Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction

NEWS RELEASE 

For Immediate Release: September 14, 1998

 Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
Victim Services Receives National Recognition

(Columbus) --- The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction’s (DRC) Office of Victim Services (OVS) has been awarded the prestigious Tadini Bacigalupi, Jr. Award, one of only two recipients nationally. The honor is awarded to distinguished victim service programs by the National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA).

The Tadini Bacigalupi, Jr. Award is named in memory of "Tad" Bacigalupi, Jr., a California attorney who was a prominent voice in supporting the involvement of both public and private agencies in the victim assistance movement. Bacigalupi served as NOVA’s longtime Board Secretary.

The OVS was honored to be nominated for the award by the Victim/Witness Division of the Greene County Prosecutor’s Office. The nomination cited the Department’s early recognition of the victim’s rights movement, the personal attention provided to victims and the participation of staff and parole board members in National Victims Rights Week. In particular, the nomination noted the extensive network of victim coordinators located at each of Ohio’s prisons and Adult Parole Authority offices.

"Ohio began offering services to victims of crime in the 1980’s," said DRC Director Reginald A. Wilkinson. "The passage of Senate Bill 2, Ohio’s ‘Truth in Sentencing’ bill, gave us the impetus to do much more." Created by Wilkinson in 1996, the OVS fields a program of crisis intervention, advocacy and education for victims of crime throughout the penal system. Under Administrator Karin Ho, OVS staff – consisting primarily of survivors of crime - are active in local and national victim’s rights efforts. OVS services include personal meetings with victims, assistance in working with the Ohio Parole Board, notification of an offender’s status and intervention in cases of harassment by perpetrators. The Office has produced a series of informative videos about prison and parole for use by victims and advocacy groups, as well as a number of informational brochures and a book of poetry written by victims and advocates.

For more information contact Public Information Officer Andrea Dean at (614) 752-1150.