When Bonnie Andrews began working for the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA) about five years ago, she helped to establish its Victim Services Program, which reaches out to victims of crime in the Washington DC area.  Today, she serves as the program's manager and is being honored by the American Probation and Parole for her outstanding work in the field.

Andrews will receive the APPA's Joe Kegans Award for Victim Services this week at the organization's summer conference in New York City.  Recently, The Corrections Connection Network News had a chance to talk with Andrews about what the award means to her and what challenges her the most about working in victim services.

Q: What is your background in the victim services field?

Andrews: Well, before I moved to Washington, I was in private practice as a clinical social worker in Fayetteville, North Carolina.  I provided outpatient treatment for adolescents and women - that was my primary caseload.  Looking back on my [career] history, I guess I have always, in one way or another, worked with victims of crimes because a lot of the women I saw were dealing with domestic violence and a lot of the children I provided treatment for were victims of some type of childhood abuse.  So, in one way or another, I have always provided services for victims, but not in this capacity. 

I did that and I also worked with a mental health clinic - a demonstration clinic - for the Army.  We provided treatment for military families, primarily the children and the families.  That is when they had a big deployment to Saudi Arabia.  When the troops returned, there was a high rate of family issues, family matters, that could have interfered with [a] military soldier's ability to function on his job [from] day-to-day.  So, we looked at a lot of services in the community and assessed services that were needed.  I sit on a lot of committees [now], but I am very proud of being part of developing a crisis intervention group home for adolescents as part of [that demonstration project], the Rumbaugh Mental Health Clinic in Fayetteville.

While I was there, I helped with that development and I also [helped] develop a rural, in-home, wraparound services [project].  [It was] an outreach project for families that didn't have transportation resources.  The wraparound services consisted of having counselors that would go into the home and provide services.

I think the last project that I was part of developing was a geriatric outpatient daycare center in one of the rural hospitals in North Carolina. 

Q: How did you end up at CSOSA?

Andrews: I had prior service with the federal government and I started looking at my career over a long period of time and thinking about where I would go to next and what I would do next.  I started to reapply for positions with the federal government and, at that time, there was a position that came open with the U.S. Attorneys Office and that was a project manger for a program called "Children Who Witnessed Domestic Violence."  That project [was] being developed by Katherine Turman, Joyce Thomas and Dr. Hope Hill.  So, I was recruited by the U.S. Attorneys Office to come to DC and continue the development of that project.  It was a two-year grant, funded by the Violence Against Women Office.  I moved to DC, which was a huge transition in itself.  It was exciting, but it was a little scary at the same time.  Then, taking on that new job was a little scary and [so was] not knowing my way around the city.   I had to quickly learn all of that and I had to reach out to people [to find] resources that were available for children who had witnessed domestic violence.  At the time I started working on that program, there were not a lot of resources available.  I am not sure how much that has changed at this point, but that is a whole different story. 

I worked with that project until it expired and, in the meantime, I had grown to like DC, so I applied with Court Services for their position - the program manager for victim services.  It was a program that had not been developed.  The concept had been developed by Christine Keels, executive assistant for community supervision services and Thomas Williams, who is the associate director for community supervision services.  They had just come from the Maryland Parole and Probation Office and they wanted to develop a victim' services program at CSOSA and the position became available.  I applied for it and here I am.

Q: What do you do at CSOSA?

Andrews: I manage the victim services program and, in doing that, I provide direct services to victims of crimes and I train staff and the community on victim sensitivity issues.  We are a strong advocate for victims of crimes in DC.  I coordinate and chair a victim services providers roundtable for the metropolitan area and we look at all types of issues related to victims of crimes and issues that victims services providers face routinely.  I also host a number of CSOSA special projects.  During National Crime Victims' Rights Week, we always do a program that is related to the theme identified by the Office of Victims of Crimes (OVC).  I do a lot of different things in the community, but most of those are centered around providing services for victims and training and helping people to become aware about what goes on with victims of crime and trying to look at resources that are appropriate to the needs of victims.  I use the word "appropriate" because, a lot of times, we have resources and they may not be what the victims need.  The first thing that we always do is look at the safety of the victims and helping the victim to feel safe in the community.  In a nutshell, that is pretty much what I do.

Q: What do you like best about your job?

Andrews: I think the thing that I like best is seeing a victim have hope because, oftentimes, I will work with a victim or do an assessment for a victim and they may be afraid or fearful for their safety and hopeless about resources that are in the community for them.  Their [lives have] been disrupted.  Their privacy has been intruded on.  Mentally and physically, they may have injuries and they are just broken.  When I can work with the person and be a part of them rebuilding their life and giving them new start, that is what really keeps me motivated for this work.  You know it can be a little taxing at times, particularly with the types of victims and crimes we work with.  Now it seems like the crimes are getting worse and the people who commit the crimes are pretty much without a conscience.  As a result, the victimization that people experience is becoming worse.  Working with the victim and seeing them regain a sense of dignity and [get] their life back in order pretty much is what I enjoy most about this job.

Q: What do you find to be most challenging about working in victim services?

Andrews: [The] lack of staff and resources [is challenging].  When I say resources, I am not talking about counseling and things of that nature.  What I am talking about is the necessities that people need to just function.  Not only are the people that we work with challenged by being a victim of crime, but they also have the challenge of not having their basic needs being met.  That presents a problem when you are trying to assist someone.

Q: What does receiving an award from APPA mean to you?

Andrews: I am very humbled and I am just really surprised because I know working in this field there are so many victim advocates and community providers that do such great work.  I look at my work and it's like a pebble in a big pond of work that needs to be done.  I am still very surprised because there are so may people out there that are doing so much work - and good work.  It's inspired me to keep moving forward and to just keep tapping into my brain and resources so we can continue to work for victims.

Q: What do you see for your future?

Andrews: Eventually, I am going to go back into private practice because I have learned a lot doing this [kind] of work with the federal government and being in victims services.  I think about if I had the knowledge that I acquired over the past seven years and if I had that knowledge [back] then [when I was doing private practice and] some of the things that I could have helped my clients in private work accomplish.  But I guess I am supposed to be where I am now and know what I know and have experienced what I have experienced, so that I can continue to share that with other people.  Whatever [I do next] will be working in social services.  I have always wanted to do that.  I can remember when I was just maybe eight or nine and I always wanted to be a psychologist or [work] in social work.  I have been pretty fortunate because I have been able to do that.