1617
Florida   		Mary Vancore   		(850) 414-3335 		(850) 487-3013
Georgia   		John Cook 		(404) 559-4949 		(404) 559-4960
Guam 			David Gumataotao    	(011) (671) 475-3324  	(011) (671) 472-2493
Hawaii    		Adrian Kwock   		(808) 586-1151 		(808) 586-1373
Idaho     		Linda Caballero     	(208) 334-5580 		(208) 332-7353
Illinois  		Candice Kane   		(312) 793-8550 		(312) 793-8422
Indiana   		Kimberly Howell     	(317) 233-3341 		(317) 232-4979
Iowa 			Virginia Beane 		(515) 281-5044 		(515) 281-8199
Kansas    		Juliene Maska  		(785) 296-2215 		(785) 296-6296
Kentucky  		Donna Langley  		(502) 564-3251 		(502) 564-4840
Louisiana 		Susan Devenney 		(504) 925-1757 		(504) 925-1998
Maine     		Jeannette Talbot    	(207) 287-5060 		(207) 287-5065
Maryland  		Adrienne Siegel     	(410) 767-7477 		(410) 333-0256
Massachusetts  		Alyssa Kazin   		(617) 727-5200 		(617) 727-6552
Michigan  		Leslie O'Reilly     	(517) 373-1826 		(517) 241-2769
Minnesota 		Emilie Tan-Graf     	(651) 205-4821 		(651) 296-5787
Mississippi    		Charles Stamps 		(601) 359-7880 		(601) 359-7832
Missouri  		Vicky Scott    		(573) 751-4905 		(573) 751-3599
Montana   		Wendy Sturn    		(406) 444-3604 		(406) 444-4722
Nebraska  		La Vonna Evans 		(402) 471-2194 		(402) 471-2837
Nevada    		Chris Graham   		(702) 688-1643 		(702) 688-1616
New Hampshire  		Gail Dean 		(603) 271-7987 		(603) 271-2110
New Jersey     		Kathleen Lawrie     	(609) 588-4673 		(609) 588-7890
New Mexico     		Robin Brassie  		(505) 841-9432 		(505) 841-9437
New York  		Ann Marie Strano    	(518) 457-1779 		(518) 457-8658
North Carolina 		Barry Bryant   		(919) 733-4564 		(919) 733-4625
North Dakota   		Paul Coughlin  		(701) 328-6195 		(701) 328-6651
Northern Mariana Islands Jenny Villagomez    	(011) (670) 664-4550 	(011) (670) 664-4560
Ohio 			Sharon Boyer   		(614) 466-5610 		(614) 752-2732
Oklahoma  		Suzanne Breedlove   	(405) 557-6704 		(405) 524-0581
Oregon    		Mary Ellen Johnson  	(503) 378-5348 		(503) 378-5738
Pennsylvania   		John Kunkle    		(717) 787-8559 		(717) 783-7713
Puerto Rico    		Luis Gonzalez-Javie	(787) 725-0335 		(787) 721-7280
Republic of Palau   	Yusim Sato		(011) (680) 488-1002	(011) (680) 488-1211
Rhode Island   		Joseph Persia  		(401) 222-4498 		(401) 222-1294
South Carolina 		Barbara Jean Nelson 	(803) 896-8712 		(803) 896-8714
South Dakota   		Susan Sheppick 		(605) 773-4330 		(605) 773-6834
Tennessee 		Pat Dishman    		(615) 741-8277 		(615) 532-2989
Texas     		Glenn Brooks   		(512) 463-1944 		(512) 475-2440
Utah 			Christine Watters   	(801) 238-2360 		(801) 533-4127
Vermont   		Lori Hayes     		(802) 241-1250 		(802) 241-1253
Virgin Islands 		R. Maria Brady 		(340) 774-6400 		(340) 776-3317
Virginia  		Mandie Patterson    	(804) 786-3923 		(804) 371-8981
Washington     		Susan Hannibal 		(360) 902-7994 		(360) 902-7903
West Virginia  		Tonia Thomas   		(304) 558-8814 		(304) 558-0391
Wisconsin 		Steve Derene   		(608) 267-2251 		(608) 264-6368
Wyoming   		Sharon Montagnino   	(307) 777-6515 		(307) 777-6683