Public Hearing on Victim Issues in Probation and Parole Recommendation Report

• NCJ Number: 235384
• Author(s): Anne Seymour
• Date Published: August 2010
• Length: 15 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2009-VF-GX-K002
• Agencies: OVC-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Award: Action Partnerships to Enhance Victim Services in Community Corrections

Annotation

This report's recommendations for the development of victim-centered policies, protocols, and training curricula for community corrections relies on the input received from crime victims and community corrections professionals in two public hearings held in the early 1990s.

Abstract

Ten recommendations are intended to improve services to crime victims and survivors throughout the community corrections process. First, pretrial, probation, parole, and correctional agencies should partner with victim assistance professionals in identifying and addressing victims' safety needs. Second, improve community safety through collaboration among pretrial, probation, parole, allied justice and victim-assistance agencies, and communities in developing and empowering public-safety strategies. Third, rely on victims, survivors, and advocates in identifying the types of information that are most important for victims. Fourth, develop victim information and notification processes that reflect and respect the cultural diversity and unique needs of some victim populations within a specific jurisdiction. Fifth, victim notification should provide victims sufficient time to prepare for an offender's entry or reentry into a community. Sixth, a national automated victim information and notification system should be developed in order to enforce the mandates of the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision. Seventh, order, monitor, collect, and disseminate the legal and financial obligations of convicted offenders, including victim restitution and child support. Eighth, victim impact statement should offer vital information to pretrial, probation, and parole officers that can improve offender case management and supervision in the community. Ninth, community corrections professionals should develop partnerships with victim-assistance professionals in identifying and serving victim needs. Tenth, pretrial, probation, and parole agencies should collaborate with system-based and community-based victim service providers in sponsoring programs that address offender accountability and reduce victim blaming. This report also summarizes some of the key perspectives of witnesses offered during the hearings.