With the help of many, and recommendations from advocates around the state, the OPAA is pleased to provide a victims' advocate workshop. We will cover a wide range of topics you may run into every day, or will perhaps run into in the future. Please take time to look over the schedule below for specifics. We look forward to seeing you in November!

Thursday, November 13 9:00 - 10:00 Registration and Continental Breakfast

10:00 - 11:00 When Trauma Hits The Brain
This presentation will contrast the way traumatic information is processed with normal non traumatic information. The implications of the process will be considered for understanding victim responses and interventions. Adding this information to what you know about crisis will explain what we have observed and expand your understanding of the impact of trauma on the human person.
Bob Denton
Director
Victim Assistance Program
Summit County

11:00 - 12:00 Why Can't We All Just Get Along? Advocates And Cops
This presentation will provide an understanding of the evolution of the victim movement and the implications for developing a mutual understanding of the legitimate but different roles of law enforcement and victim advocates. Consideration will be given to the critical role law enforcement can and does play as a major gatekeeper for access to victims, and address some of the political and policy nuances involved. This presentation emanates from the unique policy wedding of a non profit victim services agency within a law enforcement context.
Bob Denton
Director
Victim Assistance Program
Summit County

12:00 - 1:00 Lunch, (provided)

1:00 - 2:00 Victim Involvement in Death Penalty Cases
Participants will learn about how surviving family members of victims in death penalty cases can participate in both the clemency hearing and execution processes. Family involvement can vary from submitting letters or information for consideration to fully testifying at the clemency hearing and witnessing the execution. The Office of Victim Services within the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction prepares and supports families through each of these events.
Karin Ho
Victim Advocate
Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction

2:00 - 2:15 Break

2:15 - 3:15 How You Can Support the Consistent Enforcement of Crime Victims Rights
This training will provide education and open discussion on victims= rights laws within O.R.C. 2930, various statutes throughout the Ohio Revised Code that also provide specific rights to victims of crime, and the Ohio Constitution. There will be training and open discussion on what you can do as an advocate to support the consistent enforcement of crime victims' rights in your local jurisdictions. Participants will be provided fact sheets with a compilation of Ohio's victims' rights laws noting which officials or parties are responsible for responding to crime victims under each provision.
Catherine Harper Lee
Executive Director
The Justice League of Ohio

3:15 - 4:45 Core Victim Needs and How to Meet Them
Victim Advocates assist a wide variety of victims, victimizations, and needs. This workshop will focus on the four core needs of victims, while advocating for victim centered assistance and avoiding "assembly line" services. Victim needs are commonly in a sequence,from crisis to long term, and this workshop will provide a model to use to address these needs in phases. Also, three key service quality issues will be summarized to help programs reach, serve, and treat victims to attain the highest level of public service.
David Voth
Executive Director
Crime Victim Services
Allen and Putnam Counties, Ohio

Friday, November 14 8:00 - 9:00 Registration and Continental Breakfast

9:00 - 10:30 Winning Domestic Violence Cases: The Use of Evidence Based Prosecutions and Stalking Charges.
Evidence Based Prosecution has been developed to enable law enforcement and prosecutors to successfully obtain convictions in domestic violence cases with uncooperative or recanting victims. By assuming that a likely victim will recant, and by using a cooperative approach involving first responders, investigators, advocates, and prosecutors, this approach permits prosecutors to obtain domestic violence convictions even when the victim does, in fact, recant. This talk will focus on the techniques which have been proven successful, and will help teach Abest practices@ to prosecutors. Stalking charges are one of the most valuable tools for prosecutors. Stalking is not limited to the traditional unwanted advances by a defendant, but includes relationships with a significant power imbalance, and defendant who are otherwise thought of as model citizens. Stalking charges, unlike domestic violence charges, focus on the entire relationship between the defendant and the victim. By using stalking charges, in connection with evidence based prosecution techniques, prosecutors can obtain convictions in serious domestic violence cases.
Joshua Engel
Chief Legal Counsel
Ohio Department of Public Safety

10:30 - 10:45 Break

10:45 - 11:45 Preparing For Court
Testifying in court can be very intimidating, even terrifying, to some witnesses. Help reduce their anxiety by preparing them for court. Assist your prosecutor in the process of case preparation by getting the witness ready to testify. This workshop will address ways you can prepare your victims and witnesses, the dos and don'ts of testifying,and other tips that might make your victim a better witness. Prosecutor Selvaggio will discuss the statutory elements that compromise Ohio's criminal statutes. Time permitting, strategies used in selecting the avenues of felony criminal prosecution will be discussed.
Jane McKenzie
Director of Victim Witness Assistance Unit
Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney's office and
Nick Selvaggio
Prosecuting Attorney
Champaign County

11:45 - 12:45 Lunch, (provided)

12:45 - 2:15 Advocating for Elderly and Minor Victims
This workshop will focus on the issues that are sensitive to the Elderly and to child victims. Discussion will revolve around crisis reactions for each population and how to create an environment conducive to disclosure. We will discuss how to intervene and assist in the aftermath of trauma, as well as the direct service components that are unique to each.
Cindy Reagan Kuhr
Ohio Office of Victim Services

2:15 - 2:30 Break

2:30 - 3:30 Finding Your Cocoon and Escaping Vicarious Trauma
This workshop focuses on one of the most important aspects in the helping profession. How to take care of yourself! We constantly strive to educate ourselves in classes that will assist us with those in need of some assistance. This is a course that will assist you in doing that to the best of your ability. We will discuss the rewards of your job but also how it can impact you without proper care. We will discuss the many issues faced in the helping profession: vicarious trauma, burnout, and compassion fatigue. This is no training more important than this one designed for self-preservation. The goal is to educate by having you involved in a fun transformation by the end of the class!
Cindy Reagan Kuhr
Ohio Office of Victim Services

Guest rooms at the Hyatt are $149.00 for single thru quadruple occupancy. For an additional $35.00, access to the Regency Club Lounge can be obtained. For reservations call the Hyatt at 800-233-1234. Be sure to tell them you are with OPAA to receive this rate. Our hold on rooms expires on Monday, October 20th. Check-in time is 3:00 p.m. and check-out time is 12:00 noon. Hyatt cancellation policy: Cancellations must be made 24 hours in advance of 3:00 p.m. of the date of arrival. Anyone failing to thus cancel will be charged one night=s room rate and tax as a no-show penalty.

The registration fee of $200.00 covers all handout materials, continental breakfast, and lunch both days, and refreshments at breaks. The fee for one day only is $125.00. Due to the expense of producing the training manual, which requires an early commitment, a $45.00 penalty will apply to all cancellations made with OPAA through November 6th, and a manual will be sent to the registrant. To help defray the cost of food guarantees, cancellations after November 6th will be assessed a penalty of $110.00 if scheduled to attend both days, and an $85.00 penalty if scheduled for one day only.

NOTE: If any registrant has special dietary needs, contact Delores at 614-221-1266, so that advance arrangements can be made with the hotel.