Florida Victims of Crime Act Grants
2002
by Steve Brown
Attack
Twenty-two years ago, Sharon D'Eusanio's life changed forever. Sharon
had been married for ten years and was the mother of three young children,
as well as an insurance adjustor about to begin her own business, when
she drove toward home one evening in the spring of 1980. When another
car passed her, the driver shot at her three times. One bullet penetrated
both eyes and immediately and permanently blinded Sharon. She pulled her
car to the side of the road and leaned on the horn. A man stopped and
offered to get Sharon to the hospital. He turned out to be the man who
shot her. He kidnapped Sharon and returned with her to his apartment.
There he raped her and left her for dead.
Sharon recalls thinking throughout this entire ordeal, "how am I
going to get out of this one?" She concentrated on surviving. She
heard her assailant get into his car and leave. Sharon mentally noted
everything she touched. She left her attacker's apartment totally nude
and when she got outside she started screaming. A man on his way to work
noticed Sharon covered in blood and drove her to the hospital. Sharon
spent five hours in surgery and several days in the hospital before returning
home to live again.
Sharon's employer at the insurance company had cleared her desk even
before she got out of the hospital. She recalls wondering how she would
be a mother to children she could no longer see. While she recovered in
the hospital she vowed that the man who had snatched eleven hours of her
life would take no more time from her. Police arrested Sharon's attacker
three days after his crime against her and he is still serving his 104-year
prison term.
Sharon couldn't prevent her husband from leaving her and their kids within
a year of the attack. Sharon decided not to resent her ex-husband, but
to rebuild her own life. She concentrated on being a mother and making
a new career for herself. Sharon began speaking publicly about her horrifying
experience within a year of the attack. Within two years she met and began
dating her current husband. Together they made a new life, raised Sharon's
children, and began working in tandem.
The Victim Rights Movement
Sharon today represents the Florida Attorney General as the Deputy Director
for the Division of Victim Services and Criminal Justice Programs Office.
This agency represents all victims of crimes, including people with disabilities.
But it has not been easy.
People with disabilities have been difficult to serve because they have
been invisible. Crime statistics historically have not counted people
with disabilities as victims. A California study reports that people with
developmental disabilities are four to ten times greater at risk of becoming
crime victims. A Colorado Department of Health finding shows that women
with disabilities are 85% more likely to be domestic violence victims
compared to 25% to 50% of the general population. The National Pediatric
Trauma Registry reports more than 30,000 children become victims of traumatic
brain injuries each year. 1
Individuals with disabilities are often reluctant to report crimes against
us. Reasons include:
- distrust of systems
- lack of confidence or comfort with service providers
- fear that we will not be treated with dignity
- exhaustion from being passed on from one agency to another
- experience with no one listening to our complaints
- abuse is perpetrated by a primary caregiver or other person on whom
we depend
- abuse has been a part of life so long a lack of realization it's
against the law
poor experiences with the justice system
Ongoing training is needed within the criminal justice system to educate
workers about the complexities of people with disabilities and crimes
against us. Training about disability is also needed for those government,
not-for-profit and private organizations working with crime victims.
Needed training includes:
- rights afforded to crime victims
- information about crime victim compensation
- reminders about mandatory reporting statutes
- information about services provided by victims services organizations
Those individuals who become disabled as a result of a crime not only
confront their new condition, but often encounter financial burdens, social
prejudice, isolation, lack of independence, depression, anger, anxiety,
non-existent or overbearing support systems and constant reminders of
the crime that left them different.
The intersection of crime victims and disability is where independent
living centers may play a role.
Victims of Crime Act Grants
Sharon began speaking about crime victims with disabilities to Florida
centers for independent living in the mid-1990s. She explained that each
state has Victim of Crime Act (VOCA) funding to provide direct services
to crime victims. The money for these positions comes from federal grants,
fines and restitutions from the perpetrators themselves. As one Crime
Victim Advocate commented, this means the program is funded by the bad
guys.
The first CILs to apply for and receive these funds were both in Florida:
the Center for Independent Living of Southwest Florida in Fort Myers and
the Coalition for Independent Living Options (CILO) in West Palm Beach.
The Center for Independent Living of North Florida, in Tallahassee, is
the most recent CIL funded under VOCA.
Ronald Muschong, executive director of the Center for Independent Living
of Southwest Florida in Fort Myers, and a former chief of police, led
the Florida CILs as the first to apply for and receive a full time position
of Victim of Crime Advocate. He recalls being unable to obtain any statistics
from area law enforcement agencies about crimes against persons with disabilities.
If no statistics were available to demonstrate that victims of crime with
disabilities existed, then funding for programs, such as crime prevention,
education, or self defense, would not be readily available. Muschong's
intent was to begin the process and in time expand available programs.
Shelley Gottsagen, executive director of CILO in West Palm Beach, recalls
they applied for this grant after children inundated CILO who were being
brutalized both physically and sexually in schools by other kids, school
staff and school police. They held two public forums on the issue. Thirty
different consumers and their families attended each forum. Also attending
were representatives from the State Attorney's office, the Attorney General's
office, school police and attorneys and many grassroots minority organizations.
Each of these three CILs now has a Crime Victim Advocate who provides
assistance to people with disabilities who have been crime victims. The
Crime Victim Advocates find crime victims in many ways, including referrals
from the sheriff’s offices or police departments. Domestic violence
shelters and other service organizations also call the CILs with referrals.
A part of the intake process at these CILs is now to ask if the applicant
has ever been a crime victim. Many abusive situations arise from caregivers,
families, and spouses. Twenty cases at one of these CILs have involved
domestic abuse.
Program goals include providing service to crime victims with disabilities,
alleviating problems resulting from victimization, and empowering individuals
with disabilities who are crime victims to become knowledgeable about
their choices and possible support systems.
The Crime Victim Advocates at these CILs keep crime victims up to date
about the status of their cases, provide information about police and
court procedures, keep crime victims informed about their deadlines and
court dates, and advocate with employers not to dock pay because of court
appearances. They refer crime victims to appropriate community resources
or social services and assist in filing an application for crime victim
compensation under Florida law. They can also assist in obtaining restraining
orders.
Each Crime Victim Advocate is required to take twenty-four hours of training
to fill their positions. They are also given detailed manuals that explain
victim rights, responsibilities and limitations. Since each case is different,
what a Crime Victim Advocate does varies from person to person. In some
cases, they may need to arrange transportation or specialized communication.
Finally, these advocates offer emergency assistance in locating food,
shelter, employment, clothing, medical treatment and maintaining paperwork.
Success and Replication
There is a distinct difference in language in the crime victim field
from that of the disability rights field. For example, CILs often discuss
outreach and education in the community. But the language of the VOCA
grant makes it clear that the only justification for providing information
and education about this grant to generic groups is with the specific
intent of identifying victims who have not previously recorded crimes
against them. General information and outreach, as CILs have historically
gone about their business, is not appropriate under the conditions of
these grants.
In the first year and one-half of the position, the Crime Victim Advocate
at the Center for Independent Living of Southwest Florida in Fort Myers
has responded to a total of 61 crime victim requests. The Coalition for
Independent Living Options has worked with 80 crime victims in the past
eighteen months. In the first six months of the newest position at the
Center for Independent Living of North Florida in Tallahassee, the advocate
has responded to nine victims of crime. The three CILs together have responded
to 150 crime victims in a relatively short time, underscoring the need
for programs of this type.
CILs in every state could have a Victim of Crime Advocate because each
state has money to fund such positions. Sharon D'Eusanio has written about
crime victims with disabilities and spoken about these programs in seven
states so far. She also participated on the advisory board for the development
and appears on two videotapes being produced by the Video Action Fund
with a grant from the Office for Victims of Crime ( OVC), one aimed at
disabilities communities and one at professionals.
Ron Muschong feels the VOCA program meshes with IL philosophy in several
ways. It enables CILs to network with law enforcement agencies to educate
them about issues that affect people with disabilities. This includes,
among many other things, providing interpreters for victims and defendants,
and recognizing the behavior of persons who may be reacting to a disability
or a medication who would otherwise appear to be under the influence of
alcohol or drugs. The Rehabilitation Services Administration recognized
the value of such a program in their evaluation of an on-site visit to
the Fort Myers CIL earlier this year.
Shelley Gottsagen concludes that safety is needed to make choices and
believe in life's options. She states, "CILO's mission is "To
Promote Independence for People with Disabilities," and there is
no independence when a person is being abused or victimized."
1 Statistics from Office of Victims of Crime BULLETIN,
"Working with Victims of Crimes with Disabilities," NCJ 172838
(Sept. 1998), 2, 5.
For more information about these programs, contact:
Anne Edwards
Victim of Crime Advocate
CIL of Southwest Florida
3626 Evans Avenue
Fort Myers, FL 33901
941.277.1447
TTY: 941.277.3964
FAX: 941.277.1647
EMAIL: cilfl@neosmart.com
http://www.cilfl.org
Shelley Gottsagen
Executive Director
CILO
6800 Forest Hill Boulevard
West Palm Beach, FL 33413-3310
561.966.4288 (Voice)
561.641.6538 (TTY)
561.41.6619 (Fax)
EMAIL: EXD2000@bellsouth.net
http://www.cilo.org/
Janet Kahn
Executive Director
CIL of North Florida
1823 Buford Court
Tallahassee, FL 32308
850.575.9621
TTY: 850.576.5245
FAX: 850.575.5740
EMAIL: cilnf@nettally.com
http://www.cilnf.org
Sharon D'Eusanio
954-969-4396 (Voice/Fax)
Sharon-D'Eusanio@oag.state.fl.us
Thanks for contributions to this article go to:
D'Eusanio, Sharon, "Out of Sight, Out of Mind," THE CRIME VICTIMS
REPORT, (July/August 2001), 39-40.
Poreba, Doreen, PALM BEACH POST, "Sharon D'Eusanio: Discovering
the Meaning of Life," (Oct. 7, 2001), 13-14.
Personal Conversation with Sharon D'Eusanio, April 2002.
Personal Communication with Shelley Gottsagen, April 2002.
Personal Communication with Ronald Muschong, April 2002.
Steven Brown
Institute on Disability Culture
Center on Disability Studies
University of Hawai'i
1776 University Ave., UA4-6
Honolulu, HI 96822
SBrown8912@aol.com
http://hometown.aol.com/sbrown8912/
About the Author
Steven E. Brown is currently a Resident Scholar
at the Center on Disability Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa. Brown,
founder, Institute on Disability Culture (IDC), earned a doctorate in
history from the University of Oklahoma. He directed an independent living
center in Oklahoma, organized numerous community coalitions, and served
as training director at the World Institute on Disability Research and
Training Center on Public Policy in Independent Living. He founded the
not-for-profit Institute on Disability Culture with his wife, Lillian
Gonzales Brown, in 1994. Since then he has become an internationally sought
speaker, trainer, and writer.
Brown's publications include dozens of articles and the books Independent
Living: Theory and Practice, which has been translated into several
languages; Investigating a Culture of Disability: Final
Report, the result of a prestigious Switzer Fellowship from the
National Institute on Disability Rehabilitation and Research of the Department
of Education, the first funding of its type for research into the field
of Disability Culture; A Celebration of Diversity:
an Annotated Bibliography about Disability Culture, Second Edition;
and Celebrating Passion, Relentlessness, and Vision:
the Manifesto Editorials. An award-winning poet, Brown has published
five books of poetry, Dragonflies in Paradise: An Activist's
Partial Poetic Autobiography; The Goddess Approaches
Fifty: Poems; Love into Forever: a Tribute to
Martyrs, Heroes, Friends, and Colleagues; Pain,
Plain--and Fancy Rappings: Poetry from the Disability Culture;
and Voyages: Life Journeys.
In recent years, Brown has conducted writing workshops and residencies
with groups of all ages, especially with middle and elementary school
students. He has written a children's biography about disability rights
pioneer Ed Roberts, distributed a monthly online newsletter and continued
to publish articles about disability culture and disability rights in
a variety of publications. He has conducted trainings throughout the United
States and Europe on a variety of disability related subjects.
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