MAHONING COUNTY Program offers to help juvenile, elderly victims

Program volunteers will accompany victims to court.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Victims of crimes committed by juveniles in Mahoning County have a place to turn for support and healing.
The county juvenile court has teamed with Help Hotline to provide victim advocate services and a support group for victims.
"When you have someone who has been victimized, you need to offer them some reparation," said Judge Theresa Dellick of juvenile court. "This is a need that must be met."
The program is funded through a grant from the Ohio attorney general's office, said Duane Piccirilli, executive director of Help Hotline. He said the new program is an extension of one Help Hotline already has in place in county domestic relations court.
Supporting older victims
"I find [the program] very helpful," said Judge Beth A. Smith of domestic relations court. "It encourages victims to go through with the process."
Piccirilli said that's the same thing volunteers in the juvenile court program will do.
"The role of this program is to work with victims so they are comfortable going into court," Piccirilli said. "It can be intimidating to go to court, especially for the elderly."
He said elderly people who are victimized by juveniles often are afraid to attend court proceedings and testify against the accused. In many cases, no one from their family is available to attend with them, which is when a program advocate could be assigned.
Piccirilli said elderly victims also can benefit from the support group by sharing their experience with others who have been through the same thing. Many crime victims, especially the elderly, have "ongoing issues" after their case is resolved, he said.
Judge Dellick said she has seen cases in which the victims are as old as 80 and have been repeatedly victimized by a juvenile.
"Many of our elderly are living in fear," she said.
Breaking trends
The judge said a victim advocacy program also can help break the cycle of violence and crime in the county. She said juveniles who are victims of crime often turn to a life of crime themselves because they don't know any other way to channel their anger.
She said that's especially true of juvenile victims of domestic violence, which is a prevalent problem in the county.
"You are what you're taught," Judge Dellick said. "People see violence, and they turn to violence themselves because they don't know any better."
Personnel in the court's intake department will work to identify such victims who are at risk of becoming violent and refer them to the peer group program for help.
"As soon as we see a victim of domestic violence, we can try to step in and stop it," the judge said. "If we can get them support early enough, maybe we can stop them from eventually becoming perpetrators themselves."
No charges pressed
Piccirilli said people who are victims of crime by a juvenile, but the juvenile is not charged or cited into court, still can participate in the program by either calling Help Hotline or by dialing 2-1-1.
Judge Dellick said the victim advocacy program goes along with the court's mission of seeking balanced and restorative justice. The philosophy is to protect the community, hold juvenile offenders accountable for their actions and restore victims' rights.
"If you never restore a victim's rights, then the whole system isn't working," Judge Dellick said.
She also said that interceding in cases in which a juvenile victim is at risk of becoming a juvenile offender will help break the cycle of crime in the county. Reducing the amount of juvenile crime should help ultimately cut down the overall level of violent crime in the county, she said.
"The best way to cut down on crime is obviously to prevent it from happening in the first place," the judge said. "We see this as the first step toward prevention."
bjackson@vindy.com