Ana Giron, Director of Victim Services

The members of the Victim Services Unit provide a comprehensive program of services to felony crime victims and their families. Advocates are assigned to victims and their families for guidance and support through the court process. They inform them of their rights, notify them of the status of their case, assist them in court, and help them to better understand and participate in the legal process. In addition, the unit provides referrals to other agencies and support groups that can provide further assistance with financial, legal, medical, or emotional problems resulting from the crime. The Victim Services Unit provides services to Spanish speaking victims in their native language, with forms, brochures and letters.

Since 2006 and continuing, the Unit underwent important changes in an effort to enhance services to victims. An additional advocate was assigned to the Unit for the purposes of assisting victims at violation hearings as well as providing support to the Courtroom 9 prosecutors on all victim-related matters. Significant changes were implemented with regard to the victim notification system – advocates are now responsible for providing more detailed notification of all significant court events as well as case status, updates, i.e., violation hearings, competency hearings, waivers, warrants, etc. The advocates serve as liaisons for the victim service provider agencies that offer specialized help to victims of child molestation, sexual assault, homicide survivors, elder abuse, patient abuse – Day One, Child Advocacy Center, Victims Support Center, Family Service of Rhode Island and Tri-Town Community Action/Elder Abuse Unit.

The unit has an “on call” system for advocates to work with police departments and prosecutors on homicide cases, with a goal of establishing contact with the victim’s family within 24 hours. Two advocates are on call at all times. Information on Victims Compensation, support services and case status are made available to each family. There is also a weekend rotation system so that the “on call” prosecutor has an advocate available to them as well.

The new database that the unit utilizes for cases produces a higher quality correspondence and superior ability to generate statistics.

Victims may now register to a new Victim Assistance Portal, https://www.infacts.doc.ri.gov/vapv3/welcome.do, which allows victims to access pertinent information on the defendant’s case including, but not limited to, court hearings, parole hearings, release dates, restitution payments.