North Carolina Department of Correction news release
MARCH 6, 1998
Correction Managers Listen to Crime Victims
North Carolina correction managers are sitting down with crime victims to discuss ways prisons and probation offices can better serve victims.
A series of six seminars are being held across the state to help correction staff better understand the concerns of crime victims and the assistance the department can provide.
"We can do a better job helping crime victims understand our agency and helping them find information they need," said Correction Secretary Mack Jarvis. "Taking the time to listen and providing helpful information is crucial to improving our efforts to assist crime victims."
Each seminar begins with crime victims telling their stories by describing the crimes, the impact on their lives and the difficulties they encountered in the criminal justice system. Then Karen George, the NC Parole Commission’s Victims Services Coordinator, and other victim advocates talk about ways to better respond to victims’ concerns and to meet their needs.
Correction staff participating in the training are from the Division of Prisons, Division of Adult Probation and Parole and day reporting centers working with the department’s Criminal Justice Partnership Program.
Division of Adult Probation and Parole Director Robert Guy asked each of the division’s judicial district offices to send an employee to take part in the training. With grant funds, DAPP began providing victim services in two of the state’s judicial districts last year. Anita Culbreth works in New Bern as the DAPP Victim Advocate for Judicial District 10 and Mel Chilton works in Raleigh as the DAPP Victim Advocate for Judicial District 3B.
At the request of State Prison Director Dan Stieneke, each prison has identified an employee to serve as its Victim Information Coordinator. After taking part in the training, the coordinators will respond to victims’ concerns and help keep prison staff informed of victims’ issues.
The seminars will be held March 9 in Raleigh at the Wake County Sheriff’s Department’s Mount Auburn Training Center, March 12 in Huntersville at Central Piedmont Community College’s North Center, March 18 in Lumberton at Robeson Community College, April 1 in Asheville at Asheville-Buncombe Tech Community College and April 16 in Greenville at Pitt Community College. The seminars begin at 9 a.m.
The first seminar was held March 4 in Winston-Salem at Forsyth Technical Community College.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: For more information, you may want to contact Dorothy Ledford, Victim Information Coordinator for the NC Division of Prisons at (919) 733-3226 or Sherry Pilkington, Assistant Director of the NC Division of Adult Probation and Parole at (919) 716-3100.
Related Information
Links for Crime Victims
Advocates Aid Crime Victims
Victim Advocacy Services