2021 COMBAT Funding: $278,676.00

In AdHoc Group Agaisnt Crime's Own Words

Purpose 

The purpose of AdHoc’s comprehensive COMBAT-funded Caring for Crime Survivors program is to reduce the impact of violent crime in Jackson County neighborhoods and the potential for further violence. These services correspond to the COMBAT Violence Prevention focus area. We seek to reduce the impact of violence and reduce the potential for retaliation or further harm by focusing on psycho-social healing using two main, existing prevention services, Crisis Case Management and Counseling with licensed therapists.

Helping Those In Distressed Neighborhoods

Our target population is individuals and families living in high crime, economically-distressed neighborhoods that: a) have lost a loved one due to homicide, b) were victims of gun violence or other types of assault or c) were witnesses to violence. 

We also assist returning offenders to further reduce the potential for violence by helping ensure their basic needs are met.

Offering Services Within 24 Hours

Most Crisis Case Management support is initiated through self-referral calls to our 24/7 community and youth Help Lines, through walk-ins to our office, and through referrals from community agencies. We average 160 calls a month from people requesting some kind of assistance. In addition, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office and Aim4Peace make referrals for victims and witnesses. Our services are available to police departments of different jurisdictions in Jackson County and as a result they also refer victims and witnesses to us. We contact individuals/families to offer our services within 24 hours after they are referred.

In addition, we conduct outreach for our Crisis Case Management and Counseling services through weekly PSAs on KPRS/KPRT radio that reach our target population and through distribution of agency brochures to local funeral homes or at community meetings attended by AdHoc staff members. We also post information about services on our website and Facebook page, and inform community members about our Counseling services at prayer vigils for murder victims and on news broadcasts following a homicide. 

Canvassing Neighborhoods

As part of our early response, an AdHoc staff member and team of around five trained volunteers canvass the neighborhood where the shooting/other injury took place. They go door-to-door, asking residents to contact the police if they have any information regarding the crime and informing them about AdHoc resources, such as Counseling to deal with the trauma of the incident. This Trauma Response Team of staff and volunteers canvass in approximately 35 affected neighborhoods annually. (We cannot canvass neighborhoods with every violent incident because it would fatigue our volunteers and staff.)

Service Details

CRISIS CASE MANAGEMENT for individuals and families helps them gain stability following a violent event and reduces the possibility of retaliation or being further victimized. Following the initial call from a victim, family member, or witness, or referral from an agency, a staff member trained in Trauma-Informed Care follows up via phone, then meets with these clients at their homes, conducts a trauma assessment and identifies crisis-related needs. Ongoing support is provided over the phone and in person by the staff member. 

The duration of Case Management depends on individual and family needs. In general, at least four to six contacts are made with the victim, family of the victim or witness over a period of several weeks, up to a year, or until the initial crisis is past and they are making significant progress toward stability. 

COVID-19 Adjustments

We have made some adjustments to client contact during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of allowing walk-in assistance at our offices, we take appointments for in-person office visits. Upon entry, we take the person’s temperature, survey for virus symptoms, and require sign-in with phone number in case contact tracing will ever be needed. If the client desires an in-person home visit, our staff member will schedule a time, wear a mask, and not enter a home but remain outside, always staying at least six feet away from any individual. We will also schedule virtual visits when appropriate. 

Support Services

During the crisis period, Case Management typically involves making calls to detectives or court staff to obtain case updates, accompanying victims, families and witnesses to court hearings, and calling community agencies to make referrals for specific services. We also facilitate access to our Free, In-Home Counseling by licensed, AdHoc-contracted therapists to deal with the grief and trauma of the violent event and with anger, substance abuse or other adverse mental health symptoms related to the event. (We provide referrals for returning offenders for housing, jobs and transportation.) 

Advocating With Landlords, Employers, Schools & More

Clients may face a variety of additional challenges, such as loss of employment while trying to recover from the trauma, loss of housing when the victim provided a major source of income for the family, covering funeral expenses, needing to relocate when the household is in danger, or helping a child with behavior issues in school following the trauma. 

AdHoc staff members advocate with landlords, employers, schools and other entities to help clients meet these challenges. We make referrals to the Laura E. Mason Foundation when food or clothing is needed, and they deliver these items to the client’s home.

Refferals From Jackson County Prosecutor's Office

When referrals are made by the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office, typically for survivors of violence and not homicide victims, we offer the same Case Management services described above, but we are also able to contract for repairing damage to the victim or witness’s home due to the violent incident (e.g. repair of bullet holes and related damage), and occasionally provide crime scene clean-up. The purpose of the repair feature is to reduce ongoing trauma to these clients caused by these reminders of the traumatic event. We provide approximately 120 victims per year with home repairs at an average cost per home of $625.

The Prosecutor’s Victim Advocate also attends the initial assessment visit to the victim, family, or witness with our Director of Crisis Intervention. Case Management for Prosecutor-referred clients is called Caring for Crime Survivors and was originally a special initiative of the Prosecutor’s Office. However, we have adopted this name and now refer to all of our services as the Caring for Crime Survivors program. 

Crisis Case Management services continue beyond the crisis stage for those enrolled in AdHoc Counseling. In these cases, the AdHoc staff person providing the Case Management and therapist remain in contact to help meet ongoing client needs. 

For clients not receiving Counseling who still need Case Management beyond the crisis stage, we partner with Community Action Agency (CAA) of Greater Kansas City to help with ongoing issues, such as financial stability and finding affordable housing. Families living at or below 125% of the Federal Poverty Level qualify for CAA assistance, a condition met by the majority of our clients.

Trauma- And Grief-Focused Counseling 

Free, In-Home, Counseling by licensed therapists is typically accessed through our Crisis Case Management services, as staff members identify individuals/families experiencing symptoms of trauma and grief. Counseling helps clients develop healthy behaviors in response to the trauma of violence, bringing healing and health versus debilitating depression or destructive coping behaviors such as substance abuse or retaliatory violence that teardown families and communities. Counseling is provided at no cost in the client’s home or other preferred location, and is available 6-days-a-week, morning, afternoon, and evening.  The duration varies from 1-30 hours annually, with an average of 27, 1-hour sessions, per person/family. Eight contracted, licensed therapists provide the Counseling in addition to our Clinical Supervisor, also a licensed therapist. The Clinical Supervisor oversees the contract therapists. 

At this time, due to organizational policies and procedures for COVD-19, AdHoc contract therapists are not seeing our clients in person. However, therapists are using HIPPA-compliant telehealth methods to conduct Counseling sessions. 

Goal in 2021

We expect to serve a total of 370 unduplicated individuals or family units annually through Caring for Crime Survivors services, including 250 that self-refer or are referred to us from community providers or the police, and 120 referred by the Prosecutor’s Office. Approximately 100 individuals/family units access our Counseling services each year, typically entering through AdHoc Case Management, and sometimes through outside agency referrals or identified through other AdHoc programming, such as Cognitive Behavior Intervention (CBI) groups at schools, juvenile detention or adult courts.

Outcome

By providing Crisis Case Management and Counseling, victims, their families, and witnesses impacted by a violent crime will begin to take steps toward stability in their daily lives and experience improved mental health – reducing their level of anger and trauma and pursuing healing instead of retaliation.

AdHoc staff members help victims, witnesses and families address their multiple needs, redirecting them to a positive path and assuring them that AdHoc will not only help them find resources to meet their housing and other daily needs, but also directly advocate for them with law enforcement, employers, schools and landlords. Walking alongside victims, families and witnesses has a calming effect and prevents their emotions from spiraling out of control, because they have an advocate helping them deal with life-altering needs resulting from their victimization.