DOC Secretary Frank Announces Creation
of Crime Victim Advisory Committee
New group highlights Gov. Doyle’s ongoing commitment to
support crime victims and survivors
MADISON – Department of Corrections (DOC) Secretary Matthew Frank today
announced the formation of a Crime Victim Advisory Committee that will
enhance the Department’s ability to ensure that the rights of crime
victims are a key focus of the Department’s policies and practices. The
new committee is comprised of representatives of state-wide victim
advocacy organizations, community leaders and high-level Department
managers.
“The Department is dedicated to protecting the public and committed to
addressing the impact of crime on victims and the community,” Secretary
Frank said. “Whether it is through the custody of over 22,000 inmates in
prison or 600 juveniles in our state juvenile institutions, through the
supervision of over 73,000 offenders in the community, or through the
daily interaction with crime victims across Wisconsin through our Office
of Victim Services and Programs, the work of the Department directly or
indirectly impacts victims and their families. The ongoing input of
victim-advocacy experts at a high-policy level within the Department will
be invaluable.”
In honor of Crime Victims Rights Week, declared for April 22-28 through
a proclamation by Governor Doyle, Secretary Frank issued an Executive
Directive to the Department this week formally establishing the permanent
Crime Victim Advisory Committee.
The formation of the Committee follows previous steps the Department
has taken to improve services to crime victims and their families over the
last several years, including a reorganization that brought the
Department’s Office of Victim Services and Programs into the Secretary’s
office in 2003, and major enhancements in the Department’s state of the
art on-line victim notification system in 2003-2005, giving enrolled
victims Web access to specific offender information and notification.
“Victim impact is a key focus of Department staff interaction with
offenders, and the Crime Victims Advisory Committee will help the
Department as we improve victim impact and restorative justice programs
involving offenders both in prison and on supervision in the community, as
well as help the Department enhance its existing partnerships with victim
advocacy organizations across the state,” Secretary Frank said. “Reducing
recidivism and the number of crime victims is a central part of the
Department’s mission. We very much appreciate the commitment that
individuals and organizations have made to serve on this committee.”
Governor Doyle’s proposed 2007-2009 state budget contains several
initiatives to aid crime victims, including an additional $950,000 for the
state’s domestic abuse programs administered by the Department of Health
and Family Services, and an increase of $3.7 million in funding for
victim-witness programs statewide.
Membership includes the following individuals and organizations:
Executive Director Linda Morrison, Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual
Assault; Executive Director Patti Seeger, Wisconsin Coalition Against
Domestic Violence: Executive Director Kari Kinnard, Mothers Against Drunk
Driving in Wisconsin; Executive Director Charity Eleson, Wisconsin Council
on Children and Families; Coordinator Sharon Paulson-Tainter, American
Indians Against Abuse; Shelley Sturdevant, of the Victim Witness
Professionals Association who also is Victim/Witness Coordinator for the
Rock County District Attorney's Office; Carol Westerlund, Parents of
Murdered Children State Coordinator; Lynn BeBeau, Crime Victim/Advocate
and probation/parole agent; Janine Geske, Distinguished Professor of Law &
Director of the Marquette University Restorative Justice Initiative; and
Alfonso Graham, Chair of the Wisconsin Parole Commission. Other DOC staff
members include Executive Assistant Susan Crawford; Division
Administrators John Bett of Adult Institutions, Quala Champagne of
Community Corrections and Charles Tubbs of Juvenile Corrections; and
Colleen Jo Winston, Director of the Office of Victim Services and
Programs.
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04/19/2007
