Victim Services Center - A Community Effort
The Fourteenth Solicitor's Office hosted a grand opening for the Justice Institute/Victim Services Center on Oct. 10, 2019. Here is the transcript of what Hopeful Horizons' CEO, Kristin Dubrowski, said as she addressed the audience.
Hello, I’m Kristin Dubrowski, CEO of Hopeful Horizons and I’m thrilled to be here today, during domestic violence awareness month, to celebrate the grand opening of the 14th Circuit’s Victim Services Center.
Hopeful Horizons is the local nonprofit children’s advocacy, domestic violence and rape crisis center serving the 14th Judicial Circuit and we are proud to be a key partner in the Victim Services Center.
Each year, Hopeful Horizons provides critical, life-saving services to over 1,100 victims of child abuse, domestic violence and sexual assault from our local community.
Services we provide include a 24-hour hotline, emergency domestic violence shelter, forensic interviews, evidence-based trauma treatment, legal services, forensic medical evaluations, advocacy, case management, support groups, hospital accompaniment, prevention programs and professional trainings.
Thanks to grants and community support, we are able to offer all of these services free of charge.
At Hopeful Horizons, our vision is, “A community without abuse.”
Considering South Carolina Ranks 5th in the nation for the rate of women murdered by men, 39th in child well-being and our rape rate has exceeded the national average since the 80s, ending abuse in the Palmetto State is a big job – and we can’t do it on our own.
We recognize that it will take the community working together to end abuse, which is why we quickly signed on to be a part of Solicitor Stone’s vision for the Victim Services Center, which is based on the internationally recognized Family Justice Center model.
By bringing victim service providers, law enforcement, the Department of Social Services, health care professionals and the Solicitor’s Office together under one roof, we will not only make services more accessible to victims, but we will also build our coordinated community response to more effectively and efficiently support victims and hold offenders accountable.
The Family Justice Center model has been shown to reduce homicides, increase victim safety, reduce recantation and minimization by victims when they are wrapped in services and support, increase prosecution of offenders and decrease the fear and anxiety of victims.
As a nationally accredited children’s advocacy center, Hopeful Horizons is charged with conducting forensic interviews to help gather evidence for law enforcement or the Department of Social Services when there are allegations of child abuse or neglect.
Our forensic interviewers are licensed clinicians who have been trained to gather factual information from children in a developmentally-appropriate and legally sound manner as a part of the investigative process.
The Children’s Advocacy Center model of forensic interviewing helps to ensure that a child only has to tell their story