Hi all,
I just received this from a relative in Virginia (the original message
was dated 2 May)...wondered why we have not heard of this on the list?
Paul...Devva...do you know anything more?
Cheers,
Dona
------ Forwarded message follows -------
Many of you have followed the progress of U.S. Senate Bill 1976 "Crime
Victims with Disabilities Awareness Act" (to see the full Bill, go to
http://thomas.loc.gov and search the 105th Congress, then SB 1976). This
Bill, signed by President Clinton in 1998, mandated the first-ever national
study of crime victims with disabilities, and originally asked for $850,000
to complete the research (and other work mandated by the Bill). After a year
of negotiating for this study, the U.S. Department of Justice has now awarded
$175,000 for Phase I of this study, which essentially calls for papers to be
commissioned to summarize key issues, and a national panel to be appointed to
consider further research, policy, and legislative needs in this area. It
also provides funding for about 20 persons to be flown to DC next November to
participate in a meeting with Congressional staff and others to discuss the
issues, and present the study's findings. The study began May 1st, and I was
asked to be the Study Director (the grant was given to the National Research
Council (NRC), and research arm of the U.S. Congress, and all funds go to
their staff, travel for the meeting, and pay for the commissioned papers.).
This is a "volunteer" position. I have agreed to do this, but know I will
need lots of help from disability experts to make this effort successful.
There are a lot of good folks working on the issue of victims with
disabilities, but we are not well organized and most of us are not well
funded.
So, I ask your help initially in two areas:
1) What are the key topics that we need to commission "state of the art"
reviews on. The budget allows for about 8 of these papers, authors to be
paid $1500 each to write the 20-30 page review. Topics could include: the
prevalence of the problem, theoretical explanations for which victims with
disabilities have higher risks, model programs to respond to such victims,
unique issues in police investigation and prosecution, personal safety
training, and so on.
2) Who do we want to "appoint" to the working group to review the
papers, and attend a 2-day meeting next Fall in Washington DC to discuss
needed legislation, research, and programs.
A final report is due to be delivered to the U.S. Congress, published by the
National Research Council, next April 2000. The final report will summarize
what we learned about the topic, and our recommendations. I think this is a
very important symbolic and substantive step. It is the first national U.S.
study on this topic - and the fact that it is going through the National
Research Council is important, as this is a very prestigious group and
Congress pays close attention to their report. Please send me suggestions of
topics we should cover, and persons and agencies who should be involved. And
PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO OTHERS YOU THINK COULD HELP. I am
tremendously grateful for any help you can offer. I think we have an
opportunity to do good work on behalf of crime victims with disabilities.
Joan Petersilia, Ph.D.
Professor, Criminology, Law & Society
School of Social Ecology, SE II, Room 2317
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, California 92697-7080
Dona Avery
U of Bristol/AZ State U.
[log in to unmask]
www.public.asu.edu/~donam
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