Effective Organizational Structure, Staffing and Supervision of Victim Advocates

Victim advocates play a critical role in supporting both victims and prosecutors through the prosecution process, particularly in domestic violence cases.

In a recent webinar, APA brought prosecutor and victim advocate teams from the Kings County (Brooklyn) District Attorney’s Office and Multnomah County (Oregon) District Attorney’s Office to discuss effective organizational structure, staffing and supervision of victim advocates.

Here are some key takeaways:

  • Training and Onboarding

In Kings and Multnomah Counties, integrating advocates and prosecutors starts at the beginning of onboarding and the advocate team is involved with training new prosecutors. For example, in Kings County, the Victim Services team trains Domestic Violence (DV) DAs by having them shadow victim advocates while the advocates complete DV intakes. This allows new prosecutors to experience trauma informed interviewing in practice. In addition, advocates receive at least one month of shadowing, training and feedback before being assigned a case. Both offices support continued trainings for advocates and attorneys.

  • Communication

Both Kings and Multnomah Counties have a collaborative model in which advocates are embedded throughout the prosecution process. The roles and responsibilities of the prosecutor and advocate are clearly communicated to the victim.

Regular team meetings for all advocates and prosecutors help ensure open communication and effective problem solving. In Multnomah County, advocates and prosecutors meet as a group once a week to look at trials coming up and resolve issues together.

Both offices stressed that a key component of an effective organizational structure and comprehensive victim response is ensuring that advocates have access to leadership and decision makers.

  • Supervision

 

Supervision allows victim advocates to learn and grow, receive support, and have clinical needs met. Decisions must be made regarding who will supervise advocates. Considerations include whether the supervisor has training, experience and understanding of the role of victim advocates, and whether the supervisor has the authority to make program decisions.

In Kings County, victim services supervisors are clinically licensed social workers who oversee about 5-7 social workers or advocates. This allows them to offer advocates contact hours for social worker licensing. This also helps with recruiting, as advocates receive clinical hours without having to pay for clinical supervision. (Kings County received a carve out with state licensing board). In addition, Kings County has a task supervisor role –a social worker without a clinical license who supervisors non-licensed victim advocates.

Multnomah county describes the benefit of strong supervision in processing cases, reviewing case notes, providing feedback on interventions, and exploring ways to advocate for a victim. Their office offers various levels of support for advocates, including peer leads, supervisors and experienced mentors. This system helps normalize feedback and communication, ensure shared goals, and recognize vicarious trauma and burnout.

Watch the full webinar here.