Frank P. Cervone, Esq., Executive Director, Support Center for Child Advocates and
Natasha Danielá de Lima McGlynn, MPA, Executive Director, Anti-Violence Partnership of Philadelphia
May 24, 2022
We speak today on behalf of 9 victim services agencies supported by the City of Philadelphia through the budget of the District Attorney’s Office of Philadelphia to provide a range of victim services and supports to victims of crimes. The programs are:
- Anti-Violence Partnership of Philadelphia
- Central Division Victim Services
- Concilio
- Northeast Victim/Witness Service
- Northwest Victim Services
- Support Center for Child Advocates
- Victim/Witness Services of South Philadelphia
- Women Organized Against Rape
- Women Against Abuse
According to the Philadelphia Police Department Crime Statistic Report, there were more than 68,000 major crimes in the city in 2021, an increase of 3.9%. The City of Philadelphia’s Victim Services Agencies provide critical support, courtroom accompaniment and advocacy to more than 40,000 victims of crime, including those whose case never makes it to a criminal court proceeding. Victim Advocates lessen the traumatic impact on the victim of crime by providing individualized supportive services, information and advocacy.
The nine Victim Services Agencies each receive partial funding for their services through contracts with the District Attorney’s Office of Philadelphia, funded directly from the City Budget as “Class 250” grants. The total allocation in FY22 is $694,482. With small exceptions for changed program locations and service areas, there has been no substantial change in total funding amounts for these services in at least 15 years! We need an allocation of at least $1 Million in FY23 just to begin to “catch up” to the constant increase in our costs and services.
COMMUNITIES HARMED BY VIOLENCE
The crime statistics in Philadelphia are alarming and clear: child and elder abuse plague thousands, shootings continue to tear apart neighborhoods, and street violence threatens many. When our friends and neighbors, our children and elderly are hurt, they turn to us for help! Likewise, the courts, District Attorney’s Office and government officials all call upon our agencies when the public needs an advocate. Our work involves the real stories of suffering people, the companionship and advocacy of victim services in the face of crime and violence. We continue to receive the calls of community members crying out from senseless drive-by shootings and countless assaults on the streets: our agencies are integrated into the communities we serve and are physically and emotionally present in the lives of most of the events which the world knows only from the newspapers and media reports.
Throughout the City of Philadelphia, innocent men, women and children suffer the effects of violence and abuse. Victims of crime need programs that offer a presence in their communities where they feel most comfortable and at court where they feel most vulnerable. People who have experienced violence and trauma are often re-traumatized by their interaction with the criminal justice system. These victims turn to our agencies each day for support and guidance. With our help they come to court, testify at hearings and trials, and begin their healing.
FINANCIAL NEEDS
Each of the agencies is a non-profit organization that must rely on charitable contributions to support government funding, and together they raise millions of dollars to provide important services for their communities. City support has always represented only a fraction of total needed revenue. All DA-funded victim services agencies must look to many public and private sources for sufficient support to manage their full-service programs and fulfill their obligations to victims. Yet the level of City-DA funding has remained static for almost two decades, failing to keep pace with service levels, the complex needs of an increasingly diverse Philadelphia population or inflation. [1]
Though each of the programs utilizes contributed services in its work, volunteers do not come without costs. Staff must provide ongoing training, case consultation and supervision case management services, as well as recruit and train new volunteers. As well, some cases are simply too complex or difficult for volunteers to handle, calling upon professional staff to serve the clients directly. Our own increased professionalization and conformance with state-mandated performance standards is improving our service but also increasing our costs. Increased staff service at the Criminal Justice Center and at Family Court have increased costs in each of the agencies.
TODAY’S PROBLEMS
Our city is caught in the grips of concern about violence and the impact of poverty. Many people are afraid to come to court to prosecute their cases or to witness in their neighbor’s cases. Victim services agencies work hard to support victims through what can be a frustrating and frightening experience. Increased rates of arrest may have brought justice to our clients, but these efforts have also increased the numbers of victims at court, the need for supportive services and the number of Victims Compensation Assistance Program (VCAP) claims. Drug-related and youth-on-youth crimes, dangerous incidences of intrafamilial violence, abuse of the elderly, the use of firearms, and new forms of crime involving technology that have moved violence into the cyber realm all call for innovative services and place heightened pressures on victim assistance programs.
As our City continues to work on criminal justice reform, Philadelphia’s victim services agencies need to keep pace. Changes in laws and policies affecting victims of crime demand that we keep our clients informed of their rights and help them to navigate the systems as changes occur. At Family Court, we accompany child victims and their adult caregivers. With victims and perpetrators often related to each other, some families feel tremendous confusion about their loyalties and support. Even supportive caregivers are often sequestered as material witnesses, leaving their young ones to enter the courtroom alone and afraid. Children, especially, need someone to stand with them as they face down their assailants and testify about the most personal and upsetting events in their lives.
Our programs and staff have won the praise and recognition of local and national organizations, including: the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, the American Society for Industrial Security, Mayoral Commission on People with Disabilities, The Barristers Association, Philadelphia County Medical Society, the Safe Schools Coalition, United Way, the Urban League, the District Attorney’s Office, SeniorLaw Center, Philadelphia Association of Defense Counsel, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and American Bar Associations and many others. Both the neighborhood and citywide victims programs remain hallmarks of community support and unparalleled integrity.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
Our agencies are involved in the lives and stories of so much victimization, trauma and need, and we provide effective, critically important responses. The Victim Services community performs an important public function and provides an impressive return on the investment of public funds. Our counseling, aid and intervention on behalf of violent crime victims have become increasingly important. Our programs recover hundreds of thousands of dollars in Victims Compensation Assistance Program payouts for Philadelphia victims. The participation of hundreds of volunteers stands as a partnership for service and symbol of community support for the needs of victims.
Those who have suffered the trauma of crime, especially violent crime victims and co-victims of homicides, need the support of professionals trained to respond to their needs, and familiar with the system that many victims encounter for the first time. The Philadelphia victim services agencies throughout the City stand ready to serve, to provide essential resources and to improve the community and neighborhoods.
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For more information:
Frank P. Cervone, Executive Director
Support Center for Child Advocates
t: 267-546-9202 e: fcervone@ SCCALaw.org www.SCCALaw.org
Natasha Danielá de Lima McGlynn, MPA, Executive Director
Anti-Violence Partnership of Philadelphia
t: 267-209-3203 e: nmcglynn@avpphila.org www.avpphila.org
[1] The Philadelphia City Council has supported volunteer-based victim services programs for many years. On March 17, 1983, City Council adopted Resolution 1056 calling for the Municipal Court of Philadelphia to “develop and implement a city-wide program for victim witness assistance utilizing volunteers to provide counseling, information and other assistance.” Funding was subsequently transferred to the budget of the District Attorney’s Office of Philadelphia.