By Kostas Kalaitzidis
The Pinal County Attorney's Community Services Division has received funding from the National Association of VOCA Assistance Administrators (NAVAA) to sponsor the 2009 Victims' Rights Week series of events. NAVAA agreed to reimburse the project up to $4,379. "In these hard economic times financial help from the federal government is very important. With this help we can provide important information to the public and raise awareness for victims' rights in our communities," Pinal County Attorney James P. Walsh said.
The theme for 2009 National Crime Victims' Rights Week is "25 Years of Rebuilding Lives: Celebrating the Victims of Crime Act." The dates of the National Crime Victims' Rights Week (NCVRW) are April 26 to May 2. The Pinal County Attorney's Community Services Division's application was among 186 from around the country and was selected for the quality of the ongoing efforts to raise public awareness about crime victims' rights and services available in our community and to commemorate 25 years of Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) accomplishments.
According to Mary Jane Damron, Community Services Division Director, the Community Awareness Project that will be sponsored in Pinal County will showcase our efforts to reach out to victims and raise awareness of victims' rights in the community.
"The support from NAVAA and OVC for our 2009 National Crime Victims' Rights Week activities will assist us in helping crime victims," she said. "Members of our community are encouraged to help promote justice through service to crime victims by joining our 2009 National Crime Victims' Rights Week activities and by supporting victim assistance programs throughout the year."
The grant came from the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), within the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, to promote community awareness of crime victims' rights and services and to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the enactment of the U.S. Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) during 2009 National Crime Victims' Rights Week.
The Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) was enacted in 1984 to provide financial support for state crime victim compensation and victim assistance programs. The Act created the Crime Victims Fund through which more than $9 billion has been collected from federal criminal fines and other penalties to support victim services.
For more information contact Kostas Kalaitzidis by phone at: (520) 866 6699 or (520) 709 1333, or by email at: Kostas.kalaitzidis@co.pinal.az.us
Additional resources: Office for Victims of Crime Web site at http://www.ovc.gov and http://ovc.ncjrs.gov/ncvrw2009/welcome.html
