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Inaugural Summit of the SC Immigrant Victim Networks Statewide Coalition

Summit Report

August 28, 2009

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The SC Immigrant Victim Network (SCIVN) is a program of the SC Victim Assistance Network (SCVAN) www.scvan.org

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Tricia Ravenhorst, Attorney/Director, 864.449.1673, tricia@scvan.org Adela Mendoza, Program Manager, 864.906.0031, adela@scvan.org

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c/o YWCA of Greenville, 700 Augusta St., Greenville, SC 29605

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Background A crime victims ability to successfully overcome trauma and rebuild his or her life is dependent on the collaborative efforts of victim advocates, the criminal justice system, healthcare and legal professionals, and social service providers. A crime victims inability to access available services precludes the victim from exercising his or her basic right to meaningful participation in the criminal justice process. In addition to the challenges that all victims of crime face in getting the protection and help they need, immigrant victims face linguistic, cultural and immigration-related barriers to seeking legal protection and accessing available services. Formally launched in 2009, the South Carolina Immigrant Victim Network (SCIVN) is a program of the SC Victim Assistance Network founded in partnership with SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center, the Coalition for New South Carolinians, SC Legal Services, Catholic Charities Immigration Services and the South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. SCIVN was created to serve as a collaborative network of partners - including immigrant communities, victim service providers, healthcare and legal professionals, and law enforcement agencies dedicated to working together to better serve immigrant victims of crime by finding culturally and linguistically competent resources and providing direct legal assistance. The Purpose of the Summit A key component to this initiative is a trusted and reliable Statewide Coalition of service providers and immigrant groups dedicated to improving services to immigrant victims of crime. As a first step in the creation of a Statewide Coalition, SCIVN invited potential partners to have an open and interactive dialogue regarding each another's interests, role and vision for the improvement of services to immigrant victims. The purpose of this Inaugural Summit was to provide all interested partners the opportunity to share common interests, available resources and dreams for the improvement of services to immigrant victims in South Carolina. Through the coordination of workshops and meetings and the facilitation of collaborative efforts, the Statewide Coalition will develop a common vision to move forward and help each other better serve immigrant victims. Executive Summary The Inaugural Summit of the SCIVN Statewide Coalition was held at Manantial de Vida Lutheran Church, in Columbia, South Carolina, on August 28, 2009. Forty eight people representing over thirty organizations attended. (For a list of participants see below.) Through an interactive interview and discussion process, participants identified areas of common interest, issues and dreams related to serving immigrant victims of crime in South Carolina. Interests were strongly expressed in the areas of: The dream of eliminating the fear that immigrant victims feel about coming forward. The importance of active networking between immigrant communities, victim advocates, social service providers and law enforcement to ensure a coordinated response and to increase everyones capacity to better serve immigrant crime victims in a culturally and linguistically appropriate manner. The importance of continued education and training of immigrant communities, victim advocates, social service providers, law enforcement and the community-at-large regarding the challenges faced by immigrant crime victims and benefits available to them.

The Planning Committee The members of the Summit planning committee were Patricia Ravenhorst, Director of SCIVN; Adela Mendoza, Program Manager of SCIVN; Veronica Kunz, CEO of SCVAN, and the founding ! #!

partners of SCIVN: Tammy Besherse, SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center; Emily Guerrero, Catholic Charities Office of Immigration Services in Charleston, SC; Lee McElveen, SC Commission for Minority Affairs; Jada Charley, SC Legal Services; and Sandy Jones, Chair of Coalition for New South Carolinians and pastor of Manantial de Vida Lutheran Church, which was the host for our Inaugural Summit. The Format of the Discussion Appreciative Inquiry The Inaugural Summit for the SCIVN Coalition was conducted based on the Appreciative Inquiry (AI) model of dialogue. AI has been described as follows:
The traditional approach to change is to look for the problem, do a diagnosis, and find a solution. The primary focus is on what is wrong or broken; since we look for problems, we find them. By paying attention to problems, we emphasize and amplify them. Appreciative Inquiry suggests that we look for what works in an organization. Hammond, Sue. The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry. Thin Book Publishing Company, 1998, pages 6-7. [Appreciative Inquiry] deliberately seeks to discover peoples exceptionality their unique gifts, strengths, and qualities. It actively searches and recognizes people for their specialties their essential contributions and achievements. And it is based on principles of equality of voice everyone is asked to speak about their vision of the true, the good, and the possible. Appreciative Inquiry builds momentum and success because it believes in people. It really is an invitation to a positive revolution. Its goal is to discover in all human beings the exceptional and the essential. Its goal is to create organizations that are in full voice! Cooperrider, D.L. et. al. (Eds), Lessons from the Field: Applying Appreciative Inquiry, Thin Book Publishing, 2001, page 12.

To read more about AI, please visit the following website: http://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/ Summit Format The Planning Committee gathered names and contact information for over 60 individuals, all of whom were invited to the workshop and encouraged to invite interested persons or organizations. Forty-eight people representing over thirty organizations attended on August 28, 2009. The Summit began at 1:30 pm and ended at 3:45 pm. Major Highlights Veronica Swain Kunz, CEO of SCVAN, opened the Summit by welcoming all participants and formally announcing the establishment of the SCIVN and the programs commitment to connect people with available resources, facilitate collaborative efforts, provide direct legal assistance to immigrant crime victims and serve as the voice of immigrant victims throughout South Carolina. Ms. Kunz introduced immigration attorney Patricia Ravenhorst, who has been appointed as Director of SCIVN and Adela Mendoza, who serves as its Program Manager. Ms. Ravenhorst spoke briefly about the mission and services of SCIVN and introduced the format for this Summit, which was based on the Appreciative Inquiry model described above. Participants were divided into pairs. They were instructed to select a partner that they did not know, and they spent approximately 20 minutes interviewing each other in three areas:
1. Tell me about a time when you were very proud of your organization (the one you represent today) or of an organization/group which you have worked with in the past. What made this moment possible? What was your role in the activity or event?

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2. 3.

Tell me about something your organization does well or an organization you know about. What are the strongest skills, knowledge and experiences within your organization/that organization? Tell me about one dream you have for immigrant victims of crime in South Carolina. What would be your or your organizations role in this dream? Talk about your vision, including the skills, knowledge and experiences you would contribute.

Ms. Ravenhorst then invited the group to share something they found interesting about the discussion with their partner. Various individuals volunteered to share information with the group about their partners or about their own reason for participating in the Summit. o Victim advocates shared the discovery (and pleasant surprise) that their interview partners were law enforcement officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) who expressed their commitment to serving immigrant crime victims; o Various law enforcement partners confirmed that they were participating in the Summit to ensure that people knew of their intent to assist immigrant victims; o A social service provider shared her interview partners dream of a shelter specifically for abused immigrant women and personal story of survival as an immigrant victim of crime; and o Another victim advocate shared that the process of interviewing one another challenged her to be more introspective about her own vision for ways we can improve services to immigrant victims. Participants were then divided into six groups of four to eight people, where they introduced each other and discussed common themes, issues and dreams for about 30 minutes. Each group selected a member to present a summary report of the ideas, experiences, issues and dreams discussed in their groups. (A complete list of the ideas presented in the summary reports is included below.) The afternoon closed with Ms. Ravenhorst talking about possible next steps and participants introducing themselves and their organizations to the entire group. (A list of Summit participants is included below.) This report was written by SCIVN staff, Patricia Ravenhorst and Adela Mendoza, based on the notes taken during the Summit and the summary reports written by the participants.

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Group Notes Notes from the six groups are presented below; similar ideas have been grouped. These notes reflect the participants current understanding of the needs, concerns and issues as well as their common goals, dreams and visions for improving services to immigrant victims of crime in South Carolina. Each statement was expressed on post it notes from each of the groups and was presented to the entire group. Education for the immigrant community Dreams: Empower immigrants to be able to overcome fear, language barriers, and social isolation Needs: Build and maintain trust with the immigrant community Get the message out to immigrants not to fear the census Educate immigrant community about their rights and options Train attorneys to better represent victims Issue: Immigrants fear of law enforcement, institutions and systems Education for the community at large Dreams: Change discussion about immigrants from fear and anger to understanding Needs: Address lack of understanding about immigrants Educate South Carolinians about immigrants situation Change terminology and public discourse from illegal alien to undocumented immigrant Increase community awareness of trafficking and immigrant victimization Education for service providers Needs: Educate law enforcement and service providers Further education about available technology and legal processes Shared space/co-location of programs Vision: One-stop-shop for victims in an independent location where they can access resources in a safe environment Shelters, transitional housing Needs: Provide more services and support for women in half-way houses Create more housing and shelters for women victims of domestic violence Resources for immigrants Dream: At initial contact with police, victims can be understood (be able to communicate in their language) and be treated with dignity and respect. Needs: More services in Spanish ESL classes Culturally competent counseling There are not enough resources for immigrants in their language ! &!

Attorneys have a very difficult time finding counseling in Spanish for their clients Opportunity: Churches can help outreach and educate the immigrant community about their rights Resources can be made available through churches Collaborating with each other Needs: More networking and collaboration among agencies, immigrant groups and law enforcement Partner with other agencies Issue: One issue identified in most groups was the overlapping of goals and services between organizations Opportunity: Creating networks and partnerships across sectors and organizations Legislation Dream: Laws would be made easier for immigrant victims Legislative changes for funding restrictions Needs: Inform and educate legislators on immigrant issues and the need to create more humane laws Funding Dream: More funding for programs Emergency fund for specific financial assistance to immigrant victims Legislative changes for funding restrictions Needs: There is a need for funding at different levels Continued funding: recurring funding source Many noncitizen victims do not have access to public benefits Resource Directory Needs: There needs to be a comprehensive resource directory that is easy to access (perhaps online) Statewide Coalitions structure and function Needs: Merger between Nongovernmental Organizations and law enforcement Source of information about training and resources

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Next Steps Options for the Coalitions Consideration The following are some options as identified by the SCIVN staff based on the discussion at the Summit and prior conversations with Coalition partners. These are not official next steps for the SCIVN Statewide Coalition, but options for the Coalitions consideration. Distribution of this report for review by Summit participants, invitees and other potential partners; Distribution of an online survey based on Summit discussion to participants and other potential partners regarding the proposed mission, structure and work of the Statewide Coalition; Organize additional meetings/workshops of the Statewide Coalition for continued networking and more intensive discussion of the various areas of interest expressed at the Summit based on survey results. Each meeting would be for the purpose of beginning the process of defining the areas to be discussed, identifying possible areas for actions and who/which organizations should be involved to move things to specifics. These meetings could then be followed by the formation of several coordinating councils responsible for identifying specific actions that could be undertaken to bring about solutions and resolutions to some of the concerns and issues identified by the Coalition. Based on discussion at the Summit, possible task groups may include those specific to certain types of victims (i.e. abused children in foster care, interpersonal violence victims and human trafficking victims); professional disciplines (i.e. legal, therapeutic services, health care, law enforcement; interpretation), and/or specific dreams or actions items (i.e. one-stop-shop for immigrant victims, shelter for immigrant victims; education and training). Continue to gather from partners and co-locate information (online) regarding currently trusted resources that are linguistically and culturally appropriate for immigrant crime victims. Identify and invite other potential partners to participate in Coalition. Develop reliable mechanisms to improve communication between partners, i.e. email listserve, directory

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Appendix List of Attendees

First Name
Joan Keller Nancy Michael Whitney Tammy Therese L. Ken Courtney Courtney (Nicki) Socorro (Rayito) Jada Doris Jeff Louise Mary Teri Evelyn A. Pat Maryse Mary Pamela Elizabeth H. Mary-Jane Karla Sandy Dorothy Joy Renee Lee Adela DeAnne K. Sally S. Julissa Mait Kelly Angela M. Charles Virginia Patricia Amy Brian Angeline Veronica Mildred Clarissa W. Rebecca Maria

Last Name
Amado Barron Barton Beauford Beissner Besherse Brown Burkhart Cadien Calderon Caldern Charley Cheek Cooper Cooper Easton Evans Figgures Forbis Gartner Goff Gregory Guillen Hassell Hoppmann Buru Jones Killian Mandanas Mattox McElveen Mendoza Messias Mintz Mota Narvaez Abad O'Neill-Bagwell Perez Phipps Ravenel Ravenhorst Shelley Sherota Suah Swain Kunz Washington Whaley Williams-Agee Yturria

Organization
League of Women Voters Sistercare FBI Appleseed Legal Justice Center ICE SC Guardian ad Litem Program USCA SC Legal Services Zonta International ICE in Charleston SC Volunteer Guardian ad Litem Program Sistercare SC Childrens Law Center Not for Sale - South Carolina FBI, Columbia Division -Spartanburg Resident Agency

Coalition for New South Carolinians SC Department of Social Services McNair Attorneys U.S. Attorneys Office SC Commission for Minority Affairs SC Immigrant Victim Network SC Hispanic/Latino Health Coalition Consulate of Mxico ECCAHT, Eastern Carolinas Coalition Against Human Trafficking Charles A. Phipps, LLC SC Guardian Ad Litem Program SC Immigrant Victim Network Shelley Immigration Law, LLC ICE GAL Volunteer SC Victim Assistance Network SC Department of Social Services U.S. Attorneys Office SCCADVASA Richland County Sheriffs Office

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