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TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that his office has awarded more than $19.3 million in grant funding to help crime victims throughout Florida. The funds, provided to over 200 private and public agencies through the federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), will provide direct services to victims of crime. The Attorney General made the announcement at Turn About, Inc., a Tallahassee program that provides direct services to children in schools and facilitates early victim identification.

“Florida victims – especially child victims – and their families deserve our best efforts to protect them, to serve them, and to care for them,” said Attorney General McCollum. “These grants will provide essential funding to programs to create lifelines of hope and help.”

The Child Victim Rapid Response Program, housed at Turn About, Inc. provides comprehensive services to 22 schools weekly. These services include assessments, crisis counseling, advocacy, information and referral, assistance with victim compensation, follow up contact, therapy and support groups for child victims. Last fiscal year, over 145 children received services from Turn About, including several young children whose family members were victims of crime. The Child Victim Rapid Response Program was first implemented by Attorney General Butterworth and is the concept that inspired Attorney General McCollum’s CyberSafety presentations.

“This funding is essential for us to serve the children of our community, and we thank Attorney General McCollum for his ongoing commitment victims of crime,” said Dr. Steven Rollin, Ed.D., President of Turn About’s Board. “These funds make it possible for us to identify children who are desperate for help and provide the services they are crying out to receive.”

The United States Department of Justice provides VOCA money to states, derived from fines, penalty assessments and bond forfeitures from convicted federal offenders. VOCA grants are issued annually, and the latest round of awards will assist victims in Florida’s 67 counties and 20 judicial circuits. The funds will be used for a wide variety of programs for victims and survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, drunk driving, murder, and other crimes.

Another grant recipient is Compassionate Families, Inc. of Jacksonville. A grassroots initiative founded by parents whose 14-year-old son was murdered in 1993, this organization is dedicated to identifying and meeting the immediate and long-term needs of homicide survivors and is the sole provider of peer intervention, peer support and on-going homicide grief recovery services in the Fourth Judicial Circuit.

“Compassionate Families provides comprehensive and on-going grief recovery and support services to more than 8,000 survivors. Our program has touched more than 1,750 families in Northeast Florida, providing them with hope and coping skills to better face the future,” said Glen Miller, Executive Director of Compassionate Families. “VOCA funding, provided through Attorney General Bill McCollum’s Office, has been vitally instrumental in the development of our program.”

Most victim services are coordinated through the criminal justice system. However, when there is no arrest and often no suspects, the family of the deceased may not have access to victim services. Through this grant, Compassionate Families employs a victim advocate who works to ensure that advocacy is provided to the families of victims who would otherwise not receive services. Additionally, this organization administers Camp Maddie, a therapeutic camp for young survivors ages 6-16. The organization received $156,000 this grant cycle.

Another recipient is Kristi House, Inc. of Miami. This organization currently serves as the Children’s Advocacy Center in the 11th Judicial Circuit. Child Advocacy Centers are child-friendly facilities where child victims of abuse may be interviewed, undergo medical examinations and receive therapy. These centers are community-based so each is uniquely designed to best meet the needs of its individual community.

“As we grapple with decreased funding in both the public and private sectors, VOCA funding this year was perhaps more critical to Kristi House than ever before. The families of the children we serve who have been traumatized by sexual abuse typically have nowhere else to turn for help and are overwhelmed by the legal and emotional issues they face,” said Trudy Novicki, Executive Director of Kristi’s House. “We are striving to not turn anyone away, and are extremely grateful that Attorney General McCollum and VOCA are there to provide a vital lifeline to so many.”

Kristi House began in 1994 as a task force to provide specialized and coordinated services for child victims of sexual abuse. One of the guiding principles of Kristi House is the importance of linking the clinical component to the child’s needs and the available community resources. Kristi House partners with the University of Miami Child Protection Team to provide forensic sexual assault exams. The organization received over $215,800 this grant cycle.

A full list of the grant recipients is available online at:
http://myfloridalegal.com/webfiles.nsf/WF/KGRG-7VARXF/$file/FloridaVOCAGrants09-10.pdf

Samples of therapeutic artwork from children at Turn About is available online at: http://myfloridalegal.com/webfiles.nsf/WF/KGRG-7VARWN/$file/TurnAboutArt.pdf