COVA News Highlights

In this issue:

  Online Support Forum for Domestic Violence Counselors
  The Colorado Community Health Network new
  Peyton Tuthill Foundation Scholarship Program
  CoNEHT Hotline Training
   VictimLaw
   How to Access COVA's Victim Emergency Fund
   Men's Support Group for Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse
   Colorado SIDS Program Training
   Victim Rights Act - 13 Years Later

  Online Support Forum for Domestic Violence Counselors
The HealthBridge Alliance is supporting a project led by Terra Ryan, a Graduate Student at the University of Northern Colorado, to see if online communities can offer social support to domestic violence counselors and help them combat compassion fatigue. If you are a domestic violence advocate or counselor, you have the opportunity to participate in a blog where you can exchange ideas with other domestic violence counselors and talk about any work stress you may feel. As you may well know, often because of the traumatic nature of the work and the confidentiality involved, domestic violence counselors cannot talk about their work day with those outside the shelter (i.e. to a spouse or friends). This blog will provide the chance to talk about your work with someone who will understand. It is the hope that this blog will offer an avenue of social support to DV advocates and counselors. To participate in the blog, please go to http://www.dvsupport.org..

Back to Top

The Colorado Community Health Network

The Colorado Community Health Network is the collective voice for Colorado's 14 Community Health Centers (CHCs) and their patients. CHCs provide a health care home to one in twelve Coloradans from 54 of Colorado's 64 counties. Without CHCs, hundreds of theousands of Colorado's low-income families and individuals would have no regular source of health care. CCHN's mission is to increase access to high-quality health care for people in need in Colorado. For more information about CCHN, please visit their website at http://www.cchn.org.

Back to Top

   CoNEHT Hotline Training
The Colorado Network to End Human Trafficking (CoNEHT) launched the statewide victim services hotline on June 1, 2007.  The hotline serves as a 24-hour referral source for victims, community members, service providers, and law enforcement officers to receive victim assistance and advocacy for human trafficking situations.  CoNEHT is now accepting applications for training individuals interested in volunteering as hotline advocates.  The hotline training includes 40 hours of class time offered from August 25-September 22.  Volunteers must commit to 36 of the 40 training hours in order to be certified as a CoNEHT hotline advocate. The training schedule is available upon application request.  Interest individuals should contact Seth Donovan at seth@freeachild.org, 702-317-7009 for more information.  This hotline is made possible by support from The Salvation Army and the Bureau of Justice Assistance - Cooperative Agreement #05VTBS1158 - through the Division of Criminal Justice, Colorado Department of Public Safety.

Back to Top

  Peyton Tuthill Foundation Scholarship Program
The Peyton Tuthill Foundation is a non-profit organization founded by Pat Tuthill who was confronted with unspeakable tragedy when her 23 year old daughter, Peyton, was brutally killed by an unsupervised probationer who was transferred by Maryland to Colorado in 1999. Peyton became a tragic icon during the development of the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision. In October 2005, Maryland became the 50th State to pass the Compact law. The Peyton Tuthill Foundation provides scholarships to siblings and children who have been left behind by homicide. The first 4 scholarships, in the amount of $1,000 each, will be awarded to eligible survivors in July, 2008. Applications and more information is available from http://www.peytontuthillfoundation.org.

Back to Top

  Victim Law
Launched in April, 2007, VictimLaw is a comprehensive, on-line database of state, federal, and tribal victims' rights laws and protections, developed with funding from the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.  This site is a unique and groundbreaking resource, offering free, user-friendly access to information that until now has been difficult to locate.  The database includes more than 15,000 victims' rights statutes (state and federal), tribal laws, constitutional amendments, court rules, and administrative code provisions.  Future additions to the database will include state attorney general opinions and summaries of court decisions related to victims' rights.  VictimLaw will offer regular updates to the information in the database.  Researchers can search under each of the following rights: the right to attend, to compensation, to enforcement, to be heard, to be informed, to protection, to restitution, and to the return of property. VictimLaw offers four ways to search: by topic, legal term, jurisdiction, and citation.  The launch of VictimLaw coincided with National Crime Victims' Rights Week, April 22-28, an annual observance commemorated in communities throughout the country.

Back to Top

   How to Access COVA's Emergency Fund
            COVA receives grant funding from State VALE to establish a Victim Emergency Fund for Colorado victims of crime.  The goal of the program is to provide emergency funds for victims that have unusual needs that cannot be met through any other resource.  Procedures for accessing the fund are as follows:

- All requests must come from advocates in the field, not from the victim directly.
- All traditional resources for funding (Victims Compensation, Denver Center for Crime Victims, Inter-Faith Task Force, for example) should be  exhausted at the time of the request.
- The request should address a current and immediate need that is directly connected to the crime.
- Funds should be provided, whenever possible, to the vendor or service provider, not directly to the victim.
- Documentation (invoices, receipts, etc.) must be provided to COVA for the funded services or products.
- No amount over $500 will be released with approval from either the Executive Director or the Deputy Director of COVA and at least one member of the Executive Committee of the COVA Board of Directors.

                For further information or to request an application form, contact COVA at 303-861-1160 or 800-261-2682.

Back to Top

  Men's Sexual Assault Survivors Support Groups
WINGS Foundation, Inc., is excited to announce the beginning of two new men's support groups for male survivors of childhood sexual abuse.  A Boulder men's group will begin on August 21 and will be held on Tuesdays from 6-8pm.  A Colorado Springs men's group will begin on August 16 and will be held on Thursdays from 7-9pm.  WINGS groups are on-going and can be attended for as long as the group member likes.  Full and partial scholarships are available for those who cannot afford the nominal group fee.  Please refer any men who might be appropriate for these groups to WINGS at 303-238-8660 or 1-800-373-8671.  WINGS also has 16 other support groups meeting in the Denver metro area, Boulder, Colorado Springs, and Greeley for male and female adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse.  Visit www.wingsfound.org for more information.

Back to Top

  Colorado SIDS Program In-Service Training
The Colorado SIDS Program reaches out to many victim advocate groups throughout Colorado to provide an in-service training for those who may encounter a family or childcare provider who has encountered the sudden death of an infant in their care.  The objectives are:  Demonstrate a working knowledge of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, including statistics, epidemiology, and risk reduction; Demonstrate an awareness of appropriate crisis intervention with families and others affected by a death; Demonstrate an awareness of cultural practices and their affect on families; and Be knowledgeable regarding referral resources for families and others affected by an infant death.  There is no charge for these services.  If a group wishes to make a donation to the Colorado SIDS Program, it is always appreciated.  If you would like more information or to schedule a presentation, contact Tena Saltzman at tena@coloradosids.org or 303-320-7771.

Back to Top

  The Victim Rights Act - 13 Years Later

Updating every lucky 13 years. That was the approach taken for the first comprehensive look at the Victim Rights Act (VRA) since its inception in 1993, following the successful passage of the Victim Rights Amendment – a constitutional amendment passed by Colorado voters in 1992. While other organizations tend to look to standard times such as 5, 10, or 20 years for reflection, COVA, in conjunction with Colorado’s Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ), chose lucky number 13 with no trepidation or regrets.

            Beginning almost a year ago, COVA and DCJ convened a series of summer town hall meetings at five widely scattered sites throughout Colorado. In addition to giving us the chance to get out and breathe the air, we heard the ideas and concerns of many victims, victim advocates, and law enforcement personnel who have come in contact with the VRA in the past decade. The issues raised at those meetings were compiled and analyzed for the purpose of creating the basis from which stakeholder meetings were then convened. Throughout the fall and early winter of 2005, more than 20 organizations and individuals participated in those meetings including victims, community groups, district attorneys, law enforcement representatives, and government agencies.

            A dual purpose existed for this project. We wanted to learn how the VRA is perceived by those using it in the field, as well as determine what changes needed to be made to make it a more effective tool in ensuring that crime victims are treated properly and receive appropriate consideration. And learn we did. We will pass that knowledge along this summer when a final report is completed and released that analyzes the information gathered throughout the entire process.

            With regard to changes, COVA introduced SB06-177 in the 2006 legislative session. This bill was carried by Senator Jennifer Veiga (D-Denver) and Representative Mark Larson (R-Cortez). In creating this piece of legislation we adopted the model successfully utilized by the group that crafted the original VRA. We sought to include all organizations affiliated with the VRA and to create a consensus among the varied entities, as well as ensure that any change could be practically addressed and supported by the system. This approach proved again to be successful and rewarding. Despite some initial and sometimes significant differences, each issue was addressed with the final product containing language with which everyone agreed. The thoughtful approach and effort produced by those involved ensured that SB177 was legislation which will most assuredly benefit victims in Colorado. The bill passed the legislature with no opposition and was signed into law by Governor Owens on April 24, 2006 – the opening day of Victim Rights Week. The changes become effective on July 1, 2006.

VRA trainings with regard to the updates have already begun around the state. If you would like to schedule a training, please contact the COVA office at 1 800-261-2682 or Meghan Saleebey at DCJ (303-239-4497; meghan.saleebey@cdps.state.co.us).

SB177 contained many components with several purely technical changes and other more substantive changes. Some highlights:

• The inclusion of three new crimes

• Inclusion of all aspects of intimidation of a victim or witness
• Indecent exposure
• Violation of a criminal protection order in a sex assault case

• A definition of cold case and clarification that victims of homicide, sexual assault and kidnapping receive annual case updates
• Making the decision to “not file charges” a critical stage under the “notification of filing decisions.”
• Two additional critical stages

• Petitions by sex offenders to stop registering
• Execution dates

• Creation of a more distinct separation of rights pre- and post-sentencing with clarification that post-sentencing rights must be requested in writing.
• Clarification that the victim has sole discretion as to whether their input at sentencing will be in writing, in person, or both.
• Clarification that victims have a right to be notified about referrals to community corrections and that victims’ may submit written impact statements, but that community corrections boards retain the right as to whether victims may speak at the meetings.
• A requirement for notification in domestic violence cases when the defendant’s conduct causes an increase in probation supervision level.
• A mandate that defendants cannot compel victims to testify regarding locating information unless the court finds a need

(The full text of the bill can be found on the General Assembly’s website at http://www.leg.state.co.us. If you have trouble or cannot access that site, please call COVA at 800-261-2682 and we can fax or email you a copy of the bill.)

            COVA and DCJ would like to thank everyone who participated in this effort, particularly the victims who came and shared their stories. Without everyone’s willing participation none of this would have been possible.

Back to Top