Biographical Information of Recipients of Crime Victims Rights Week Awards
WASHINGTON, April 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is being issued by the U.S. Department of Justice:
National Crime Victim Service Award Andrea Conte
After becoming a victim of violent crime in 1988, Andrea Conte made victim advocacy and justice issues a priority. In 1993, Ms. Conte founded You Have the Power...Know How to Use It, a nonprofit corporation dedicated to raising awareness about crime and justice issues. You Have the Power produces documentary DVDs and resource guidebooks on topics such as domestic violence, child sexual abuse, and elder abuse. The documentaries are distributed nationwide to law enforcement agencies, schools, civic groups, and therapists. You Have the Power also conducts public programs across the state on various crime issues, and representatives of the organization frequently appear on television talk shows. In addition to programs for the general public, You Have the Power conducts intensive Victim Impact programs in the Tennessee Department of Correction for incarcerated individuals. In 2003, as First Lady of Tennessee, Ms. Conte worked to create a statewide Commission on Crime Victims Assistance, a body responsible for providing recommendations regarding benefits and other issues associated with the Criminal Injury Compensation Fund. As First Lady, Ms. Conte walked more than 600 miles across Tennessee in 2004-05 to raise awareness of the prevalence of child sexual abuse and the role Child Advocacy Centers in helping these children recover. Mini-versions of the walk continue in local communities every April as fund-raisers for Child Advocacy Centers. Also as First Lady, she helped establish "Season To Remember," a statewide ceremony commemorating loved ones lost to homicide. Andrea Conte was nominated by Viola Miller, Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Children's Services. Award for Professional Innovation in Victim Services Andrea L. Lockhart Andrea Lockhart is a survivor of sexual assault. At the age of seventeen, she went through the criminal justice system alone and without knowledge that victims had rights. She promised to make a difference for victims of crime, so after earning her Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Criminal Justice and working in victim services during college, Andrea became a sexual assault counselor for children and teens in the Tampa area. She soon realized that these young victims experienced a loss of trust and comfort. She wanted to find a way to help them believe and trust in someone so they could heal and successfully move through the criminal justice system. Andrea remembered that she found great comfort in spending time with her dog in the aftermath of her sexual assault, and decided to partner with a service dog to accompany victims from counseling sessions through trials. She noticed that the presence of her canine partner helped bridge the trust barrier with these young sexual assault victims and that when the victims trusted her canine partner, they in turn came to trust her. Her nontraditional method seemed to make the victims feel more comfortable and willing to participate in the criminal justice process, and even helped them become survivors. The success of her method led her to establish FLA Four Legged Advocates, Inc., in Polk County, FL, in 2005. This nonprofit organization involves "teams" of volunteer advocates and service dogs that provide assistance to child victims of sexual assault. Her method is now being used in other areas of the country with different ages and types of crime victims. Andrea's program has received a lot of attention, most notably from then Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who called her to praise her work, sent her a letter of commendation, and even declared July 12, 2006, "FLA Four Legged Advocates, Inc., Day" in Polk County. Andrea Lockhart was nominated by her mother, Kim J. Lockhart, President of FLA Four Legged Advocates, Inc., Winter Haven, FL. Ronald Wilson Reagan Public Policy Award Dan Eddy Dan Eddy is the Executive Director of the National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Board (NACVCB), which provides training, technical assistance, and support to all victim compensation programs in the United States. When he began in 1988, there were still seven states without victim compensation, and he assisted them in establishing programs so that victims everywhere in the United States could seek financial reimbursement. Mr. Eddy served as Director of the Crime Victims Project for the National Association of Attorneys General prior to his career with NACVCB. During this time, he crafted model legislation to implement several of the recommendations from President Reagan's Task Force on Victims of Crime, including victim and witness address confidentiality; statute of limitations for offenses against children; bail reform; and sentencing reform. In 2000, Mr. Eddy helped to develop a protocol guide, Response to Mass Casualty Incidents for Crime Victim Compensation Programs, and after September 11, 2001, he worked to update the document to reflect the new challenges compensation programs across the country were facing. More recently, Mr. Eddy completed an all-encompassing Crime Victim Compensation Manager's Guidebook that covers state and federal responsibilities under the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA). Mr. Eddy's experience in the crime victim service field does not stop with victim compensation; he has devoted many hours to working with advocates to promote all areas of crime victims' rights and services. As one example, he has planned conferences with the Office for Victims of Crime to bring together representatives of compensation programs and their colleagues who administer state VOCA assistance programs, so they can cooperate better in providing services. For twenty-three years, Dan Eddy has dedicated his professional life to crime victim compensation and to the effort to ensure justice for all crime victims. Dan Eddy was nominated by Frank S. Henderson, Jr., President of the National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards, and received a letter of support from Judge Ted Poe, Member of Congress, 2nd District, TX. Federal Service Award Donna R. Duplantier Since 1990, Donna Duplantier has worked tirelessly to ensure that federal crime victims are aware of their rights and treated with dignity and respect. As a Victim-Witness Coordinator for the United States Attorney's Office (USAO) in the Eastern District of Louisiana, she supports more than fifty Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSAs) on federal cases involving murder, robbery, sexual assault, public corruption, immigration, and child pornography. She has provided guidance and training for AUSAs and support staff on the Crime Victims Right Act and the Attorney General Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance. Ms. Duplantier's talent and dedication were especially evident in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when she was instrumental in reestablishing victim assistance in New Orleans, Louisiana, and surrounding areas. Although her office was temporarily relocated to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and she was temporarily living out of state, Ms. Duplantier flew to New Orleans to assist federal victims and witnesses who had been threatened. Upon her official return to New Orleans in January 2006, Ms. Duplantier continued to meet her obligations to federal crime victims in spite of Hurricane Katrina-related obstacles. It was often difficult to locate victims to provide them with notice of their rights. On several occasions, she hand-delivered notification letters and met with victims at their homes. She also called victim service agencies in the city to assess which ones were operational, and met with other victim service providers on a monthly basis to develop a strategic plan to maximize resources. Also, she served many victims of local crime who were not able to receive services from District Attorneys' offices because of the many challenges they experienced as a result of Hurricane Katrina. Donna Duplantier was nominated by Kim A. Herd, Assistant Director, LECC/Victim-Witness Staff, Executive Office for United States Attorneys, Washington, DC. Allied Professional Award Kim K. Ogg Since 1987, Kim Ogg has advocated for victims of crime in a number of professional capacities, beginning as a Chief Felony Prosecutor. In 1994, she assumed the position as the City of Houston's Anti-Gang Director, the first such director in the United States. In this position, Ms. Ogg developed policies to reduce gang violence. In 2000, Ms. Ogg became the Executive Director of Houston's Crime-Stoppers, where she made sure that crime victims had a vital voice in the organization. In her capacity as Executive Director, she developed the Safe School Program, which trains students how to use the Crime-Stoppers tip line. Since the inception of the Safe School Program, Crime-Stoppers has solved more than 650 campus crimes and confiscated more than eighty weapons. In 2002, Ms. Ogg initiated the Top Ten Most Wanted Sex Offenders in Harris County, which led to more than 100 arrests of fugitive sex offenders, as well as a local weekly news segment titled "Predator Check." During her tenure at Crime-Stoppers, it was ranked as the number one organization with the highest clearance rate of unsolved violent crimes. Throughout her career, Ms. Ogg advocated for legislation that enhanced public safety and victims' rights, such as national legislation to combat the sale of "murderabilia." She was recognized by the Foundation for Improvement of Justice in 1998 for her contributions to improving the criminal justice system, and received the 2006 Distinguished Steve Chaney Award from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Victims Services and the 2007 Father Ken Czillnger Award from the National Organization of Parents of Murdered Children. She was a 2006 Ronald Wilson Reagan Public Policy Award recipient. In 2002, Ms. Ogg was appointed to serve on Texas Governor Rick Perry's Advisory Anti-Crime Commission, and she is currently a member of the National Alliance of Victims' Rights Attorneys. During her career, Ms. Ogg developed a professional and personal relationship with members of Parents of Murdered Children and currently serves as the Heights Chapter's De Facto Legal Advisor. Currently, Ms. Ogg is a private attorney specializing in victims' rights. Kim Ogg was nominated by Andy Kahan, Director, City of Houston's Mayor's Crime Victims' Office. National Crime Victim Service Award Dr. Nora J. Baladerian Since 1971, Nora Baladerian has made the problem of abuse of people with disabilities her life's work. In the early 1970s when she began working on this topic, there was virtually no information available and no funding to ameliorate the problem. Because of her passion and dedication, today the abuse of people with disabilities is a nationally recognized issue and millions of federal and state dollars are allocated to address this problem. Dr. Baladerian has authored several internationally distributed guidebooks for professionals, parents, and individuals with disabilities and written more than fifty articles related to abuse and neglect of children and adults with disabilities. She has convened ten national conferences and one online conference on abuse of people with disabilities. Dr. Baladerian is an expert in conducting evaluations of suspected sexual abuse and conducting assessments with children and adults with developmental disabilities, as well as providing clinical intervention. Most recently her work "Victim with Disabilities: The Forensic Interview" has helped debunk the myth that crime victims with developmental disabilities cannot be good witnesses. Dr. Baladerian's work has affected policies and practices in many arenas, including school campus policies, mandatory reporting, minimum standards for responding to child abuse calls, and protocols and practices for investigators, prosecutors, protective services, and victim advocates. Victim services in California and throughout the nation provide more consistent services to crime victims with disabilities, and to crime victims who acquire a disability due to an act of violence, because of her lifetime of advocacy. Nora Baladerian was nominated by James N. Stream, Executive Director, Arc Riverside. Allied Professional Award Steven D. Walker, Ph.D. Dr. Steven D. Walker has dedicated more than twenty-five years to the promotion of higher education, professional development, and training programs for victim advocates, victim service providers, and allied professionals. In 1988, as a faculty member at California State University, Fresno (CSU, Fresno), he initiated the first academic Victim Services Certificate, and in 1989, he created the Victim Services Summer Institute (VSSI), a four-week session tailored to full-time practitioners who would not have had an opportunity to receive the Victim Services Certificate during the traditional academic calendar. Since the inception of both programs, thousands of individuals have received the Victims' Services Certificate. In 1992, Dr. Walker received approval from CSU, Fresno to develop a bachelors' program in victimology, the first bachelor's-level degree of its kind. The victimology program at CSU, Fresno currently has more than 250 majors, one of the largest majors in the College of Social Sciences. Shortly thereafter, he created graduate-level and online courses in victimology. In 2007, Dr. Walker received approval to develop a joint doctoral program between CSU, Fresno and the University of California, Davis, in Forensic Behavior Sciences with an Option in Victimology. This will be the first doctoral-level degree program in victimology in the United States, admitting its first students during the fall 2008 semester. Dr. Walker has also been active as a faculty member and previous Academic Coordinator of the Office for Victims of Crime National Victim Assistance Academy. At the state level, he served as the California Victim Assistance Academy co-director and was a consultant for the creation of several other state victim assistance academies. He is one of the founding members of the Joint Center on Violence and Victim Studies, an interuniversity consortium of CSU, Fresno, University of New Haven, and Washburn University to advance research and practice about victimology and provide professional development programs and academic courses in victimology. In this capacity, Dr. Walker has taught numerous professional development courses throughout the United States and has served as a consultant for states creating professional development courses for victim service providers. He was the founding vice president of the American Society of Victimology. Dr. Steven Walker was nominated by Dr. Bernadette T. Muscat, Assistant Professor, California State University, Fresno. Crime Victims Fund Award Treasury Offset Program (TOP) The Treasury Offset Program (TOP) is a centralized debt collection program designed to assist agencies in the collection of delinquent debt owed to the Federal Government. TOP matches delinquent debtor files against outstanding debts, and when a match occurs, funds in the form of federal tax returns, annual annuities, and social security payments, to name a few, are intercepted to offset any outstanding debt owed to the Federal Government. Until 2003, TOP was not available for the offset of criminal debts; however, with a small investment of $50,000 of funding from the Office for Victims of Crime, U.S. Attorneys' Offices throughout the Nation now have the insurance policy needed to access TOP for the collection of criminal debt. Within each U.S. Attorney's Office, the Financial Litigation Unit (FLU) now has access to this tool for the purposes of enforcing and collecting criminal debts owed to the United States and nongovernment victims of federal crime. Since 2003, the interception of funds to pay outstanding criminal debts through TOP has resulted in an enormous amount of restitution paid to crime victims. Since TOP has been available to the FLUs, collections have totaled more than $7.9 million. In 2007 alone, TOP recovered $5.2 million for fines deposited into the Crime Victims Fund and for restitution owed to crime victims. TOP has proved to be a valuable enforcement tool for criminal monetary judgments. The Treasury Offset Program was nominated by the Office for Victims of Crime. Special Courage Award Yvette Dione Cade On October 10, 2005, Yvette Cade's ex-husband arrived at her work site, doused her with gasoline, and set her on fire. Ms. Cade suffered third-degree burns over 60 percent of her body. In the years that followed, she has endured multiple surgeries, and will continue to need surgeries to cope with the physical consequences of this horrific crime, likely for a lifetime. As if this courage weren't enough, Ms. Cade became a powerful symbol of hope and survival and a vocal advocate for domestic violence victims. Ms. Cade offers hope to battered women who are struggling to leave violent relationships; she offers advice and guidance on how to stay safe during and after leaving violent relationships; and she offers herself as a survivor and positive example of someone who is making a difference in our world on behalf of all battered women. Ms. Cade and her family have taken this personal tragedy and used it to shed light on domestic violence nationwide, sending a strong message about the importance of family support in the wake of a violent tragedy. Her victimization resulted in significant changes in the judicial system in Maryland -- as well as other states that followed Maryland's lead -- relevant to the enforcement of protection orders, and to the responsibility of courts to take the crime of domestic violence seriously. The hope is that in the future, these protections will prevent further crimes like the tragedy that happened to Ms. Cade. In 2007, Ms. Cade was honored by the U.S. Congressional Victim's Rights Caucus for her leadership as a survivor who is dedicated to helping other victims of crime. Countless survivors and advocates have been directly touched by Ms. Cade's story, her will to survive, and her willingness to support other victims of domestic violence. Ms. Cade is a survivor who is making a difference in our world. Yvette Cade was nominated by Anne K. Seymour, Consultant and Victim Advocate. First Call Analyst:
CONTACT: U.S. Department of Justice, +1-202-514-2007, TDD: Web Site: http://www.usdoj.gov/
2008-04-11 18:41:34 0334182 PRNEWSWIRE
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