Victim Services Specialist

The Office of the District Attorney has opportunities for Victim Services Specialists throughout Riverside County. Under general supervision, provides a wide variety of trauma-informed supportive services to victims, derivative victims, and witnesses of serious violent crimes; coordinates the role of victims and witnesses through client advocacy with respect to the courts, law enforcement, and related agencies; and performs other related duties as required pursuant to PC13835 and Marsy’s Law.

• Deliver crisis intervention services for crime victims and witnesses, employing robust de-escalation techniques, integrating suicide awareness and prevention strategies, empath skills, and trauma-informed practices to effectively support individuals in distress.

• Demonstrate strong ethical standards and integrity in all interactions and decision-making processes, ensuring confidentiality, fairness, and respect for the rights and dignity of victims and witnesses.

• Assist and collaborate with collateral agencies such as law enforcement, courts, social services, and community-based organizations to deliver essential services that support victims in their recovery and address the impact of crime; participate in and effectively contribute to multi-disciplinary committees, meetings and community outreach activities.

• Provide essential direct services as mandated by California Penal Code 13835.5 to initiate safety planning, identify and mitigate physical and psychological barriers to safety, explore options, develop and assist with action plans, and manage a complex caseload ensuring all victim needs are met; facilitate crime scene cleanups, protective relocation or shelter, document replacement, property return, funeral and burial arrangements, intervention with creditors, landlords, schools, and employers, application assistance for the California Victim Compensation Board (CalVCB) program, and restitution; respond to victims’ needs with resource and referral assistance to ensure immediate and long-term service needs are met.

• Identify victims with a history of trauma or poly-victimization and conduct comprehensive assessments to identify both risk and protective factors, which involves a thorough evaluation of their histories to understand the multifaceted impacts of past traumas, enabling tailored interventions aimed at fostering resilience and reducing risks.

• Develop and implement complex service and referral plans, monitor victim progress and conduct case evaluations to assess danger and risk of lethality; determine the appropriate types of services needed throughout the life of a case, leveraging safety resources from law enforcement and statewide victim programs.

• Navigate community-led services and state victim service programs to ensure comprehensive knowledge and maximize resource referral support for victims.

• Establish and cultivate rapport with victims and witnesses of crime; provide counseling, crisis intervention and case management services to support victim healing, which may include advocacy, education, referral, counseling, mediation, crisis intervention, and stabilization.

• Provide victims with detailed information about the CalVCB program, including program services available, eligibility criteria, required documentation, and covered expenses; assist and guide victims through the entire process from application completion to submission, and through the appeal process as necessary. When assigned to the CalVCB Claims Unit, process applications and assist with quality assurance of claims.

• Advocate on behalf of victims to help ensure that all victims and witnesses are treated with dignity, respect, courtesy, and sensitivity; advocate on behalf of clients to help ensure that their rights are protected; accompany victims to criminal court hearings, provide bio-psycho-social support and educate victims to the criminal justice process; utilize available resources to reduce the impact of trauma while at court; assist with the preparation of victim impact statements.

• Educate victims about their rights to restitution; direct and assist crime victims with document collection and preparation for criminal restitution requests; collaborate with relevant stakeholders involved in restitution orders to help ensure victims receive notifications and information regarding the collection of restitution orders.

• Counsel victims and witnesses to reduce trauma; provide advocacy and support to victims during interviews with law enforcement, district attorneys or defense attorneys.

• Organize direct travel and indirect travel arrangements; assess for financial hardship and facilitate emergency requests for assistance per internal policy and protocol.

• Provide information to victims and witnesses concerning the procedures of the criminal justice system, juvenile justice system and post-conviction Board of Parole Hearing processes; monitor and assess flaws in the criminal justice system and internal procedures, as well as challenges to victims’ rights; report identified issues to supervisors for evaluation; propose recommendations to enhance processes and laws, advocating for systemic changes to better support victims and witnesses.

• Assist in the orientation, training and mentorship of Victim Services staff, volunteers and interns.

• Participate in the Mass Casualty Crisis Response Team, which involves delivering localized and mutual aid responses to mass casualty events, providing advocacy assistance at Family Assistance Centers, delivering death notifications, and collaborating with key stakeholders such as the California Crime Victim Assistance Association, FBI, Homeland Security, law enforcement, fire departments, and county emergency management departments.

• Participate in a variety of special teams/programs such as the Mass Casualty Crisis Response Team, Crime Prevention Unit, CalVCB Claims Unit, Collaborative Courts, K-9 Facility Dog Program, S.T.O.R.I.E.S, and others as needed.

• Drive a County vehicle as necessary to carry out services.