Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction

 

NEWS RELEASE

MEDIA ADVISORY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                   July 10, 2006

 

Office of Victim Services Celebrates Ten Year Anniversary

 

(Columbus) --- The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction’s (DRC) Office of Victim Services (OVS) will celebrate its ten-year anniversary this Thursday, July 13, 2006. Established by the Ohio State Legislature in July 1996, OVS provides comprehensive assistance to the more than 38,000 crime victims currently registered with the office.

 

In addition to victim notification services, OVS has expanded its victim assistance programs over the last decade to also include Victim-Offender Dialogue, Victim Awareness and PROVE Batterer’s Intervention programs. These initiatives could not have been developed without the support of victims and community-based advocacy programs.

 

“Victims of crime in Ohio should have input from the time of an arrest through trial and sentencing, incarceration, and for any type of early release consideration,” stated DRC Director Terry J. Collins. “The staff of the Office of Victim Services works diligently to ensure that crime victims’ voices are heard clearly.”

 

Thursday’s event will recognize the efforts of those involved in creating the Office of Victim Services and its accomplishments over the past ten years. Speakers will include Jeanette Adkins, Director of the National Organization of Victim Assistance and DRC Director Collins. The ceremony will be held at the Reginald A. Wilkinson Corrections Training Academy beginning from 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM.

 

For more information, contact the DRC Bureau of Public Information at (614) 752-1150.

 

Directions to the site:

(From Columbus)  Take I-71 South to the Orient/Harrisburg exit (Exit 94). Turn left at light (State Route 62). Bear left at “Y” (Stahl Road). Follow Stahl Road through town of Orient. At first stop sign, turn left. Road dead-ends into State Route 762. Turn left onto SR 762 then an immediate right onto the Orient Correctional Complex. Follow the signs to the Corrections Training Academy.