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From YouTube: Special Committee on Criminal Justice Reform 1-29-2018
Description
The Special Committee on Criminal Justice Reform of the Council of the City of Philadelphia will hold a Public Hearing on Monday, January 29, 2018 in Room 400, City Hall, to hear testimony on the following item:
160101 Resolution appointing members to the "Special Committee on Criminal Justice Reform," who will conduct public hearings examining the Philadelphia criminal justice system for the impact of current policies, and offer recommended strategies for reform that are in the best interest of public safety and the public good.
Topic: Addressing the needs and trauma of victims within the criminal justice system.
Panel 1: The Voices of Victims and their Families
Aleida Garcia and Wilfredo Rojas, National Homicide Justice Alliance
Kempis Songster, Former Juvenile Lifer / Returning Citizen
Dorothy Johnson-Speight, Founder - Mothers in Charge
Valerie Todd-Listman, Mothers in Charge
Panel 2: Improving Law Enforcement Relations with Victims
Movita Johnson-Harrell, Interim Supervisor of Victim’s Services – Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office
Panel 3: Services Available to Assist Victims of Crime
Jeffrey Blystone, Victims Compensation Assistance Program
Melany Nelson, Executive Director - Northwest Victim’s Services
Gwendolyn Phillips, Licensed Social Worker – Northwest Victim’s Services
Panel 4: Treating the Trauma of Victimized Youths
Dr. Joel Fein, Co-Director – Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Violence Prevention Initiative
Laura Vega, Violence Prevention Supervisor - Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Violence Intervention Program
Dr. Natalie Stavas, Child Protection Fellow - Safe Place: Center for Child Protection and Health
A
B
Number
one:
six:
zero
one:
zero
one:
a
resolution
appointing
members
to
the
Special
Committee
on
criminal
justice
reform,
who
will
conduct
public
hearings,
examining
the
Philadelphia
criminal
justice
system
for
the
impact
of
current
policies
and
offer
recommended
strategies
for
reform
that
are
in
the
best
interest
of
Public
Safety
and
the
public
good.
Thank.
A
You
miss
Williams
I,
just
wanted
to
give
brief
comments
and
I'll
make
that
offer
to
both
my
co-chairs
and
the
new
members
of
our
committee
of
welcoming
them
putting
forth
their
time
and
their
talents
to
this.
This
worthwhile
cause
we're
also
at
some
odd
areas.
I
was
getting
ready
to
announce
that
you
were
a
part
of
it.
You
came
in
out,
you
have
to
wear
a
bill,
came.
A
Over
the
weekend,
I
had
up
I
took
a
look
at
the
actual
figure
of
the
justice
statute.
It's
a
female
with
a
sword
in
one
hand
and
the
scales
of
justice
in
the
other.
In
some
renditions
of
that
statue.
She
has
a
blindfold
on
in
other
renditions
of
that
statue.
She
does
not
and
I
pondered
that
for
a
while
trying
to
figure
out
why
and
when
I
researched
further
and
thank
God
for
the
Internet,
some
renditions
go
back
to
Britain.
A
Others
say
that
the
reason
she
doesn't
have
the
blindfold
on
is
to
be
able
to
see
the
evidence
and
see
the
truth
of
the
matter
and
create
justice.
Well,
that's
a
good
segue
for
the
justice
reform
committee
and
whether
or
not
Lady
Justice
should
have
her
blindfold
on
or
her
blindfold
off
is
not
for
us
to
decide.
A
A
People
who
are
for
a
restorative
justice
model,
but
also
have
been
on
the
other
side
of
being
a
victim
of
criminal
activity
also
need
to
have
their
voices
heard
within
these
chambers
as
well,
so
that
we
can
take
into
all
of
the
varying
opinions
and
perspectives
to
create
the
best
model
of
restorative
justice.
I
would
be
remiss
if
I
did
not
credit
and
give
homage
even
to
the
Criminal
Justice
of
Missouri
board
CJ,
which,
even
before
the
two
years
that
we
started.
This
was
on
this
track
to
find
better
ways
to
provide
safety.
A
Public
Safety
for
the
sidon
citizens
of
Philadelphia
I
would
be
remiss
if
I
did
not
recognize
their
work,
along
with
the
nonprofit
sector,
who
have
come
up
with
suggestions
and
we're
kind
of
all
working
to
get
to
the
same
place,
starting
in
different
places,
but
to
get
to
that
same
location
and
with
that
I'm
going
to
turn
it
over
to
my
co-chairs
to
give
a
statement,
and
then
we
want
to
hear
from
the
new
participants
to
this
band
of
merry
often
men
and
women.
Thank.
D
E
Thank
You
councilman
Jones
good
morning
first
I
do
want
to
thank
you,
counsel
and
Jones
for
your
leadership
in
this
effort.
This
is
when
we
started
this
journey.
It
wasn't
I
would
say
we
didn't
have
the
political
will
to
really
talk
about
some
of
the
things
we're
talking
about
and
make
the
changes
that
we
are
suggesting
and
recommending.
E
I
am
happy
that
Kevin
Bethel,
our
co-chair,
did
want
to
highlight
this
very,
very
important
area
of
our
criminal
justice
in
which
our
victims
we've
been
talking
a
lot
about
reforms
and
talking
a
lot
about
the
people
that
are
in
here.
But
we
also
need
to
talk
about
those
who
are
hurt
by
others,
because,
like
councilman
Jones
says,
hurt
people
hurt
people,
but
we
need
to
recognize
when
we're
talking
about
Public
Safety.
E
If
we
only
look
at
Public
Safety
from
a
law
enforcement
standpoint,
we're
going
to
miss
the
opportunities
to
deal
with
the
social
needs
that
people
have
before
they
wind
up
in
our
system,
and
so
the
pre-entry
portion
is
really
important
and
I
do
want
to
just
give
a
special
shout
out
to
a
person.
That's
going
to
be
talking
today
and
I
know
it
may
be
a
little
tough
for
him,
I'm,
not
sure,
and
that
is
Kempis
songster.
E
He
will
today
let
us
know
his
story
as
a
child
and
how
he
grew
up
in
the
things
that
he
witnessed
and
we
wished
that
someone
would
have
intervened
and
prevented
decisions
that
would
have
were
made.
But
now
he's
had
a
long
time
to
reflect
on
everything
that
has
happened
to
him
and
he
has
come
on
the
other
side
and
it
wants
to
help
with
some
of
the
issues
that
we
are
facing
with
now
with
some
of
our
youth.
You
know
we
I
hear
people
saying:
we've
got
to
stop
this
gun
violence.
E
We've
got
to
stop
this
violence,
but
there's
not
a
lot
of
plausible
practical
solutions
to
do
that.
Well,
I
say
we
have
an
interesting
group
of
people
coming
out
of
our
and
returning
into
our
communities,
and
that
is
the
juvenile
lifers,
and
if
anyone
anyone
can
really
give
us
some
insight
as
to
what
should
happen
and
what
we
can
do
practically
step-by-step
or
how
to
look
at
this.
A
way
to
recognize
it
is:
is
it
in
school?
Is
it?
Is
it
when
they
go
to
the
doctor's
office
wherever
they
are?
E
I
think
we
should
respect
and
keep
an
open
mind
and,
like
we
said,
restorative
justice
means
welcome
in
our
citizens
into
our
community
and
giving
them
whatever
they
need
to
restore
themselves
and
restore
their
community.
That
is
not
just
a
notion.
It
is
actual
way
of
dealing
with
people
so
with
that,
I
will
turn
this
over.
Thank
you.
F
I'll
be
extremely
brief.
I
first
and
foremost,
I
want
to
thank
you
for
all
all
of
you
for
being
here.
You
know
and
I
want
to
thank
my
co-chairs
for
when
we
raised
this
conversation
and
I
said
we
cannot
talk
about
criminal
justice
reform
without
talking
about
victims.
We
cannot
talk
about
criminal
reform,
we
don't
talk
about
trauma
and
the
impact
it
has
in
the
toxic
stress
and
what
happens
in
our
communities
after
these
incidents
occurs,
and
so
I'm.
F
G
You
Thank
You,
councilman
I
will
also
be
very
brief.
Obviously
we
are
at
a
turning
point,
I
hope
in
the
city
of
Philadelphia
approach
to
criminal
justice.
We
are
also
blessed
this
morning
because
this
time
last
year
there
were
30
homicides,
and
this
year
we
have
16
is
the
lowest
number
in
at
least
11
years.
I
am
well
aware.
It
has
not
a
thing
to
do
with
me.
No
question
about
that.
It
does
have
a
lot
to
do
with
things.
A
H
Basically,
it
took
me
a
long
time
to
get
on
this
committee,
but
here
I
am,
and
one
of
the
things
that
I
believe
in
is
that
in
Philadelphia
we
need
to
take
up,
what's
known
as
a
shared
responsibility,
to
bring
back
hope
to
our
returning
citizens
and
hope
to
our
traumatized
victims,
because
it
takes
the
effort
of
both
the
elected
officials,
the
leaders
of
the
community,
the
victim,
the
incarcerated,
the
returning
home
citizen,
all
of
them
working
together
to
better
our
city
to
better
our
community.
It
can't
just
be
one-sided.
H
It
has
to
be
all
sided
because
in
order
for
us
to
bring
them
back,
they
have
to
participate
in
making
them
whole
again,
because
we're
here
trying
to
give
hope
and
faith
to
our
citizens
when
we
have
7,000
inmates
coming
out
of
per
month
and
186,000
probationers
right
here
in
the
city
of
Philadelphia.
That's
a
lot
of
people
that
we
have
to
give
hope
to,
because
in
giving
them
hope,
it
gives
their
family
hope
and
it
gives
our
community
hope
and
it's
measures
such
as
what
you're
doing
here
with
bringing
this
committee
together.
H
A
A
D
I
Okay,
so
what
I'm
testifying
to
today
is
my
own
story
and
the
stories
of
people
that
I
have
been
involved
with
personally-
and
this
is
for
you
to
see
what
it
looks
like
from
our
perspective
as
a
co
victims
of
homicide
and
someone
who
AM
other--,
who
has
lost
your
child,
it's
it's
not
meant
to
be
theoretical.
It's
not
meant
to
be
lofty.
It's
meant
to
be
the
factual
events
that
I
have
actually
witnessed
and
and
lived
through.
I
Okay,
I
think
it's
very
important
for
us
to
understand
that
all
these
numbers
that
we're
talking
about
it's
down
by
15
or
up
by
15
or
whatever
numbers
were
talking
about
each
number
as
a
human
being.
In
my
case,
you
know,
I
was
Alejandro
Rojas
Garcia,
he
was
a
loving
son,
father
brother
uncle
friend,
and
we
have
to
understand
that
for
every
life
that
is
taken,
many
other
lives
are
affected.
I
I
The
first,
the
first
thing
that
happens
as
we
get
notified
so
early
in
the
morning
two
detectives
came
to
my
home
and
knocked
on
the
door
very
hard,
but
I
was
at
home.
I
was
actually
at
work.
That
day
was
a
Saturday
morning
and
I
was
teaching
at
a
part-time
job
that
I
had,
and
my
daughter
answered
the
door.
She
was
all
alone.
The
two
detectives
told
her
that
her
brother
was
dead
and
then
they
went
to
my
job.
To
tell
me
the
same
thing.
I
Meanwhile
she's
home
alone,
with
the
news
calling
me
saying
that
she
wants
to
come
to
where
I
am
and
I
didn't
know
why
she
wanted
to
come.
She
wouldn't
tell
me,
and
the
two
detectives
came
to
see
me:
they
were
great
detectives,
but
they
weren't
trained
in
crisis
intervention
where
they
didn't
do
crisis
intervention.
My
daughter
was
left
alone
with
his
news,
then
I
immediately
as
a
first
thought,
stop
crying
I
told
them
stop
my
daughter
from
coming
and
they
drove
me
home.
This
was
my
notification,
the
next.
I
The
next
thing
that
happened
was
the
Medical
Examiner's
Office
and
once
again,
because
I
was
still
believing
that
maybe
they
made
a
mistake
that
I
wasn't
true:
medical
examiner's
office
I
went
down
there
and
they
show
you
a
photo
and
everybody
starts
breaking
down
again.
I
wanted
to
see
my
son's
body.
I
I
Some
of
the
concerns
that
I
that
I've
had
that
I've
heard
shared
by
other
people
is
there's
my
son's
life
matter
that
anyone
is
my
son's
significant
enough
in
this
society
to
get
justice.
Well,
the
police
find
the
killer,
do
I
know
the
killer.
Are
they
the
person
when,
when,
before
the
case
had
a
suspect,
I
was
walking
around
and
I
think
that
people
that
have
unsolved
cases
could
verify
this
walking
around?
Not
knowing
who
the
killer
was
I
didn't
know
about
the
shake.
In
that
person's
hand,
that
person
was
behind
me,
we've
had
it.
I
What
about
getting
threatened
but
they
threatened
me?
Will
they
burn
my
house
down?
Are
they
gonna
threaten
the
witnesses?
There's
a
lack
of
systemic
crisis
intervention
so,
to
a
certain
degree,
I
had
the
person
from
the
Homicide
Unit
who
was
victim
advocate
for
the
unit
come
out
and
visit
me
and
she
was
very
good,
but
there
wasn't
a
real
systemic
kind
of
way
to
help
with
detective
steel
families
and
then,
after
that,
it
seemed
like
no
one
was
really
assigned
to
the
family
to
keep
them
updated.
I
So
we
just
we
just
basically
had
to
you
know
be
reaching
out
to
them.
So
what
happens
max
is
sort
of
shock
disbelief
in
grief,
there's
nothing
that
it
will
ever
be
the
same.
You're
you're,
not
the
same
person.
Your
life
is
different.
You
have
to
start
to
define
yourself
in
a
different
way
and
there's
a
severe
decrease
in
all
areas
of
wellness
and
every
emotional
physical,
social,
financial,
occupational,
I
couldn't
work
for
16
months.
I
I
lost
my
income,
you
know
was
crying
constantly
and
this
is
not
an
unusual
scenario
feeling
vulnerable
feeling
confused
feeling,
clumsy
you
feeling
beat
down
and
it
takes
a
lot
to
stand
up.
I
have
a
incredible
amount
of
respect
for
all
the
mothers
and
family
members
that
actually
stand
up,
because
it's
amazing
how
how
does
the
in
not
when
you're
really
beat
down
you
have
fear
heightened
sensitivity
to
noise
people,
social,
familial
situation.
You
feel
isolated,
angry
lots
and
lots
of
anger,
hopeless,
helpless,
feeling
that
death
is
always
imminent.
I
I
hear
a
lot
of
young
kids
saying
you
know
tomorrow's,
not
promised.
That's
probably.
Why
do
you
say
it?
Because,
yes,
how
you
start
to
feel
when
all
this
violence
is
around
you?
You
have
a
loss
of
interest
in
life
and
you
feel
about
your
environment.
You
perceive
your
environment
to
be
very
hostile
and
uncaring,
and
you
feel
like
your
feet.
The
victim
is
frequently
blamed.
I
Think
that
a
lot
of
families
feel
that
the
victim
gets
I
mean
the
killer,
gets
a
second
chance
or
that
people
want
the
bill
killer
like
a
chance,
but
we
know
that
our
children
will
never
get
a
second
chance.
They
have
no
rights,
they
had
no
trial,
they
were
executed
or
and-
and
there
is
no
way
for
them
to
reenter
society.
I
The
other
things
that
we
deal
with
his
feelings
of
guilt.
We
should
have
protected
the
victim.
Sometimes
I,
honestly
think
that
I
should
have
been
there
to
catch.
The
bullet
I
should
have
been
there.
I
should
have
been
there
the
day
before.
What
if
I
had
done
something
different
could
I
have
changed
the
trajectory
of
the
events
you
have
to
struggle
to
forgive
yourself,
forgive
any
family
members.
Sometimes
we
talk
about.
You
know
Oh
on
such-and-such
a
day
I
I
forgot.
I
You
know
it
was
his
birthday
or
something
like
that,
something
as
simple
as
that
will
haunt
you
any
disagreements
with
the
deceased.
The
memory
of
a
mutilated
body
at
the
morgue,
oh
I,
had
to
say
that
the
coroner's
office,
it
an
amazing
job
of
making
sure
that
we
were
able
to
look
at
the
body
without
actually
seeing
the
injuries
we
ask
ourselves.
Could
he
or
she
have
been
saved
that
anyone
call
9-1-1?
I
Will
anyone
step
up
to
give
information?
Will
the
police
really
care?
There's
lack
of
information
in
a
very
complex
system
feeling
constantly
be
traumatized
having
to
be
the
one
to
educate,
others
that
do
not
understand
and
an
offer
insensitive
to
our
plate.
Lack
of
qualified
counseling
of
victim
services,
specifically
for
families
of
homicide.
We
feel
unable
to
focus
to
work
to
manage
home
life
for
extended
periods
of
time,
so
investigations
suggest
that-
and
this
is
from
from
accorded
my
money,
citation
that
violent
deaths.
I
I
Okay,
so
the
vigil
you
tell
you
about
the
vigil
when
I
went
to
the
vigil
Alex's
vigil
I
was
I
was
completely
stone-faced.
I
had
no
absolutely
no
expression,
absolutely
as
I
in
my
mind,
somehow
I
was
in
some
kind
of
shock
and
I
stayed
like
that
for
about
a
year,
but
we
the
reason.
The
real
reason
for
doing
vigil
is
because
you
know
the
family
wants
to
distribute
flyers
to
see.
I
If
anybody
has
information
to
get
the
word
out
because
ultimately
I
think
we
feel
like
nobody's
nobody's
watching
you
know,
then
the
funeral
and
unexpected
funeral
a
feeling
that
you
have
to
have
this
perfect
funeral
for
for
the
deceased,
a
fear
that
when
you
can't
afford
the
funeral,
when
you
don't
have
the
money
to
put
deposits
on
the
funeral,
that's
something
out
that
person
won't
get
buried.
You
know
this
is
a
fear
friends
that
don't
know
what
to
do
relationships
falling
apart
financial
or
burden.
I
So
one
of
the
things
I've
found
out
and
learning
about
victim's
compensation
that
there
is
in
Philadelphia
a
complex
and
disjointed
system
that
one
must
navigate
while
being
traumatized
overwhelmed
and
feeling
vulnerable
I
want
to
talk
a
little
bit
about
working
with
homicide,
detectives,
I
really
believe-
and
this
is
this-
is
really
important
for
me.
I
really
believe
that
that
we
have
to
take
a
look
and
ask
the
Homicide
Unit
what
they
need
to
do
a
better
job,
what
they
need.
What
do
they
need?
You
know,
ask
them
talk
to
them,
see
what
they
need.
I
I,
don't
want
to
tell
you
what
they
need,
because
one
thing
I
know
that
they
need
is
more
cooperation
from
witnesses,
but
they
also
need
the
answer,
the
phones.
They
also
need
to.
You
know
how
about
that
outreach
with
people,
but
I
want
you
to
ask
them
what
they
need,
because
our
clearance
rate
is
very
low.
I
I
J
My
name
is
Trina
singleton
and
on
September
13
2016
the
day
before
his
25th
birthday,
my
son,
Darrell
singleton,
was
shot
and
killed
in
the
area
behind
our
house
and
we
have
been
working
with
detectives
for
the
last
year,
but
our
case
is
still
unsolved
and
it
has
been
very
difficult
to
get
information
from
the
detectives.
It
has
been
very
difficult
working
with
the
detectives
and
trying
to
understand
what
direction
this
case
is
going
in,
so
I'm
not
really
sure.
J
What's
going
on,
it's
saying
we're
working
on
it
all
the
time,
but
I
have
no
idea
what
path
this
is
going
on
and
they
also.
Let
me
know
that
after
two
years
they
won't
be
working
this
case,
the
same
way
so
I
feel
like
we
are
on
a
timeline
to
get
justice
for
my
son,
or
else
he's
just
gonna
be
forgotten
and
the
killer
was
gonna,
go
free
or
continue
to
go
free
and
kill
other
people.
So
thank
you
for
listening.
J
Yulia
robbins,
I'm
here
today
on
behalf
of
our
son,
my
husband's
in
the
back
there.
His
name
was
James
Wolk.
He
was
a
brutally
murder,
February
23rd
2016
industry
of
Germantown.
He
was
shot
14
times
2
o'clock
in
the
afternoon.
As
of
now,
nobody
has
spoken
up
or
tried
to.
You
know
see
what
happened.
It
was
a
video,
but
it
wasn't
really
clear.
J
J
M
J
L
K
L
K
D
K
D
My
name
is
Jesse
Alejandro
Cruz
I'm
here
representing
my
cousin,
who
was
murder,
November
18
2016.
He
was
murdered
cold-blooded
in
front
of
a
store
in
Rising
Sun
Avenue
by
getting
a
haircut.
His
case
has
been
unsought
here
to
represent
my
family,
because
his
mother,
yet
has
been
able
to
speak
out
for
her
son
and
happen,
have
not
been
able
yet
to
receive
any
type
of
news
from
anyone
that
have
come
to
her
or
spoken
to
her
about
her
son's
death.
So
we're
just
here.
D
D
D
On
the
sidewalk
he
was
shot
one
time
to
his
lower
back,
save
it
as
the
order
and
they
were
unable
to
save
him.
He
left
behind
a
five-year-old
daughter
that
no
longer
has
a
father
and
at
this
time
today,
if
the
killer
has
not
been
found,
nothing
has
been
done
each
time.
I
called
the
detective.
He
tells
me
we
have
no
more
news,
nothing
else,
I'm,
just
praying
and
hoping
that
one
day
the
person
that
took
my
son's
life
and
my
granddaughter's
father
and
my
daughter's
brother.
D
N
I
I
I
Some
of
the
frustrations
that
victims
have
a
trial
is
feeling
public
sympathy
for
murderers,
light
sentences
and
second
chances
for
convicted
murderers,
but
no
rates
or
second
chances
for
our
children.
People
who
say
that
it's
not
our
case,
it's
a
defendants
case
or
were
very
invested
in
the
case,
the
feeling
that
the
convicted
murderer
of
ever
found,
if
ever
found.
That's
all
the
rights
and
attention
survivors
of
homicide
victim.
Some
few
rights
outreach
about
the
leniency
for
sentencing
for
murder
in
a
lot
of
cases,
and
we
know
statistics
on
this.
I
It's
you'll
get
a
higher
sentence
for
property
crimes,
then
you're
right,
for
example,
if
you
have
two
kilos
you
might
get
more
than
if
you
shot
somebody
and
they
don't
have
all
the
evidence,
they
need
to
put
you
to
sentence
that
person
disparities
in
the
judicial
system.
Frequently
punishments
for
other
crimes
are
greater
than
for
the
taking
a
human
life
and
I.
Think
that's
something
the
committee
should
look
at.
You
should
look
at
the
equity
in
that
and,
like
I,
said
I'm
saying
this
as
a
citizen
and
his
mother
I'm
not
an
attorney.
I
You
know:
I
am
NOT
a
legislator
I'm
just
saying
this
is
somebody
who
has
lost
a
child
and
looks
at
the
system
and
talks
to
other
people
about
it.
We
feel
anger
over
plea:
bargain
arrangements
and
agreements,
frustration
not
being
allowed
inside
a
courtroom
at
a
time
of
trial,
on
the
answered,
questions,
postponements
and
a
lot
of
loss
of
faith
in
the
criminal
justice
system.
I
Ok,
so
the
last
thing
I
just
want
to
wrap
it
up,
but
I
just
want
to
say
that
families
of
murder
victims
live
in
limbo.
You
live
in
limbo
when
its
own
selves,
you
live
in
limbo
when
you're
waiting
for
the
trial
and
you
live
in
limbo,
through
whatever
appeals
happen,
and
if
you're
coming
back.
If
you're
coming
back
to
court
for
juvenile
offender,
that's
now
returning
to
society,
however,
you
may
feel
about
that.
I
I
Basically,
all
this
is
saying
that
we
want
the
victims
to
have
a
voice,
to
be
empowered
and
to
understand
the
system
to
be
able
to
navigate
it.
We
want
cases
solved
and
they
start
just
to
off
the
internet
yesterday.
So
as
of
January
27th,
you
see
there
were
15
homicides.
Last
year
there
were
317
it's
too
early
to
tell
right
now.
I
What
this
means
we're
only
when
less
than
a
month
into
the
year,
but
we
will
see
what's
going
on
Philadelphia,
has
a
higher
murder
rate
than
the
entire
state
of
Pennsylvania
per
capita,
and
you
can
see
this
was
actually
in
2014.
Some
of
the
statistics
you
get
are
like
the
past
years,
but
in
2014
you
could
see
that
we
had
the
highest
pooping
of
murders
per
capita
the
highest
way
of
committing
the
murders
by
firearms.
I
The
lessee
who's
known
for
this
work
calculated
not
only
the
side
of
the
victim,
but
also
the
side
of
the
offender,
and
that
cost
together
for
each
homicide
is
about
seventeen
to
twenty
five
million
dollars,
including
incarceration,
and
what
I
think.
What
that
really
looks
like
is
that
we
really
need
to
put
a
lot
of
money
into
prevention
and
response,
because,
ultimately,
that
is
what
is
going
to
make
this
problem,
at
least
if
it
doesn't
go
away
completely,
at
least
that
we
can
bring
it
down.
Okay,
so
oh
I!
Thank
you.
A
So
we've
we've
had
a
lot
of
hearings
and
this
one
is
is
unique.
Actually
there
was
one
other
and
we
tend
to
not
totally
understand,
empathize
and
feel
that
whenever
we
talk
about
restorative
justice,
there's
another
side
of
this
and
there
there
are
the
victims.
So
thank
you
for
sharing
there
with
us
and
we'll
continue
on
with
mr.
Rojas.
C
C
Do
you
talk
about
your
own
family
member?
Who
was
murdered?
Do
you
ignore
the
person
in
our
case
I
was
lucky.
We
got
a
man
who
was
in
charge
of
police,
fire
and
prisons
who
Haleiwa
and
I
went
to
see
him
and
he
said,
I
have
never
met
a
close
friend
who
has
lost
somebody
to
homicide.
I
will
do
everything
within
my
power
to
try
and
make
sure
that
you
get
justice
for
your
son.
C
We
had
the
police
detectives
who
contacted
us
on
a
daily
basis
and
we
actually
went
to
the
Homicide
Unit
to
see
the
dilapidation
of
the
building
where
they
were
working
at
in
old
files
and
outdated
files.
We
also
got
in
contact
with
the
media.
The
media
was
very
good
in
helping
us
apprehend
and
half
deal
the
suspect
turned
himself
in
and
the
witnesses
came
forward.
C
We
also
had
a
great
district
attorney
who
was
assigned
to
us
who
not
only
took
our
case,
but
we
had
regular
meetings
with
our
district
attorney
because
he
heard
our
voices
and
we
believe
that
witnesses
should
also
be
part
and
parcel
of
the
conversation
around
issues
of
murder,
victims,
I,
worked
in
the
system
and
a
lot
of
times.
We
don't
involve
families
in
solving
cases.
C
We
were
very
instrumental
in
resolving
that
case
on
twitter,
on
facebook,
through
our
family
were
able
to
smoke
him
out,
and
he
turned
himself
in
what
we
need
is
a
few
things
number
one.
We
need
a
first
responder,
the
district
attorney
great
job,
but
they're
not
trained
as
a
as
grief,
counselors,
the
police,
someone
they
need
a
a
hotline.
You
need
a
hotline
where
people
can
call
and
get
information
as
to
what
what
can
I
do,
because
it
is,
like
a
later
said,
a
very
complicated
criminal
justice
system.
C
But
it's
like
a
wheel
of
fortune
when
it
comes
to
families
of
murder,
victims,
you
might
get
the
bonus
prize
or
you
might
get
nothing.
We
want
a
system
where
you
actually
lands
on
the
prize,
so
the
victims
can
also
have
justice,
as
everybody
else
is
having
justice.
We
believe
that
there
should
be
an
executive
office
by
the
mayor.
If
we
can
have
an
executive
office
for
Veterans,
Affairs
and
other
issues,
we
have
a
crisis
in
Philadelphia,
we
have
a
homicide
epidemic.
We
should
have
an
office
that
coordinates
our
complaints.
C
If
the
complaints
that
these
ladies,
have
a
silence,
is
not
going
to
work,
if
they
continue
to
be
the
squeaky
wheel,
some
someone
hears
them,
they
can
connect
them.
Why
isn't
the
DA
calling
you
our
phone
call
da?
What's
going
on
with
this?
They
can
serve
their
lays
down
between
the
families
and
the
lack
of
services
from
the
agencies
that
are
charged
were
providing
services
to
the
families.
We
also
like
to
Train
the
soup,
attorneys
train
them
and
have
families
of
murder.
C
Victims
like
these
ladies
spoke
to
they
have
them
trained,
not
so
professional,
which
is
great
and
wonderful,
but
you
have
to
also
include
families
of
murder,
victims
and
those
trainees
of
the
district
attorney
of
the
police
department.
They
do
it
in
Chicago.
They
train
police
departments
on
issues
related
to
murder,
so
you
sensitize,
the
police
department
uses
two
ties:
the
District
Attorney's
and
you
synthesize
everybody
that's
connected
with
the
criminal
justice
system.
At
the
prisons
we
have
to
have.
We
have
anger
management
there.
C
We
have
to
begin
to
do
therapy
sessions
with
the
actual
people
that
committed
these
offences
and
talk
and
let
them
let
them
speak
about
what
it
feels
like
when
I
was
at
the
prison.
I
can
tell
you
a
lot
of
stories
about
people
that
actually
committed
the
crime
of
murder
and
I'm,
not
at
liberty,
to
talk
about
it
because
of
a
confidentiality,
but
it
was
like
nothing.
It
was
like
they.
There
was
no
feeling
there
was
no
effect.
It
was
done.
C
We're
committed
to
engage
more
men
in
our
effort
and
were
committed
to
forging
a
partnership
with
the
legislative
branch,
with
the
executive
branch
and
with
the
department
heads
the
district
attorney's
office
to
try
wrap
our
arms
around
this
problem
and
solve
it.
We
have
solutions.
Olathe
and
I
were
able
to
arrest
the
suspect
right.
District
Attorney
was
there
for
us.
He
walked.
He
taught
to
talk
and
walk
the
walk
with
us.
We
would
like
that
for
every
family,
not
because
we
knew
the
system
we
shouldn't
be
getting
special
treatment.
C
Every
single
citizen
in
City
Philadelphia
should
be
afforded
the
same
treatment
in
the
same
respect
and
the
same
hand-holding
through
the
system
and
I
think
that
this
committee,
in
our
report,
I,
think
we
have
an
opportunity
to
really
let
the
citizens
of
Philadelphia
know
that
murder
in
our
city
will
not
be
tolerated
because
you
can
forget,
but
you
have
to
be
punished.
I
mean
this.
C
You
can't
have
forgiven
it
without
some
sort
of
punishment,
and
all
we're
asking
for
is
justice
and
justice
in
terms
of
punishment
will
be
decided
by
the
jury
and
by
the
courts
and
by
the
judge,
but
at
leat.
But
if
you,
if
we
forgive,
someone
has
to
pay
for
our
son's
death,
and
that
concludes
our
testimony.
Thank
you.
So
much
thank.
A
I
A
You
commit
murder
in
the
city
of
Philadelphia,
yes,
so
as
a
panel,
we
talk
about
criminal
justice,
reform,
loss
of
life,
serious
crimes,
shootings
or
any
very
different
category
for
us,
I
guess
I'm
speaking
for
the
group.
Well,
I'm
speaking
for
myself,
as
we
look
at
how
we
can
reduce
this
census,
some
people,
you
know
we
went
up
to
the
state
state
road
and
even
the
inmates,
a
two
dozen
or
so
said.
Some
people
belong
in
here
and
I.
Think
when
we
talk
about
homicide
that
clearly
for
me
fits
that
category
for
public
safety
purposes.
A
Now
the
lesser
crimes
are
feeders,
sometimes
if
we
can
prevent
and
divert
and
intervene
at
the
lower
levels
of
crimes
we
prevent
in
census.
If
they
learned
this,
if
the
kids
crying
out
for
help
early,
you
should
listen
and
believe
them
the
hardest
part
of
my
job,
Bar
None
he's
trying
to
talk
to
a
parent
who
has
lost
their
child,
can't
console
them.
You
really
can't
relate
totally,
but
what
I
find
to
be
helpful
as
a
legislator
is
when
they
share
that
grief.
They
also
share
the
solutions,
in
one
case
I'm,
at
a
I'm.
A
In
I'm
in
North,
Philadelphia
and
we're
going
through
and
that
particular
parent
cared
and
was
stricken
by
the
loss
of
their
child,
but
in
the
next
breath
was
talking
about
trying
to
save
their
friends
of
the
child
that
they
lost
and
what
we
were
going
to
do
to
try
to
make
sure
that
this
doesn't
get
repeated
over
and
over
and
over
again.
So
a
part
of
our
mission
is
to
prevent
ever
getting
here.
I
mentioned
care
in
the
sense
of
coining
the
phrase
pre-entry.
A
Individual
triggers
and
signals
from
young
people
to
say,
hey,
I,
need
intervention.
I
need
help
early.
We
could
prevent
this
day,
and
so
a
lot
of
our
attention
has
been
spent
on
those
kind
of
preventive
measures
because
there's
nothing
to
say
after
we
get
to
this
point.
It's
said
and
done
and
so
I
appreciate
you
sharing
the.
I
Philadelphia
Police
are
gathering
data.
I.
Think
that
a
good
you
know,
take
a
look
at
the
data
because
they
have
been
able
to
identify
the
leading
motives.
The
the
locations
where
most
homicides
occur.
How
they
occur,
I
mean
there's
a
lot
of
data
that
can
be
used
to
do
this
kind
of
thing.
You're
trying
to
do,
and
I
can
say
that
it
is
a
natural
consequence
to
think
about
prevention
and
response
in
the
same
sentence,
because
all
of
us
have
other
children
and
all
of
us
have
other
people
we
love.
I
So
you
know
it
may
have
happened
to
us,
but
that's
not
the
end.
We
need
to
prevent
it
from
happening
to
someone
else
and
we
do
have
more
than
one
mother
in
our
in
our
group
that
has
lost
two
children,
so
one
in
particular
lost
one
a
sudden
20
years
ago
and
then
last
year
lost
her
daughter,
both
took
on
violence,
and-
and
so
you
know,
obviously
that
is
our
concern
as
well.
So.
A
One
of
the
spin-offs
that
this
committee
is
councilman,
Johnson
has
created
a
gun,
violence,
task
force
and,
quite
frankly,
it's
a
daunting
task
and
reason.
I
say
that
is
we
had
opportunity.
We
could
sue
elect
officials
by
the
NRA
when
we
bring
up
gun
literally
get
sued
by
them,
saying
that
we're
infringing
upon
their
constitutional
right
I
had
an
opportunity
to
go
with
president
Clark
and
councilman
Johnson
five
miles
outside
of
the
city
in
King
of
Prussia
to
a
gun,
show
I've,
never
seen
that
many
guns
in
my
life.
A
Imagine
of
the
Convention
Center
floor
filled
with
tables
of
guns,
and
it
wasn't
just
folk
get
to
it,
stereotype
that
were
buying
them.
These
were
folks
that
were
making
transactions
and
they're
making
second
transactions
in
a
parking
lot
outside,
and
the
ATF
was
aware
of
some
of
the
kinds
of
movement
but
felt
under
funded,
and
the
signal
from
the
federal
government
was,
unless
you
have
a
specific
case,
you
cannot
blanket
the
entire
gun
show
in
a
investigatory
process.
A
So
when
I
walked
out
of
there,
I
got
a
admit,
optimistic
person,
I
believe
the
the
glass
is
half-full
all
the
time,
but
I
felt
that
that
was
a
daunting
task
and
we
have
to
fight
this
fight.
On
a
couple
of
problems.
We've
been
talking
about
this
in
all
of
our
sessions.
We
have
to
stop
the
proliferation
of
firearms
in
our
community
as
well,
but
you've
got
to
change
the
heart
and
minds
of
people
that
pick
them
up.
A
I
Think
the
people
that
are
doing
this
in
our
opportu,
our
son,
was
killed
by
a
gang
member.
There
are
people
in
the
community
that
are
held
hostage,
and
this
is
a
terrorist
act
for
people
to
be
using
these
guns
holding
people
in
the
community
hostage.
You
know
we
have
your
children,
families
elders
that
are
afraid
to
sit
on
their
porch.
You
know.
So
when
we
talk
about
people
the
community,
it's
a
very
small
number
of
people
that
commit
these
crimes
compared
to
the
large
community.
Our
communities
are
good.
I
E
Have
one
quick
question
or
comment
I
know
recently
I
found
out
that
temple
Hospital
was
trying
to
address
trauma
for
gunshot
victims,
so
people
who
came
in
they
had
a
gunshot
wound
generally,
they
would
just
kind
of
patch
him
up
and
they
would
leave
and
not
necessarily
think
about
the
emotional
effect
that
that
may
have,
and
will
they
be
now
making
decisions
that
are
based
on
their
circumstance.
You
know
maybe
I
need
to
go,
get
a
gun
now,
I
just
got
shot
at
or
I
got
a
retaliate.
E
Is
there
any
group
that
could
team
up
with
temple
Hospital
to
do
that
type
of
intervention
when
they
are
a
victim
when
they
are
purely
in
the
victim
stage?
They
have
not
crossed
that
line
as
of
yet
maybe
there's
more
that
we
can
do
with
them
and
and
bringing
groups
like
the
one
that
you
are
discussing
alfredo
to
that
partnership
on
collaboration
and
just
understanding
what
their
next
choices
now
once
they
came
in
here
with
this
gunshot
wound,
what
are
their
choices?
What
are
they
going
to
be
doing
once
they
are
released?
I
think.
D
Was
just
gonna
jump
in
on
the
defenders
comment
about
chief
defenders,
comment
on
programs
in
the
emergency
rooms?
That's
something
that
the
city's
Department
of
Behavioral
Health
has
been
working
on
for
a
number
of
years,
along
with
several
hospitals,
not
just
Temple,
there's
I
think
we're
hearing
of
different
programs,
including
at
Penn
and
Drexel.
We've
worked
with
healing,
hurt
people.
That
being
said,
those
programs
have
been
on
a
relatively
small
scale
and
I
think
it's
something
we
need
to
continue
to
look
at
how
what
parts
of
it
are.
C
But
those
are
the
kind
of
programs
I
think
when
we
talked
about
partnerships
that
the
average
community
member
should
be
aware.
We
have
the
technology
to
post
that
somewhere,
so
people
can
actually
go
or
call
someplace
or
go
to
the
internet
and
find
those
programs.
So
we
can
begin
to
network
and
partner
with
those
programs,
because
a
lot
of
folks
are
not
aware
of
everything.
That's
going
on
around
the
issue
of
our
gun.
Violence
around
the
issue
of
homicides
in
the
city
there's
a
disconnect
and
we
have
to
try
to
pull
that
together.
C
A
G
G
Philadelphia
currently
has
a
37
percent
clearance
rate.
If
you
go
back
frankly,
not
all
that
long
into
2008
and
2009,
you
can
find
it
was
75%.
It
was
literally
twice
as
large
the
if
you
look
from
the
year
2003
2016
there
has
been
a
steady
decline
in
the
last
10
years.
37%
is
the
lowest
clearance
rate
that
I
have
on
record
for
the
city
of
Philadelphia,
as
recently
as
2016,
it
was
at
its
low
at
that
time,
which
was
45%.
G
So
there
is
a
problem.
There
is
a
huge
problem
with
solving
homicide
matters
in
Philadelphia
and
if
we
look
nationwide
Philadelphia
is
not
the
worst,
but
it
is
a
clearance
rate
that
is
far
below
other
major
cities.
For
example,
in
2016
New
York
had
a
69
percent
clearance
rate
and
Philadelphia
was
at
45%.
G
A
O
O
After
30
years
of
incarceration,
I
I
was
released
over
about
three
weeks
ago,
a
little
over
three
weeks
ago
for
a
homicide.
A
senseless
act
of
violence
that
I
committed
in
1987
at
the
age
of
15
I,
ran
away
from
home
in
Brooklyn
New
York
left
behind
a
loving
mother
and
I
want
to
say
that
from
the
outset
that
my
running
away
was
not
a
personal
referendum
against
a
motherhood,
she
was
the
best
mother
in
the
world.
O
She
loved
me
did
her
best
as
a
single
single
woman
of
color,
raising
a
young
man
of
color,
a
foreign
national
young
woman,
doing
her
best
putting
me
through
the
best
education
I,
went
to
fill
up
a
Scylla
by
the
way
group
school
for
the
gifted
and
talented
the
same
school
that
mos
def
went
to.
Many
of
you
knew
him,
and
yet
instill
I
threw
all
of
that
away.
O
At
certain
times,
those
of
us
who
were
working
in
the
houses
would
be
released
or
relieved
to
go
to
somewhere
else
to
take
showers
right,
get
cleaned
up,
relax,
eat
food
and
then
we
would
be
put
back
in
the
houses
to
work
and
at
that
time,
September
19
I
had
been
in
the
house
with
my
co-defendant
and
I
who
I
had
ran
away
with.
This
was
a
childhood
buddy
who
I
had
known
from
the
second
grade.
We
were
classmates
and
we
were
beaten.
O
One
day
when
this
individual
angel
price,
you
know
now
I
can
say,
I
can
find
the
strength.
You
know
they
say
his
name
for
many
years.
I
was
a
unable
to
say
his
name.
You
know
out
of
shame
and
regret,
and
things
like
that
when
Joe
came
to
the
house
and
an
argument
ensued,
we
questioned
him
about
why
you
know
he
didn't
bring
food
and
when
were
we
going
to
be
able
to
shower,
and
he
questioned
us
about
missing
money.
That
argument
escalated
into
a
physical
scuffle
between
Andrew
and
my
co-defendant
Damien.
O
What
we
call
a
Rambo
knife,
a
survival
knife
and
the
accessories
it
was
called
a
survival
knife
because
inside
the
handle
were
survival,
accessories
like
fishing
hooks
and
needles
and
thread,
and
things
of
that
nature
and
a
compass,
and
it
lay
around
the
accessories
laid
around
the
knife
and
as
the
scuffle
ensued,
I
grabbed
the
knife.
I
did
and
I
entered
this
scuffle
in
a
very,
very
brutal
way.
I
stabbed
Angela
I
stabbed
him,
and
in
that
moment
you
know,
I
became
unrecognizable.
I
know
I
did
unrecognizable
to
my
mother.
O
O
Don't
think
that
Andrew
would
have
done
the
same
to
me.
I,
don't
think
so.
At
least
I'd
like
to
believe
that
he
wouldn't,
even
though
he
was
17
years
older
than
both
me
and
Damien.
At
the
time
in
hindsight
and
as
adult
man,
you
know
he
he
was
a
child
too.
You
know
and
then
I
would
learn
later
that
he
was
also
a
runaway
from
home.
He
ran
away
from
Florida
and
left
behind
a
loving
family.
Just
as
I
did
and
just
said
Damien.
O
O
Angela's
mother
left
Jamaica
to
come
over
here
to
make
a
way
for
herself
and
her
children.
My
mother
left
Trinidad
at
the
age
of
18
and
I.
Was
she
left
me
with
my
grandparents
and
my
aunts
extended
family
to
come
over
to
America
to
make
a
wave
for
herself
and
me
to
come
in
hindsight.
Looking
back
at
these
things,
you
know
it's
the
cosmic
implications
of
it.
You
know
it's
not
lost
on
me.
I
left
for
tear
in
the
fabric
of
life
a
hole
in
the
cosmos.
O
O
O
You
know
I
left
behind
dreams
of
being
an
actor
Demian
left
behind.
You
know
dreams
of
being
a
computer
programmer
and
one
of
the
things
that
you
know
came
to
me
as
I
would
be
in
the
privacy
of
myself
pacing
floors.
You
know,
reading
books
trying
to
understand
how
did
I
get
here.
How
could
I've
done
something
like
that?
O
You
know
that
is
so
far
removed
the
seeds
that
were
sewn
into
me
by
my
family
by
my
grandmother
by
my
grandfather
by
my
mother.
How
could
I
have
done
that?
You
know
why
did
I
do
that?
I,
just
read
more
read
more
about
violence.
Read
more
about
you
know!
Socially
toxic
environments
read
more
about
his
human
nature.
O
It
took
me
into
studies,
a
religion
and
philosophy
and
so
on
and
so
forth,
and
one
of
the
things
that
guided
me
to
was
angel
prices,
father
arrow
price,
a
statement
that
he
made
that's
well
documented
in
the
papers
when
he
said
I
feel
no
rage
at
these
two
young
boys.
As
far
as
I'm
concerned
they're,
just
as
innocent
as
andro
I,
wonder
why
he
said
that
about
me
and
Damien,
because
I
know
I
wasn't
innocent.
O
Just
a
way
to
this
moment
right
here,
it's
just
got
so
heavier
and
heavier
heavier
for
me
and
I'm,
so
happy
that
we're
beginning
this
conversation
with
these
important
questions
and
the
most
important
of
which
is
why
that
is
the
question
that
has
to
guide
us.
That's
the
question
that
I
ask
myself,
because
why
points
to
a
deeper
level
of
analysis?
O
O
It's
almost
like
how
more
really
one
of
the
characters
in
one
of
his
ancient
plays.
They
would
talk
about
morphine
and
the
question
was:
why
does
morphine
make
people
sleep
and
the
answer
was
because
of
its
doorman.
If
principles
and
normative
just
means
sleep
inducing,
so
it
makes
people
sleep
because
it's
sleep
inducing
it's
not.
O
Or
you
know,
why
is
she
dumb
in
one
of
his
other
plays?
Why
was
the
girl
dumb
because
she
couldn't
speak
or
why
couldn't
she
speak
because
she
lost
her
tongue
or
she
lost
the
ability
to
operate
her
tongue?
Well,
why
did
she
lose
the
ability
to
operate
her
tongue?
That's
what
we're
getting
at,
and
so
it
propelled
me
to
look
deeper
into
these
issues
and
I'm
glad
that
we're
asking
this
question.
Why
and
then
the
next
question
has
to
be:
what
are
we
to
learn
from
this?
O
A
I'm
gonna
have
to
stop
you,
although
I
could
listen
to
that.
Why,
until
we
get
an
answer,
but
what
I
want
to
do
is
give
other
people
opportunities
to
add
to
what
you
said
and
I
appreciate
you
sharing
this
because
you
didn't
have
to
I,
appreciate
the
program
and
there's
a
lot
of.
Why
and
one
of
the
answers
to
that
is
when
you
fifteen,
you
not
grown,
you
may
think
you
are
you
say
you
are,
but
science
says
that
your
brain
ain't
developed
until
it's
24.
A
We
can
argue
that
biological
effects
are
richer
than
others,
but
at
least
within
our
newest
you're,
not
totally
you're
responsible,
but
there
are
mitigating
circumstances.
To
whatever
are
you
doing
and
I
don't
think
that
there
are
throwaway
people
I
do
think
that
forgiveness
is
an
important
part
within
society.
So
hold
your
thought.
Well,
I'll
get
some
other
thoughts
on
the
record.
So
can
you
say
your
name
bring.
D
L
My
name
is
Valerie
Todd
and
I'm
with
the
star
thei
mothers
in
charge.
I
kind
of
I
was
loving
what
you
were
saying
about
the
pre
entry
and
knowing
a
leader,
and
that
was
paralyzing
as
well,
so
to
sit
here
and
see.
That
was
very
paralyzing
to
hear
you
noted
about
the
unsolved
murders
and
murder
period,
I
kind
of
wanted
to
talk
about
the
victimization,
the
revitalization
and
then
and
victims
of
your
own,
because
I
fall
into
all
three
of
them.
L
Karen
categories
and
the
pre
entry
is
what
really
was
like
monumental,
the
game
changer
and
world
changer
for
me.
So
being
victimized?
Yes,
well,
you
know
never
met.
My
biological
father
was
born
addicted
to
heroin
sold
to
the
black
market
raised
by
my
grandmother.
I
wasn't
fortunate
enough
as
him
to
have
a
mother
who
was
teaching
me
integrity,
ethics,
responsibility.
L
Anything
like
that.
My
my
mother
sold
drugs
and
I
was
always
introduced
to
crime
violence,
a
crime,
I
didn't
even
value
humanity.
I
wasn't
even
taught
to
value
humanity,
so
I
went
on
to
be
an
victimized,
the
trauma
of
childhood
abuse
and
neglect
verbal,
sexual,
physical,
emotional
and
spiritual
to
end
up
having
victims
of
my
own
crimes,
because
I
started
committed
crimes,
doing
drugs
committing
crimes.
L
Myself-
and
you
know,
like
I,
said
I
was,
like
my
mom,
told
the
judge
in
juvenile
lock
her
up
or
locked
me
up
because
she's
a
monster,
so
nothing
was
really
I.
It
wasn't
about
really
what
happened
it
was
I
was
just
getting
locked
up
so
fast-forward,
you
know
again
just
be
the
victim
part,
the
rear,
victimization
and
then
also
having
victims
myself
of
crimes
and
then
God
God.
First,
he
literally
just
met
me
in
a
jail
cell,
which
I
am
so
grateful
and
I
will
never.
L
My
gratitude
will
never
be
silenced
to
God,
because
and
then
mothers
in
charge
I
have
women
from
2009
coming
in
twice
a
week
who
had
their
children.
It
was
women.
These
children
were
killed
in
the
streets
of
Philadelphia
coming
into
the
prison
trying
to
get
to
a
solution
say
you
know
really
every
single
two
two
times
a
week
saying
to
us
like
unlearn
and
relearn,
and
that
was
like
that
was
just
like
mind-boggling
to
me,
because
people
do
just
assume
that
you
know
better.
L
L
Mothers
in
charge
taught
me
you're
going
to
make
excuses
or
make
changes
and
I
said
you
know.
I
wanted
to
make
changes
and
I
started
doing
that
inside
the
prison.
I
didn't
wait
until
the
gates,
open
and
said
now,
I'm
going
to
make
changes,
I
stopped
breaking
rules
in
prison,
I
redirected
everything.
My
character
was
changed,
just
just
everything,
the
stuff
that
you
would
think.
I
would
know.
I
didn't
know,
and
these
women
are
come
in
twice
a
week.
L
Saying
you
hear
a
woman,
you
will
heal
a
nation
if
you
change
the
woman's
thinking,
you
will
change
the
woman
and
it
was
sure
it's
true
to
this
day.
What
can
I
do?
I
could
be
to
change
that
I
want
to
see
in
this
world.
You
know
since
I've
been
home,
I've
been
home
since
2012
I
came
straight
down
to
miss
Darcy's
office
and
we
she
got
a
plan
together,
asked
me
what
I
need
it
and
employed
me
and
I've
been
employed
with
mothers
in
charge.
I've
been
working
in
it.
L
I
worked
in
the
prisons
for
five
years.
You
know
and
worse
me
into
women
when
they
come
home.
Women
in
that,
because
we're
doing
the
thinking
for
a
change.
The
women
working
for
a
change
for
life
skills,
self-esteem,
job
readiness,
trauma-informed
mental
health,
first
aid
storytelling-
this
is
this-
is
what
we're
doing
as
women
are
getting
released
and
men
so
that
to
stop
the
recidivism
to
stop
the
village
of
just
like
Alfredo
what
he
said
of
having
an
anger
management.
L
He
it's
a
real
life
issue,
not
just
for
the
people,
who's
incarcerated
for
everybody
on
earth.
Anger
management
is
real,
real
life.
You
know
what
do
you
do
with
it?
You
know,
and
these
are
the
things
that
you
know-
that
I'm
doing
every
single
day
every
single
day,
my
life
is
gonna,
be
a
big
fat.
Thank
you
for
mothers
in
charge
who
came
inside
the
prison,
pre-entry,
yes,
pre-entry
and
then
reentry,
and
then
the
aftercare
and
the
proper
supports.
I
need
every
single
day
are
standing
right.
L
L
N
Morning,
my
name
is
Dorothy
Johnson
Speight
and
I'm
founder
and
executive
director
of
mothers
in
charge.
I
want
to
first
of
all
thank
the
committee
for
this
hearing
and
this
opportunity
to
give
testimony
conscious,
that's
a
question.
How
many
of
you
are
moms
or
dads
that
are
on
the
panel
moms
or
dads
moms
or
dads?
That
means
you
have
a
son
or
a
daughter.
N
Thank
you.
I
want
to
first
of
all
thank
a
leader
and
all
of
the
women
that
are
here
that
gave
testimony
this
morning.
All
the
women
and
men
that
are
on
the
front
lines
working
every
single
day
to
have
to
bury
a
son
or
daughter,
is
the
worst
pain
in
the
world,
and
especially
when
someone
has
taken
your
sons
or
daughters.
N
Life
in
May
of
2003
I
brought
some
people
together,
and
some
of
them
are
in
this
room,
as
I
am
Baptist
Church
for
the
first
meeting
of
mothers
in
charge
in
May
of
2003
I
had
met
a
lot
of
these
mothers
prior
to
that
time
and
knew
the
tragedy
that
they
had
lived
with.
The
death
of
the
son
or
daughter.
N
I
knew
them
because
I
had
started
a
group
called
compassionate
friends,
because
my
two
and
a
half
year
old
daughter
had
died
of
bacterial
meningitis,
so
I
had
met
mothers
who
had
come
to
compassionate
friends,
and
this
was
the
first
african-american
chapter
of
compassionate
friends
that
I
started
a
Temple,
University,
Hospital
and
I
met.
So
many
moms
who
lost
children
and
my
prayer
was
always
please
keep
my
son
safe.
N
He
was
about
nine
years
old,
then
and
I
would
drag
him
to
the
meetings
of
compassionate
friends
and
meet
these
moms
with
lost
children,
and
it
was
heartbreaking
to
see
them.
But
little
did
I
know
that
I
would
get
that
same
call
in
2001
on
a
cold
night
in
December
I
got
the
call
to
come
to
Einstein
Hospital,
quick,
that
my
son,
my
24
year
old
son
colleague,
Jabbar
Johnson
had
been
shot
and
killed,
I
went
there
and
I
didn't
think
I
could
live
in
fact,
I
didn't
even
want
to
live.
N
I
was
just
beginning
to
live
with
the
fact
that
my
daughter
had
died
and
now
I've
got
to
live
with
the
fact
that
my
second,
my
only
two
biological
children
are
gone.
It's
the
worst
pain
in
the
world,
the
pain
you
wake
up
with
in
the
morning
and
it's
the
pain
you
go
to
bed
with
that
night
and
if
you're,
a
parent
and
you've
lost
a
child.
You
understand
that
pain
and
they're.
Many
of
them
in
the
room
that
too
today.
N
N
N
This
lady's
standing
on
the
porch
on
Channel,
6,
News,
Crimestoppers
and
I
asked
the
man
that
was
there
that
the
woman
who
gave
that
interview
could
I
meet
with
her
and
sure
enough.
He
directed
me
where
she
lived
on
to
heaven
when
I
went
around
and
roof
down.
Lee
and
I
sat
down
on
her
dining
room
table
and
found
out
that
the
same
person
that
murdered
her
son
in
July
murdered
my
son
in
December
roof.
Dolly
was
somebody
that
I
probably
would
not
have
met.
N
White
lady
living
in
Island
probably
would
have
never
passed,
but
I
would
have
never
crossed,
but
we
were
joined
at
the
hip
that
day,
when
I
sit
at
her
dining
room
table
and
set
out
that
the
person
who
murdered
her
son
five
months
later,
two
blocks
of
where
my
son
was
murdered.
They
would
want
in
the
same
person.
N
This
is
the
criminal
history
of
the
person
that
was
found
guilty
of
murdering
our
children,
Ernest
Odom,
it's
about
eleven
pages,
long
of
all
of
the
charges
that
he
had
on
him
from
the
age
of
16
to
the
age
of
26
when
he
murdered
both
our
children.
Long
criminal,
history
and,
to
be
honest
with
you,
I,
was
very
angry.
N
You
know
we
went
through
two
hearings
through
trials
murder
trials
and
he
was
found
guilty
of
first-degree
murder
in
both
trials
and
he's
serving
two
life
sentences
doesn't
bring
back
our
children
but
glad
that
he's
off
the
street,
so
he
doesn't
kill
anyone
else.
But
the
thing
that
I
have
learned
on
my
journey
of
healing
and
it's
been
a
journey
that
no
one
should
have
to
travel.
N
Eisah
didn't
care
like
about
his
childhood
or
what
happened
to
him?
You
know
he
killed
my
son,
but
on
my
healing
journey,
I've
learned
not
to
ask
what
was
wrong
with
him.
But
what
happened
to
him?
What
happened
to
him
that
he
could
take
the
lives
of
two
young
men
that
he
didn't
know
he
knew
he
didn't
know
them.
He
knew
nothing
about.
There
was
an
argument
over
a
parking
space
for
my
son
and
he
shot
him
seven
times
what
happened
to
him
in
his
life.
N
We
talked
about
trauma
the
importance
of
understanding
trauma
and
the
healing
that
our
community
needs.
We
lose
it
on
both
sides
now
he's
written.
Maybe
he
was
26
when
he
went
away,
maybe
a
little
to
80,
so
he's
gonna
be
there
about
maybe
50
years
or
more.
You
know,
we've
got
to
pay
for
him.
We
got
to
pay
for
the
room
and
board
and
I
had
some
cost
to
you
like
what
does
it
cost
to
house
an
inmate?
So
looking
at
security
in
administration,
it
amounts
about
23,000
per
year
per
inmate
for
medical
care.
N
Maybe
eight
thousand
seven
hundred
sixty
dollars
for
medical
care,
operation
costs
seven
thousand
and
it
goes
on.
This
is
the
cost
of
violence.
This
is
the
cost
that
we're
paying.
Why
can't
these
dollars
be
spent
for
prevention?
Maybe
had
these
dollars
been
spent
for
prevention,
my
son,
rich
son,
and
so
many
others
friends
would
still
be
here.
My
son
was
24
years
old.
He
was
the
CSS
worker
pick
up
middle
school.
N
He
loved
working
with
children,
he
loved
working
with
children,
talk
about
lost
rings,
I
dream
was
that
he
would
go
back
and
get
his
master's
degree
and
I
would
get
my
doctoral
degree.
We
would
hang
out
shingle
and
work
with
children
at
risk,
because
that's
what
I
did
before
mothers
in
charge?
I
was
a
supervisor.
Combe
are
working
with
mental
health
diagnoses,
children
with
mental
health
diagnoses,
not
knowing
that
one
day
a
child
with
a
mental
health
diagnosis,
would
take
my
son's
life.
We've
got
to
look
at
the
healing
that
our
community
needs.
N
We've
got
to
look
at
how
we
spend
these
dollars.
It
doesn't
take
a
rocket
scientist
to
figure
out
that
it'd
be
more
beneficial
to
spend
money
on
prevention
than
housing.
It
in
me,
I
start
from
the
Philadelphia
prison
board.
Almost
ten
years
now,
eight
years
under
Michael
Nutter
now
I've
been
reassigned
to
the
prison
board.
N
I've
seen
these
young
men
come
and
it
hurts
my
heart
because
they're
all
our
sons
I
see
14
and
15
and
16
year
olds,
when
we
were
working
at
the
house
of
correction
with
the
juveniles
coming
in
who
had
committed
a
serious
crime,
armed
robbery,
murder
attempted
murder
and
they
had
not
a
clue.
They
thought
they
were
gonna,
go
home
with
your
mom
and
had
McDonald's,
and
everything
was
gonna,
be
okay.
They
had
no
clue
in
terms
of
what
they
had
done
and
what
the
consequence
was
gonna,
be
at
15
and
16
years
old.
N
What
happened
to
them?
They
weren't
born
with
guns
in
their
hands,
but
we
pay
the
ultimate
price
for
this.
I
want
my
son
to
be
here
today.
I
want
him
to
be
doing
what
he
wanted
to
do:
saving
the
lives
of
children
that
were
at
risk.
Now
he
didn't.
He
got
accepted
into
linkers
Master
program
right
before
he
was
murdered.
He
was
going
to
go,
get
his
master's
degree.
N
Here
I
am
now
I
was
80
years
old
in
a
doctoral
program,
because
that's
what
we
wanted
to
do
and
I'm
doing
it
before
for
him
for
his
life
and
for
his
death
to
continue
to
make
a
difference
in
the
lives
of
children.
So
the
mothers
don't
have
to
continue
to
come
to
us
because
they
had
to
bury
a
son
or
daughter.
15
years,
I've
been
at
this
15
years
with
little
support.
N
I'm
gonna
be
straight
up
with
a
little
support,
but
every
week
we
open
our
doors
for
mothers
and
a
lot
of
the
mothers
have
come
that
are
here
for
grief,
support,
no
charge.
Valerie
teaches
anger
management
twice
a
day,
one
Thursday's
for
how
long
now,
four
years,
no
support,
we
get
referrals
from
the
courts
and
from
the
judges
and
everybody,
because
people
are
angry
and
they
don't
know
how
to
manage
that
anger
and
everybody
that
dies.
N
Doesn't
that,
because
somebody
selling
drugs,
they're,
angry
and
out
of
control,
they
die
because
they're
angry
they're
on
Facebook,
and
they
want
to
act
on
that
anger
or
a
parking
space.
They
want
to
act
on
that
anger.
There
are
things
that
we
need
to
be
putting
our
money
into.
That
will
prevent
a
lot
of
the
things
that
we're
seeing
in
this
city,
and
nobody
wants
to
do
that.
N
We
are
funded,
paying
immense.
What
we
do
it
every
single
Thursday
and
we
have
15
to
16
people
come
in
every
session
for
nine
sessions.
The
negative
certificate
may
take
back
to
their
judge
and
I
heard
a
young
man
said
day,
I
set
in
the
back
of
the
room
and
I.
Listen
to
these
stories
of
the
folks
who
are
coming
to
anger
management
and
he
said,
I
was
taking
my
daughter
back
to
Mansfield
college,
my
brother
and
I,
and
we
got
into
a
road
rage
thing.
N
My
brother
wanted
to
stop
the
car
get
out
and
attack
the
guy.
You
know
they
wanted
to
you
know.
I
said
he
said
it
had
it
not
been
for
anger
management,
the
tools
I'm
getting
in
this
session
that
I've
been
coming
to
the
last
three
or
four
weeks.
I
may
have
gotten
out
the
car
and
killed
that
past
person
right
in
front
of
my
daughter
on
the
way
to
college,
taking
her
up
to
Mansfield
College.
But
that's
the
thing
I'm
talking
about
people
don't
know
how
to
manage.
N
If
they
knew
better,
they
would
oftentimes
do
better,
but
if
no
one's
taught
them
and
there's
no
place
for
them
to
go
to
get
that
information,
then
they
keep
continuing
to
do
what
they
do
and
we
continue
to
keep
paying
the
price
for
it.
I
wouldn't
really
really
off-script
I
mean
I
had
wrote
down
some
things.
I
really
really
wanted
to
say
kudos
to
the
new
DA
for
caring
enough
about
victims
to
appoint
someone
like
Movida
to
that
job.
I.
N
Remember
I
remember
when
my
son
was
murdered,
I
kept
thinking,
am
I,
gonna
come
not
gonna,
do
and
say
I'm
sorry.
What
can
I
do
to
help
because
after
all,
he
was
a
working
productive
citizen
in
the
city
of
Philadelphia
was
murdered
in
the
City
of
Brotherly
Love
and
since
the
infection,
but
nobody
came
and
asked
esvet
offered
help.
We
had
to
figure
it
out
on
our
own,
but
now
we
have
someone
in
a
position
that
can
support
victims.
We
need
support.
N
N
A
child
I
lost
my
daughter,
two
and
a
half
and
I
lost
my
son
at
24.
I
love
them
both,
but
the
thing
that
is
different
when
it's
a
homicide
is
complicated
grief.
You
got
to
deal
with
the
gym
criminal
justice
system.
You
got
to
deal
with
the
police,
whether
they
answer
your
call
or
whether
they
don't
or
whether
the
case
gets
aw.
You
got
to
deal
with
so
many
other
aspects
of
a
homicide
that
you
don't
have
to
deal
with
when
it's
a
natural
cause.
So
we
need
that
extra
support
and
thank
you,
mr.
N
da,
for
providing
that
support
to
victims.
Now,
no
one
came
and
said:
what
can
I
do
for
you?
Your
son
was
murdered.
What
do
you
need?
I
had
to
be
the
vehicle
that
made
that
happen.
Mother's
in
charge
was
the
vehicle
that
kept
me
breathing
because
I
help
somebody
else
breathe
because
I
help
someone
else
live
when
they
thought
they
couldn't
to
bury
a
son
or
daughter,
is
the
worst
pain
in
the
world,
and
today
homicide
is
the
leading
cause
of
death.
It's
not
accidents,
not
car
accidents,
it's
not
some
incurable
disease.
N
N
N
H
Know,
Dorothy
programs
that
the
program
that
you
found
it
and
that
you
have
been
pushing
so
hard
I'm
sure
has
been
responsible
for
lessening
homicides.
I
know
that
if
you
did
not
teach
those
life
skills
that
you've
been
teaching
that
more
people
would
would
would
be
dead
right
now
and
a
program
like
yours
needs
to
be
expanded
because
you're
on
the
right
track
and
I
applaud
you
for
your
work.
Thank
you.
I.
E
Just
want
to
say,
I
work
with
Miss
Johnson,
specifically
as
well
as
her
staff
and
the
people
that
she
works
with
I
have
never
seen
transformations
in
people's
minds
and
thoughts
and
behaviors
like
I've.
Seen
through
this
program.
I'm
sure
there
are
other
programs
out
there
that
do
the
same,
but
I
will
say
this
is
effective
and
we're
talking
about
where
we
need
to
put
our
dollars
and
effective
programming.
I
have
work
specifically
and
personally,
with
mothers
in
charge
and
saw
the
difference.
E
I
used
to
see
mothers,
women
go
through
our
system,
five,
six,
seven
eight
times
but
more
time
on
their
hands
becoming
more
desperate.
But
when
I
see
what
you
did
with
these
women,
reunited
them
with
their
family
taught
them
to
forgive
themselves.
That
was
first
and
foremost
and
I.
Think
Kempis.
You
talked
about
that
too
forgiving
yourself
recognizing
yourself,
but
also
recognizing.
Why?
E
When
you
have
that
answer,
I
hope
you
are
able
to
join
with
some
people
to
use
it
now.
You
may
have
that
answer,
but
I
hope
that
you
are
able
to
help
us
recognize
those
kids
where
ego-
and
you
know
their
pride
is
bigger
than
the
value
of
human
life,
because
what
you
said
I
think
people
would
think
was
scratched
ahead
and
say.
Well,
if
you
came
from
a
good
family
and
if
you
had
a
good
education,
then
what
can
we
do
for
that?
E
It's
easier
to
recognize
when
people
don't
come
from
that
and
have
those
issues
it's
easier
for
that,
and
we
don't
do
the
best
job
of
doing
that
either.
But
how
do
we
get
to
those
kids
that
we
don't
even
know
where
they're
struggling-
and
maybe
you
can
help
figure
that
out?
Because
it's
that
what
I
see
when
we
sit
on
the
other
end
of
who
has
been
charged
with
murder,
they
have
their
hands
in
their
head
and
they're.
Crying
like
a
baby
and
I
know:
that's
not
what
they
were
doing
when
they
committed
that
act.
E
But
what
changed?
What
made
that
possible?
That's
the
question
that
I
won't
we
get
to,
but
I
will
say
this
with
the
district
attorney
I.
I
am
happy
that
you
are
here
and
you're
fulfilling
your
vision.
I
will
say
that
my
office
has
tried
to
work
with
young
kids,
who
have
decided
to
pick
up
a
gun
for
the
first
time,
because
they
saw
something
that
was
scary
or
they
felt
threatened.
E
They
didn't
use
it
yet
and
when
they
got
tagged
by
the
district
attorney's
office,
we
would
try
to
look
for
organizations
such
as
ceasefire
here
or
people.
That
could
have
some
understanding
of
what
that
kids
struggling
with
and
give
that
kids
some
better
options,
and
we
were
told
we
don't
want
those
kids
to
mix
with
prior
felons,
but
they
were
ok
with
them,
going
in
a
jail
of
with
adults
in
learning,
worse
behaviors,
getting
worse
mentoring
and
I
would
just
hope
that
we
bring
some
common
sense
to
that
approach.
N
The
key
mentoring
is
so
very
important
and
we
have
on
our
website
mothers
in
charge.
All
our
is
call
all
our
sons
and
we
didn't
interview
inside
the
prison
with
a
young
man
who
talked
about
getting
a
gun
when
he
was
nine
years
old
and
how
that
made
him
feel
so
powerful.
You
know,
we've
got
to
find
a
way
to
address
that
you
know,
through
mentoring,
through
education
through
all
kinds
of
things,
to
support
them.
You
know
a
gun
shouldn't
make
a
young
man
feel
powerful.
N
A
A
All
of
us
are
coming
to
this
same
place
and
one
of
the
things
I
was
encouraged
in
a
conversation
with
our
new
district
attorney
about
and
something
that
I,
quite
frankly,
hadn't
heard
before,
but
the
cost
accounting
end
of
some
of
this
criminal
justice
stuff
that
he's
keenly
liked
wants
to
focus
on,
and
you
mentioned
reprioritizing
dollars
to
do
pre-entry
versus
reentry
and
getting
to
solve
the.
Why?
A
If
you
multiply
that
by
all
the
blocks
that
this
happens
on
and
then
redirecting
that
make
some
tough
decisions,
some
stuff
feels
good,
but
it
might
not
be
working.
We
appropriate
some
money
to
things
that
are
proven
a
data-driven
solutions.
We
may
have
to
make
those
kinds
of
adjustments,
but
if
we
do,
we,
then
pre-entry
prevent
and
answer
the.
Why?
A
Because,
if
we
keep
doing
what
we're
doing,
we
want
to
keep
getting
the
same
result
and
so
I'm
encouraged
about
the
configuration
of
folk
and
from
the
victim
and
the
other
victim
a
perspective
of
this
as
you,
you
articulated,
and
we're
gonna
try
to
get
to
the.
Why
and
we're
gonna
try
to
do
what
we
can
to
incrementally
move
the
needle
in
the
right
direction.
I'm
in
cars
bodies,
these
guys
I'm
a
little
uncomfortable,
sometimes
being
a
room
where
the
DA
in
defense
attorneys
get
along.
That's
a
little!
A
N
C
D
O
Who
I
am
today
is
not
because
of
prison
or
solitary
confinement,
but
in
spite
of
it,
but
it
was
that
moment
of
in
those
moments
of
solitude.
You
know
having
conversations
with
myself
interrogating
myself,
you
know
learning
more
about
the
value
of
human
life
and
it's
the
value
of
life
period
and
just
growing
up
just
grown
just
maturing.
O
You
know
it
and
being
able
to
conjure
up
the
face
of
Evangel
price
again
and
look
him
in
the
face.
In
my
mind
and
say
there
I'm,
sorry,
man,
I'm,
really
sorry,
man
and
I
wish
I
could
bring
you
back
being
able
to
do
that.
You
know
it
took
something
it
took.
It
took
some
time
it
took
it
took
some
time
and
it
took
courage
and
I
learned
that
real
courage
is
not
being
afraid
of
yourself.
O
O
You
know
and
I
know
where
a
lot
of
them
were
born.
You
know,
I
didn't
want
to
speak
about
them
here
today,
especially
after
the
testimonies
that
I
heard,
because
the
last
thing
I
want
wanted
to
sound
like
as
if
I'm,
making
excuses
for
what
I've
done
right,
but
I.
Think
that
answering
the
question
of
why
well
given
explanations
is
not
necessarily
as
an
excuse.
You
know
avoiding
avoiding
terms
like
evil
and
guilt
and
crime.
O
It's
not
necessarily
make
an
excuse
so
being
soft
on
crime,
any
more
than
a
doctor,
you
know,
is
not
soft
on
cancer,
but
not
condemning
cancer
are
not
using
moral
judgments
against
cancer.
Forgiveness
and
condemnation
is
irrelevant
to
a
doctor,
but
it
doesn't
mean
that
they
don't
fight
just
as
hard
against
cancer.
You
know,
and
so
one
of
the
things
too
I
realized
was
that
I
was
not
that
fifteen-year-old
boy
anymore.
O
He
said
2500
years
ago
in
terms
of
the
acara
to
the
young,
are
prone
to
desires
and
inclined
to
do
whatever
they
desire,
and
they
are
impulsive
and
quick
tempered
and
inclined
to
follow
up
their
anger
by
action
and
they
are
unable
to
resist
their
impulses
for
through
love
of
Honor.
They
cannot
put
up
with
being
belittle
but
become
indignant
if
they
think
they
are
done
or
wrong
and
though
they
love
honor.
They
love
victory
more
for
youth
longs
for
superiority
and
victory
as
a
kind
of
superiority,
and
they
are
filled
with
good
hopes.
O
For,
like
those
drinking
wine,
the
young
are
heated
by
their
nature
and
at
the
same
time
they
are
filled
with
good
hopes
because
of
not
yet
having
experienced
much
failure
and
they
live
for
the
most
part,
in
hope
for
hope,
is
for
the
future
and
memories
of
what
has
gone
by,
but
for
the
young.
The
future
is
long
in
the
past
short
for
in
the
dawn
of
life,
nothing
can
be
remembered
and
everything
can
be
hoped
for.
So.
A
A
Sometimes
she
can't
get
a
break.
So
what
I'm
gonna
do
is
ask
you
stay
and
thank
you
for
what
you
shared.
All
of
you
and
and
I
must
have
heard
you
a
dozen
times
each
time
each
time
it
just
touches
something.
You
speak
for
a
lot
of
our
voices
that
sometime
you
walk
by
everyday
and
they
suffer
silently
so
I'm
thankful
for
you
miss
Williams.
Can
you
read
the
next
group
to
testify?
Thank
you
guys.
Movida.
A
K
Afternoon
my
name
is
Movida
Johnson
I
am
the
newly
appointed
interim
supervisor
for
Victim
Witness
services
for
the
District
Attorney's
Office
I
am
also
the
founder
of
an
organization
called
the
Charles
foundation.
Charles
is
an
acronym
for
creating
healthy
alternatives.
Results
in
less
emotional
suffering
I
have
been
exposed
to
homicide
all
my
life
March
30th
1975,
21
days
before
my
ninth
birthday,
my
father,
was
murdered
in
front
of
me.
The
last
vision
I
have
of
my
father
alive
was
me,
dressed
in
my
pretty
little
pink
two-piece
and
blood
splattering
all
over
it.
K
Some
years
later,
July
the
1st
1991,
my
only
brother,
was
murdered
over
a
girl,
while
his
five-year-old
son
sat
in
his
lap
and
as
I
tried
to
recover
from
these
two
homicides
because,
as
the
I
want
to
thank
everyone
that
testified
before
me,
homicide
is
devastating
to
a
family.
The
night
that
my
father
was
murdered.
K
She
was
up
at
the
University
of
Maryland
working
on
her
master's
degree,
and
my
two
sons
came
to
me.
They
were
14
and
16,
and
up
to
this
point
you
know
there's
always
that
house
in
the
neighborhood,
where
all
the
kids
go.
We
were
that
house.
We
kept
fruit,
roll-ups
in
the
cabinet
and
juice
boxes
in
the
refrigerator,
and
we
had
the
big
yard
with
the
basketball
court.
My
son's
fix
the
fixed,
electronics
and
bikes.
K
So
we
were
where
all
the
kids
came
and
I
made
a
conscious
decision
at
that
time
to
stay
in
that
neighborhood.
Where
I
was
raised
in
South
West
Philadelphia,
because
we
were
that
family
and
my
sons
came
to
me
and
they
said
mom,
we
know
nine
boys
killed
in
this
neighborhood
and
I
turned
to
my
husband
and
I
said
it's
time
to
go.
K
I
said
my
black
son's
will
not
become
statistics
on
the
streets
of
Philadelphia
and
I,
packed
my
family
up
and
on
January
15th
2008
I
moved
my
family
to
Lansdowne
Delaware,
County
and
I
turned
to
my
husband
and
I
said
we're
safe
and
I
went
on
about
the
business
of
living,
my
life
and
raising
my
children
and
on
January
12
2011
about
7:15
that
evening.
All
the
children
that
were
home
filed
into
the
bedroom
and
I
looked
at
my
husband
and
I
said.
K
Why
are
we
having
a
family
moment
and
everybody
laughed,
and
at
this
time
my
children
were
18
19,
20
and
24,
and
my
son
Charles
was
18
years
old.
He
was
6
feet
tall
and
he
stood
by
my
bedside
and
something
whispered.
In
my
ear
get
off
the
bed
and
hunt
your
son
and
I
got
off
the
bed
and
I
wrapped
my
arms
around
my
son
and
I
kissed
his
neck
and
I
said
Charles
Johnson.
K
He
says
he's
at
an
Einstein
Hospital
and
he's
in
the
surgery
mom
you
got
to
get
to
the
hospital
mom
and
I
get
to
the
hospital
and
my
son's
in
surgery
and
I
sat
there.
What
was
seem
to
go
on
forever
and
at
some
point
that
doctors
came
downstairs
and
I'm
begging
him
to.
Let
me
see
my
son
and
they
said
mrs.
Herrero.
Your
son
didn't
make
it.
I
was
really
surprised
my
feet
and
my
knees
didn't
go
out
from
under
me,
so
I
begged
them
to.
K
Do
you
know
how
much
your
mommy
loves
you
and
they
zipped
up
the
bag
and
I
later
found
out
that
my
18
year
old
son
was
murdered
in
a
case
of
mistaken
identity,
two
boys
had
a
beef
over
a
girl.
They
thought
my
son
was
the
boy
coming
back
to
retaliate
when,
in
fact
my
son
didn't
even
know
these
people.
K
But
when
they
said
to
me,
while
Charles
is
an
innocent
victim,
these
boys
were
going
to
kill
somebody.
So
I
said
to
no
idiot
and
his
boys
were
going
to
kill
somebody
so
well.
They
had
juvenile
records,
they
had
adult
records
and
what
I
said
was
why
didn't
anybody
fixed
them?
Why
didn't
anybody
do
anything
if
they
knew
that
these
boys
were
going
to
kill
somebody,
and
the
next
thing
I
said?
Was
we
failed
them?
K
That's
the
first
thing
that
went
terribly
wrong
after
losing
my
son,
but
then
I
said
through
this
two-week
trial,
where
I
got
to
hear
about
these
boys
and
the
lives
that
they
live
and
how
they
were
raised
and
how
they
had
been
in
facilities,
how
no
one
helped
them
and
how
they
were
products
of
a
broken
system.
So
we
talk
about
criminal
justice
reform.
We
had
to
talk
about
some
other
reform.
We
talked
about
some
educational
reform.
We
need
to
talk
about
some
economical
reform.
We
need
to
talk
about
housing
reform.
K
Select
my
trial
I
actually
asked
for
mercy
for
my
son's
killers
and
I
went
to
my
family
before.
Even
that's
the
judge
and
they
didn't
agree,
but
they
allowed
me
to
and
I
was
I
was
convicted
to
ask
for
mercy
for
these
two
boys,
because
I
saw
as
a
society
we've
had
these
boys,
so
the
one
boy
got
life
in
prison
without
the
possibility
of
parole
and
the
second
young
man.
K
The
judge
was
going
to
give
twenty
four
to
forty
years,
plus
two
gun
charges
that
carried
seven
years
of
peace,
but
because
I
asked
for
mercy.
She
gave
him
12
to
24
years
and
trapped
the
two
gun
charges
and
the
only
thing
that
I
asked
of
these
two
young
men
was
anybody
coming
behind.
You
help
him
to
leave
better
than
they
came
in.
Was
anybody
that
you
come
in
contact
with
help
him
to
come
out
better?
K
That's
the
only
thing
I
asked
so
I
felt
very,
very
honored
and
very
privileged
to
be
the
first
homicide
survivor
to
sit
in
the
seat
of
Victim
Services
I.
Take
it
very
very
seriously.
I
didn't
need
a
job
when
I
was
offering
this
job
well,
but
what
I
saw
was
I
saw
it
as
an
opportunity
to
help
fix
a
broken
system
that
does
not,
because
I
really
did
not
get
the
help
that
I
need
from
Victim.
K
Services
I
really
need
to
say
that
I
was
so
busy
trying
to
trying
to
make
sure
that
my
family
was
ok
because
I
had
a
daughter
who
blamed
herself
for
her
brother's
death.
I
got
a
26
year
old
daughter
that
suffers
from
severe
survivor's
remorse
as
a
result
of
her
brother
coming
to
pick
her
up
from
Germantown,
so
I
was
not
helped
by
the
system
that
was
supposed
to
help
me
I
had
to
create
my
own
help,
and
we
know
everybody
doesn't
have
the
opportunity
to
do
that.
K
So
when
we
look
at
Victim
Services,
we
need
to
be
making
sure
that
we're
speaking
for
victim,
but
also
if
you
heard
my
new
toy-
is
victims.
Sir
Victim
Witness
services
and
restorative
justice.
I
have
my
counterpart
Jody.
Could
you
stand
up
Jody
dot
here?
Jody
dot
is
our
new
restorative
justice
facilitator.
K
The
mothers
that
are
here
that
have
not
received
reconciliation,
they
cannot
fathom
forgiving
somebody
because
their
murderers
have
not
been
caught
yet.
So
we
need
to
fix
the
clearance
rate-
that's
number
one,
but
then
we
need
to
give
survivors
the
opportunity
to
speak
the
truth.
We
need
to
give
them
the
opportunity
to
be
able
to
talk
to
their
offenders
and
then
maybe
we
can
come
together
to
create
some
real
solutions
to
keep
this
from
happening
over
and
over
and
over
again.
K
I
agree
with
Dorothy
everything
Dorothy
said,
I
agree
with,
but
one
thing
that
I
understand
being
a
victim
I
no
longer
see
myself
as
a
victim,
but
being
in
a
space
where
I
have
been
invited
to
the
table
to
raise
the
voice
of
the
victim.
We
cannot
have
people
making
decisions
for
victims
if
you
do
not
include
them
at
the
equation.
K
So
if
we're
going
to
have
true
restorative
justice,
we
need
to
raise
the
voice
of
the
victims.
We've
looked
at
the
the
data
from
the
Vera
Institute
and
the
data
from
crime
survivors
for
social
justice,
and
if
you
read
the
data,
it
tells
you
more
times
than
not
survivors
what
justice
they
want
to
know
why
they
want
to
know
the
circumstances.
K
They
don't
always
want
punitive
consequences
for
their
offenders,
but
if
we
don't
include
them
in
the
conversation
we
won't
know,
so
we
have
to
make
sure
that
we're
raising
the
voice
of
the
victims,
but
we
also
have
to
make
sure
that
as
a
community
and
as
a
society
we're
reducing
homicide
and
crime
overall.
Thank
you.
A
Q
Q
Q
Okay,
my
name
is
Jeff
Blystone
I'm,
the
manager
of
the
victims,
compensation
program
at
the
Pennsylvania
Commission
on
crime
and
delinquency.
Yes,
the
article
that
you
you
spoke
of
was
a
claim
that
we
had
denied
and
had
gone
to
a
hearing
level
and
so
and
part
of
what
you'll
hear
in
my
testimony
is
that
the
crime
victims
Act,
which
is
our
governing
law,
states
that,
in
in
all
cases
of
when
a
claim
is
filed,
we
need
to
review
all
documentation
and
and
determine
whether
or
not
the
victim
was
engaged
in
illegal
activity
or
contributory
conduct.
Q
A
Q
When
we
look
at
contributory
conduct,
I
mean
we're
not
investigators.
What
we
do
is
we
rely
on
information
that
we
receive
from
the
police
report
talking
to
the
detectives
looking
to
see
if
there
were
any
independent
witnesses
within
the
within
the
police
report
to
see
what
those
those
witnesses
had
said.
If
we,
if
there's
been
a
an
arrest,
will
reach
out
and
talk
to
the
district
attorney's
office
to
try
to
get
more
information
relative
to
that,
but
contributory
conduct
can
be
drug
deals,
mutual
fights.
Q
Q
That's
probably
one
of
the
hardest
ones
that
we
have.
You
know
it's
really
where
two
people
agreed
that
hey
we're
gonna
meet
up
and
we're
gonna
have
a
fight.
We
don't
see
that
much,
but
you
know
that
it
is
one
that
we
do.
You
know
we
see
a.
We
see
a
fight
where
it
turns
into
a
higher
level
of
a
fight
where
you
know
somebody
pulls
out
a
weapon
and
uses
it
so
I'm
just
trying
to
think
of
some
of
the
others
here.
Q
Q
Whoever
you
know
can
give
us
information
we're
looking
to
see
that
that
was
what
they
had
done,
causally
related
to
the
crime
that
occurred
to
them
and
again,
that's
that's
based
on
a
review
we
have
to
do
by
our
law,
and
so
so
yeah
that
so
contributory
conduct
is,
is,
did
the
victim
contribute
to
in
any
way
to
the
crime
that
occurred
to
them?
So.
Q
No
I
mean,
after
the
article
well
I
mean
after
the
article
came
out.
We
did
do
a
rather
extensive
review
process
of
our
of
how
we
look
at
claims
are
claims,
review
and,
and
we
have
a
specialized
unit
who
who
works
on
nothing,
but
these
claims
where
there
may
be
illegal
activity
or
contributory
conduct,
and
so
it's
their
responsibility
that
you
know
they've
been
trained
on.
You
know
things
to
look
for
questions
to
ask
of
detectives.
Q
You
know
we
ask
for
a
police
report,
and
usually
all
we
get
is
the
48
and
49
documents
which
have
very
limited
information,
and
then
we
also
send
a
questionnaire
to
the
detective
asking
them
to
fill
out
whether
or
not
the
victim
was
involved
in
illegal
activity
or
did
they
initiate
the
the
victimization
and
then
did
they
cooperate
with
police?
Also,
all
three
which
we
have
to
look
at
under
the
crime
victims
act,
I
apologize.
A
Q
Before
I
get
started
with
that
it
you
know,
I
can
tell
you
that
we
received
over
at
the
almost
13,000
claims
last
year
of
those
13,000
claims.
We
only
denied
406
and
of
that-
and
don't
quote
me
completely
on
this
number
but
I
think
only
about
a
hundred
and
forty-seven
of
those
were
for
illegal
activity
or
contributory
conduct.
So
that's
less
than
less
than
2%
of
all
the
claims
that
we've
received
in
last
year
and
and
that's
been
pretty
consistent
over
the
last
couple
of
years.
So.
Q
C
Q
When
I
talk
about
witnesses,
you
know
I'm
talking
about
witness
statements
that
are
included
in
the
police
report.
You
know
where
they're
talking
about
you
know
this
witness
and
they
were
an
independent
witness
or
this
would
this
witness?
So
no,
we
don't
reach
out
to
them.
We're
it's
what's
in
the
police
report,
so.
Q
We
make
the
final
determination
so
and
again
a
lot
of
times.
You
know
we
we
don't
go
with
with
what
the
police
you
know.
The
the
police
department
may
be
saying
that
you
know
this
person
didn't
cooperate,
you
know,
but
you
know,
we
know
that
you
know
the
the
the
the
victim
can
show
us
where
you
know:
they've
cooperated
and
contacted
police
and
so
forth
when
it
comes
to
to
illegal
activity
and
contributory
conduct
I
mean
that's.
Q
That's
one
piece
that
we're
is
that
police
report
you
know,
but
also
you
know,
because
the
staff
that
we
have
that
are
reviewing
these
over
time
have
learned.
You
know
which
additional
questions
to
ask,
and
so
a
lot
of
it
is.
Is
you
know,
through
that
conversation
back
and
forth,
with
the
detective
learning
more
about?
Maybe
what's
not
in
the
police
report
now.
Q
Morning,
as
I
said,
my
name
is
Jeffrey
Blystone
I'm,
the
manager,
the
victims,
compensation
program
at
the
Pennsylvania
Commission
on
crime
and
delinquency.
We'd
like
to
thank
you
for
providing
the
opportunity
and
to
speak
with
you
today
about
victims,
compensation
and
the
financial
benefits
it
provides
to
assist
victims
of
crime
victims.
Compensation
was
established
as
a
reimbursement
program
by
the
crime
victims
act
in
1976.
The
Act
provides
guidelines
for
eligibility
and
and
the
benefits
offered
through
victims
compensation
program.
Q
The
Act
also
provides
the
funding
through
a
$35
assessment
on
every
criminal
offender
convicted
or
is
pled
guilty
in
Pennsylvania.
No
state
tax
dollars
are
used
to
fund
this
program.
Victim's
compensation
also
receives
an
annual
Victims
of
Crime
Act
grant
from
the
federal
office
of
victims
of
crime.
The
grant
is
funded
by
criminal
offenders
at
the
federal
level
currently
to
be
eligible
for
victims.
Compensation
in
Pennsylvania
victims
must
report
the
crime
to
proper
authorities
within
72
hours
or
file.
Q
Protection
from
abuse
order
must
cooperate
with
law
enforcement,
prosecution
and
compensation
and
must
file
claim
within
two
years
from
the
date
of
the
crime.
Additionally,
by
law,
victims,
compensation
is
required
to
review
every
claim
and
shall
determine
whether
the
victims
conduct
contributed
to
the
injuries
sustained
and
if
so,
they
shall
reduce
or
deny
the
claim
the
maximum
amount
that
could
be
paid
through
the
victim's
compensation
is
$35,000
per
claim.
There
are
three
specialized
exceptions
to
the
$35,000
maximum.
They
are.
An
additional
thousand
dollars
may
be
paid
for
a
forensic
rape.
Q
Q
There
are
others
in
between
who
are
eligible
for
varying
amounts
of
counseling,
currently
benefits
available
for
reimbursement
through
the
victims.
Compensation
program
include
counseling
crime,
scene
clean-up,
forensic
rape,
exam
funeral
expenses,
up
to
$6,500,
loss
of
earnings,
up
to
$15,000
losses,
support
up
to
$20,000
for
homicide
cases.
Q
Q
Title
18
crimes
are
kind
of
I,
just
know
them
as
Title
18
crimes,
all
I'm.
Sorry,
but
they're
they're,
like
your
more
major
offenses,
such
as
like
homicide,
assault,
rape,
those
types
then
there's
title
35,
which
are
drug
crimes,
title
75.
We
are
able
to
pay
for
driving
under
the
influence,
homicide
by
vehicle
and
hit-and-run,
and
then
there's
can't
remember
the
title,
but
it's
watercraft.
It's
the
same
same
ones
under
title
as
we're
under
the
vehicle
code
of
Title,
75,
DUI,
homicide
and
hit-and-run
can.
H
H
Q
H
C
Q
Q
It
stands.
We
could
probably
go
one
year
without
some
some
correction
to
it.
There
are
a
couple
things
that
we
are
attempting
to
do
with
the
crime
victims
act
now
through
the
legislature
legislature
to
increase
the
money
in
that
fund,
but
yeah.
So
as
it
stands
now,
we
could
probably
pay
one
year's
worth
of
claims
if
the
budget
were
to
stop
today,.
K
And,
and
can
I
had
something
that
Jeff
didn't
talk
about,
so
we
have
monthly
meetings
here
in
Philadelphia
with
the
Pennsylvania
victim
advocate
Jennifer
storm
and
with
that
where
victims
are
not
eligible
for
the
claim,
because
the
decedent
may
have
they
see
it
that
they
may
have
been
responsible
for
their
own
demise.
They're,
actually
creating
language
now
to
take
in
to
legislature
to
stop
that,
and
it
looks
very,
very
promising
and
we've
actually
been
having
this
conversation
with
Jennifer.
We
have
one
victim
here
specifically
that
has
been
denied
because
her
son
was
attacked.
K
Q
E
R
Good
morning
my
name
is
Natalie
and
I'm,
a
physician
at
the
Children's
Hospital
of
Philadelphia
and
just
to
provide
a
little
context
but
context
about
why
we're
here
is
we're
here
to
actually
hopefully
give
some
insight
and
not
just
prevention,
but
pre
prevention
and
pre
pre
prevention.
So
hopefully,
some
of
our
discussion
today
will
involve
that
as
well
as
answering
questions
that
you
may
have
about
our
testimony
so
who
am
I,
particularly
so
I'm
Natalie
I
am
actually
a
child
abuse.
R
Pediatrician,
so
I
see
all
children
who
come
to
the
Children's
Hospital,
who
are
victims
of
abuse
and
neglect
I,
also
work
at
three
of
the
sexual
abuse
clinics
around
our
city
and
I
work
at
the
city's
only
fostering
health
program,
which
is
a
medical
clinic
where
our
goal
is
to
see
all
children
within
72
hours
of
being
placed
into
foster
care.
So
a
theme
that
I
have
heard
come
up
as
I've
been
sitting
here
this
morning.
Hearing
all
these
really
moving
testimonies
is
why.
Why
is
this
happening
and
I?
R
Don't
think
I
have
all
the
answers
to
the.
Why
but
I
think
I
have
some
of
the
answers
to
the?
Why
and
a
lot
of
it
has
to
do
a
childhood
trauma,
adverse
childhood
experiences.
We
know
that
even
starting
as
young
as
kindergarten,
some
children
who
have
experienced
trauma
are
already
exhibiting
their
own
signs
of
behavioral
issues.
R
So,
as
these
children
go
through,
there
are
years
in
the
foster
care
system.
Many
of
them
actually
do
come
into
contact
with
the
Crim
justice
system.
If
you
look
at
the
statistics
for
youth
in
the
criminal
justice
system,
92%
have
had
a
significant
adverse
experience
as
a
child.
The
average
number
of
adverse
childhood
experiences
or
what
we
would
call
toxic
experiences
or
toxic
stress,
the
average
number
is
14.
So
that's
the
average
number
of
toxic
experience
that
a
youth
has
who
is
in
the
juvenile
justice
system.
That
is
a
very
high
number
for
these
kids.
R
If
you
look
at
the
percentage
of
kids
in
the
juvenile
criminal
system,
up
to
70%
have
actually
spent
time
in
the
foster
care
system
or
children
in
youth
services
has
known
about
these
children.
Now,
that's
not
all
the
children
and
that's
not
everyone's
story,
because
everyone
has
a
different
story,
but
it's
a
huge
chunk
of
the
children
and
of
the
young
adults
of
the
15
year
olds.
R
The
13
year
olds,
the
10
year
olds
that
were
seen
enter
the
system,
so
I
think
from
my
experience,
working
with
these
children
and
seeing
these
children
in
our
foster
care
system
in
our
sexual
in
our
foster
care
program
and
our
sexual
assault
programs
is
at
a
big
place
where
we
can
move
the
needle
is
by
honing
in
on
this
really
vulnerable
population.
If
we
know
this
is
a
population
of
children
that
has
a
really
higher
risk
of
becoming
involved
in
the
criminal
justice
system
becoming
involved
in
violence,
I
really
do
think.
R
R
The
answer,
then,
is:
what
do
we
do
about
this
situation,
and
so
what
we
do
is
when
I
talk
to
these
children,
I
have
children
who
are
brought
to
me
correctional
facilities
just
to
have
a
medical,
because
they
can't
get
the
medical
care
they
need,
and
a
lot
of
them
are
looking
for
intervention.
A
lot
of
them
are
looking
for
treatment.
A
lot
of
them
are
looking
for
cognitive
focus
therapy.
There
are
some
statistics
out
there.
R
So
if
you
look
at
violent
crimes
committed
by
teenagers,
so
violent
crimes
committed
by
people
under
the
age
of
18,
if
you
take
a
cohort
of
those
children
who
undergo
mentorship
and
trauma,
focused
cognitive
behavioral
therapy
compared
to
children
who
don't
their
recidivism
rate,
the
children
who
get
intervention
is
1%
versus
the
recidivism
rate
for
those
other
children
which
is
closer
to
50%.
So
we
know
there
are
areas
that
we
can
move
the
needle
and
we
know
where
these
children
exist.
The
system
knows
these
children.
We
know
who
these
people
are
I.
E
E
That
we
represent
and
the
children
that
come
back
through
some
through
our
other
system,
one
of
the
areas
that
I've
seen
as
I
went
to
view
that
court
system
a
couple
of
times,
are
people
making
decisions
based
on
availability
of
funds
and
what
types
of
services
to
give
a
kid.
My
husband
caveat
is
a
judge
in
that
system
and
when
he
wants
to
give
some
individualized
treatment,
that
may
be
a
little
bit
out
of
the
norm
of
expenses
oftentimes
those
claims
are
denied,
and
so
I
guess
we're.
E
When
we're
talking
about
criminal
justice
reform,
we
don't
talk
about
reform
on
that
end
in
terms
of
the
money
that
should
go
into
that
system,
so
that
when
we're
looking
at
a
child
as
an
individual,
and
what
do
you
need
individually,
we
don't
deny
claims
based
on
available
funding.
I,
don't
know
why
that
is
I,
don't
know
why
they
deny
the
claims.
I,
don't
know.
E
R
R
Mean
if
we're
up
to
me
I
would
just
throw
everything
I
had
into
these
children,
because
we
have
a
window
that
where
we
can
help
them
and
that
window
is
so
small
and
I
I
wish
I
had
so
complicated,
but
how
we
divert
some
of
the
resources
that
the
limited
resources
we
have
to
this
population
of
6,000
children
that
are
in
the
foster
care
system.
We
know
a
large
percentage
of
them
are
going
to
end
up
either
being
victims
of
violent
crime
or
committing
that
crime
themselves.
S
And
we
know
this
all
too
well.
In
Philadelphia
a
city
whose
homicide
rate
is
five
times
the
national
average
at
Children's
Hospital.
We
are
seeing
an
increasing
violence
every
year
with
last
year,
reaching
almost
six
youth
seeking
treatment
as
a
result
of
an
assault,
and
it's
also
critical
to
note
that
85%
of
the
children
seeking
treatment
for
violent
injuries
are
injured
in
their
schools
or
directly
before
or
after
school,
and
these
statistics
are
not
able
to
fully
capture
the
individual
stories
of
so
many
youth
in
our
city
as
a
trauma.
S
Therapist
I
am
privileged
to
work
with
these
youth
and
I'm,
able
to
see
the
physical,
emotional,
cognitive
and
behavioral
impact
of
these
traumatic
experiences.
I
am
also
able
to
witness
the
systemic
injustice
that
results
when
families
tried
to
access
care.
I
would
like
to
share
James's
story.
James
is
a
15
year
old,
african-american
male.
He
was
jumped
by
five
peers
in
the
bathroom
of
his
public
school
and
suffered
a
severe
concussion
and
broken
jaw.
S
S
As
a
roll,
sorry,
as
a
result
of
these
experiences
and
being
the
oldest
boy
in
the
home,
James
stays
awake
most
nights
and
can
only
sleep
when
it
is
light
out.
He
does
not
feel
safe
in
his
neighborhood
or
his
school
and
when
walking
his
siblings
to
school,
he
has.
He
often
looks
over
his
shoulder
and
replays
in
his
head
what
he
would
do
if
he
were
jumped
again,
I
think
about
James
and
the
amount
of
violence
he
has
experienced
already
at
his
young
age,
I.
S
Think
about
how
those
experiences
shaped
his
worldview,
his
perception
of
safety,
his
education
and
his
goals
for
his
future
I.
Think
about
what
I
can
do
better.
What
we
can
do
better
so
that
this
child
has
the
opportunity
and
the
access
to
heal
from
these
experiences
to
feel
safe
in
ways
that
we
can
reduce
the
amount
of
retraumatization
for
this
child
I.
Think
about
James
as
the
identified
victim
for
this
most
recent
assault
and
wish
that
the
impact
of
trauma
stop
there.
S
We
have
heard
throughout
this
morning
how
a
violent
event
can
affect
a
victim,
siblings
parents
and
friends,
but
we
also,
we
often
do
not
hear
about
the
impact
of
violent
injury
on
James's
teacher,
his
school
police
officer,
his
principal
doctor,
the
Philadelphia
police
officer,
District
Attorney
and
Mia's
therapist
in
one
in
this
one
story
alone.
There
are
five
different
systems
representative
represented.
This
means
five
different
touchpoints,
each
offering
a
different
opportunity
to
bring
healing
rather
than
harm
to
this
family
and
too
often.
S
The
reality
is
that
some
of
these
very
systems
designed
to
facilitate
healing
and
safety,
can
often
perpetuate
more
trauma.
I
have
been
in
courtrooms
and
experienced
judges
who
have
really
taken
the
time
to
listen
to
a
child
situation
and
use
that
child's
strengths
to
lead
them
on
a
better
path.
I've
also
been
in
court
rooms
where
family's
concerns
were
disregarded,
while
they
were
waiting
for
information
and
have
seen
and
heard
court
personnel
make
negatively-charged
assumptions
about
why
families
were
there.
S
I
have
met
detectives
who
tried
to
get
to
know
our
children
and
what
they
have
overcome
and
also
have
seen
detectives
dismiss
and
disrespect
families,
silencing
them
and
making
them
feel
insignificant.
I
believe
that
we
could
learn
from
some
of
the
best
practices
from
other
successful
cities
that
are
tackling
the
same
issue.
S
I
strongly
support
that
each
system
can
benefit
from
from
training
and
education
to
become
trauma-informed
systems
according
to
Samsa,
a
trauma
informed
system
realizes
the
white
impact,
the
widespread
impact
of
trauma
recognizes
signs
and
symptoms
and
clients,
families
and
staff
integrates
this
knowledge
into
policy
and
practice
and
seeks
to
resist
re-traumatization,
and
so,
if
we
really
want
to
reduce
retraumatization,
we
also
need
to
take
care
of
the
providers
doing
this
work.
We
need
to
understand
the
impact
of
secondary
traumatic
stress
on
our
police
officers.
S
Our
district
attorneys
public
defenders,
DHS
workers,
teachers,
therapists,
probation
officers,
doctors
and
social
workers.
I
am
passionate
about
this
issue
and
have
fun.
Having
seen
the
impact
of
secondary
trauma
on
my
own
staff,
intervener
violence
prevention,
specialist
I
have
developed
a
specific
program
to
help
them
manage
these
issues
called
the
stress.
Less
initiative-
stress
less,
is
a
group
model
designed
to
reduce
secondary
trauma
and
allow
staff
to
reflect
on
how
this
work
affects
them,
both
personally
and
professionally.
S
We
also
have
offered
this
outside
of
chop
partnering
with
similar
programs
such
as
healing
hurt
people
and
the
department
of
behavioral
health
to
implement
stress
less
at
their
sites,
and
so
we
hope
that
there
could
be
more
organizational
support
around
this
issue
whereby
criminal
justice
systems
have
trauma-informed
training,
including
how
to
deal
with
secondary
trauma
as
a
routine
part
of
their
training
and
daily
work.
Our
colleagues
at
Drexel
University,
including
dr.
sandy
Blum
Linda,
rich
and
mr.
Robert,
Reed
from
the
Attorney
General's
Office,
have
already
approached
the
Philadelphia
Police
Department
with
this
concept.
S
In
addition
to
training
and
education,
we
have
to
find
ways
to
coordinate
efforts
and
services
across
systems.
My
violence,
intervention
specialists
spend
their
days
and
often
their
nights
helping
assault.
Victims
obtain
medical,
mental
health,
legal
assistance
and
social
services,
whose
representatives
often
have
disparate
goals.
We
need
to
reduce
silos
and
work
together
to
eliminate
redundancy
and
reduce
the
logistic
and
emotional
barriers
for
our
youth
and
families
who
are
trying
to
access
multiple
systems.
We
have
made
great
strides
in
recent
years
to
deliver
more
trauma,
focused
services
and
meet
the
needs
of
family.
S
We
have
built
specifically
and
special
committees
to
help
bring
systems
together,
but
we
have
a
long
road
ahead.
I
am
fortunate
to
work
at
chop,
which
wholeheartedly
supports
the
work
that
we
do
to
promote.
The
health
and
wellness
of
children
and
I
know.
Other
institutions
and
agencies
share
similar
goals,
I'm,
confident
that
we
can
get
them
confident
in
our
ability
to
continue
to
collaborate
and
continue
this
important
work
together
and
to
meet
the
comprehensive
needs
of
young
victims
of
crime.
That.
H
Was
really
great,
but
you
forgot
about
the
judges
and
their
secondary
trauma
because
we're
listening
to
cases
day
after
day
after
day
after
day
case
after
case
after
case
after
case
there's
definitely
trauma
among
the
judges,
and
we
discussed
this
all
the
time.
There
is
a
suicide
rate
for
judges
who
here
criminal
cases,
that's
a
little
bit
higher
than
than
police
officers.
Who
you
know
who
act
on
the
cases.
So
don't
forget
about
us.
S
P
As
you
heard
of
from
Miss
Vega
I
would
like
to
offer
some
thoughts
about
what
have
worked
and
what
has
not
worked
and,
most
importantly,
what
we
need
to
learn
more
about.
So
we
can
move
forward
in
reducing
the
violence
and
impact
of
violence
on
our
families
in
Philadelphia
and
their
children.
So
being
a
physician,
my
lens
kind
of
sees
primarily
violence
as
a
health
problem,
not
as
a
criminal
justice
problem,
and
this
is
a
lens
that
I
apparently
share
with
many.
P
But
the
fact
is
that
healthcare
and
criminal
just
approaches
actually
converge
when
we
promote
efforts
that
are
evidence,
informed
trauma,
informed
and
innovative
and
being
an
ER
physician.
I
am
going
to
start
with
my
take-home
points,
so
in
case
you
get
hungry
or
fall
asleep.
I
will
at
least
get
them
there
and
then
I'll
elaborate
on
them.
P
If
you
allow
me,
but
the
first
is
that
there
is
a
science
to
violence
prevention
and
every
program
deserves
a
formal
and
full
evaluation,
so
that
we
can
do
more
good
than
harm
and
at
least
do
the
most
good
for
the
resources
that
we
have.
The
second
is
that
what
seems
like
enough
is
often
insufficient
and
the
manner.
So
it's
the
manner
in
which
we
implement
what
seems
like
a
good
program.
The
way
that
we
do.
P
It
is
just
as
important
as
the
program
itself,
and
the
third
is
that,
as
we
mentioned,
cross-system
collaboration
is
critical
and
that
when
health
systems,
police,
Public
Health
and
community
members
education,
all
those
systems
get
together.
They
can
arrive
at
solutions
together,
but
we
tend
to
be
siloed
so
start
with
the
science
of
violence
prevention.
P
We
all
know
that
no
one
intervention,
initiative
or
program
or
approach
is
going
to
eradicate
the
violence
that's
experienced
by
our
Philadelphia
communities,
but
all
of
our
efforts
fall
on
a
continuum
of
successful
prevention.
So
it's
incumbent
on
us
to
make
sure
that
you
know
we
evaluate
the
initiatives
in
order
to
determine
the
effect
on
our
kids
and
the
families
and,
most
importantly,
if
they
do
harm,
because
they
can
in
fact
do
harm.
So,
in
our
limited
resource
environment,
we
also
need
to
know
how
they
compare
to
the
best
practices
out
there.
P
And
you
know
our
efforts
at
chop
in
other
places
within
our
violence.
Prevention
initiative
helped
build
this
evidence
about
the
how's
and
the
whys
of
violence
in
Philadelphia's
youth,
for
example.
We
collaborated
with
dr.
Doug
liebe
in
at
Penn,
and
we
studied
the
retaliatory
events
when
that
happened.
P
After
a
youth
came
to
the
emergency
department,
those
400
to
600
youth
that
came
to
the
ER,
we
actually
followed
them
over
a
two-month
period
and
found
that
approximately
one
in
five
youth
were
assaulted
as
a
result
of
that
particular
incident
again
and
another,
and
possibly
the
same
group
but
another
group.
That
was
one
in
five
committed
and
assault
as
a
result
of
that
incident,
and
they
were
reporting
this
anonymously
on
a
phone
pad.
So
we
actually
got
information
them
that
they
wouldn't
necessarily
tell
anybody
else.
P
We
also
found
that
the
vast
majority
of
these
second
events
occurred
within
weeks
of
that
first
event.
So,
within
four
weeks
about
80
percent
of
them
occurred
and
really,
tragically,
almost
the
third
of
those
youth
reported
to
carrying
a
gun
in
the
months
after
an
event.
So
these
events
are
not
Sentinel
events
because
they
may
happen
often
enough,
but
when
they
come
to
our
emergency
department,
we
know
at
least
know
that
they're
at
the
highest
risk
of
retaliation
and
recidivism.
P
So
a
chop
most
of
our
critically
ill
patients
are
cared
for
and
monitored
in
an
intensive
care
unit
right
they
are.
We
know
that
these
people,
these
kids,
are
the
highest
risk
to
get
sick
and
possibly
die,
but
children
and
young
adults
who
were
injured
as
a
result
of
violence
are
have
a
really
similar
need
for
monitoring
and
care.
Just
like
an
intensive
care
unit,
they
are
basically
presenting
in
intensive
care.
So
what
should
that
intensive
care?
Look
like
well.
P
People
are
two
such
programs,
but
there
are
actually
30
or
more
such
programs
around
the
country
and
we've
aligned
in
a
group
called
the
national
network
of
hospital
based
mounts
intervention
programs
to
learn
from
each
other
and
to
communicate
with
each
other
about
best
practices.
So
research
can
also
provide
us
with
pretty
surprising
results.
For
example,
we
looked
at
kids
who
came
into
our
program
and
they
told
us
what
are
their
goals
and
there
is
a
myth
around
the
stigma
of
mental
health.
P
That
says
that
men
and
boys,
and
as
particularly
african-american
men
and
boys,
do
not
want,
will
not
go
to
mental
health
therapy.
It
turns
out
that
when
we
asked
them
89%
of
the
boys,
the
african-american
boys
in
our
program
asked
for
mental
health
therapy.
They
were
willing
to
go
and
we
do
get
them
there,
and
so,
as
a
consequence,
we've
focused
our
efforts
and
then
obtain
some.
P
P
Asked
you
that's
why
we
do
research,
because
we
would
not
that's
a
myth
that
we
like
to
dispel
when
we,
when
we
do
this
kind
of
study,
we've
actually
developed
a
program
now
and
we're
studying
it
through
a
grant
on
preventing
post-traumatic
stress
disorder
in
our
violently
injured
youth
and
looking
at
a
particular
program
to
do
that
through
an
NIH
grant.
So
there's
other
studies
in
cities
such
as
Chicago
and
and
in
the
Apple
ich
actually
showed
that
these
violence
prevention
programs
prevent
re-injury
and
recidivism
we're
still
studying
that
in
our
Philadelphia
organizations.
P
My
next
thing
is
what
seems
like
enough
is
not
enough.
So
what
I'm
going
to
point
out
is
that
trauma-informed
care
takes
time,
training
and
resources.
We
can't
just
say
so.
Our
parents
and
grandparents
taught
us
that
it's
not
just
what
we
do,
but
it's
how
we
do
it.
That
makes
the
difference.
We've
learned
that,
through
our
families
and
through
our
upbringing
right,
the
manner
in
which
we
implement
programs
is
as
important
as
the
program
itself.
P
So
what
we
do
know
is
that
the
majority
of
our
citizens,
who
need
to
feel
safe
from
crime,
but
they
also
need
to
feel
secure
in
the
relationships
with
the
crime
fighters
and
a
trauma-informed
approach,
is
the
way
that
that
can
happen.
It
means
that
law,
enforcement,
personnel
and
civilians
alike
have
to
have
each
other's
best
interests
in
mind
and
those
interests
most
often
center,
around
trust
and
safety.
P
It
means
considering
what
a
person
has
been
through
rather
than
what
they
have
done.
Community
members
need
to
believe
that
the
justice
system
will
not
only
treat
them
fairly,
but
that
officers
attorneys
and
judges
within
those
systems
believe
in
them
their
future.
We
know
that
the
science
behind
adverse
experiences
and
traumatic
stress
argue
for
high-touch
approaches
to
complement
the
high-tech
crime
initiatives
that
are
being
implemented
in
cities
across
the
country.
P
So
a
trauma
of
court
informed
approach
is
not
an
intervention
but
rather
a
way
of
being
and
works
best
when
it's
applied
deeply
practically
and
consistently.
So
the
kind
of
culture
change
that
we
need
to
permeate
institutions
from
the
bottom
to
the
top
takes
work.
We
can't
just
say
we
want
it
to
happen
and
expect
it
to
magically
occur.
Resources
need
to
be
put
in
place
for
meaningful,
innovative
training
programs
that
incorporate
modern
adult
learning
techniques
such
as
multimedia
presentation,
simulations
and
flipped
classrooms.
P
Philadelphia
has
some
shining
examples
of
city
and
state
and
national
national
initiatives
that
have
applied
innovative
trauma-informed
methods
at
the
city
level,
you're
likely
familiar
with
the
person
sitting
next
to
you
list.
Only
fellow
in
Formula,
Deputy,
Commissioner,
Kevin,
Bethel,
who's,
doing
work
with
police
who
respond
in
the
Philadelphia
schools
and
training
them
to
recognize
the
root
causes
rather
than
the
criminalization
of
disruptive
behaviors
at
the
state
level.
P
By
focusing
on
early
childhood
education
and
children
of
incarcerated
parents
and
at
the
national
level,
Bob
Liston
be
the
former
ojj
TV
administrator
implemented
something
called
the
Smart
on
juvenile
justice
initiative,
which
provides
states
with
diversion
alternatives
that
can
reduce
recidivism
and
reduce
the
number
of
youths
removed
from
their
homes
and
placed
into
state
studies
and
as
much
as
by
60%,
so
saving
hundreds
of
millions
of
dollars.
So
I'm,
not
an
expert
in
justice
policy
and
my
own
research
does
not
evaluate
the
effectiveness
of
these
interventions.
P
I'll
leave
that
to
people
like
doctors,
Naomi,
Goldstein
and
John
McDonald
from
Penn
and
Naomi
from
Drexel
I
think
they
are
the
people
that
you
have
to
ask
about
those
particular
programs,
but
I
will.
My
point
is
that
there
are
some
familiar
and
common
tenets
that
cross
across
systems
they
cross
across
healthcare,
education,
social
services,
mental
health
and
the
justice
system,
and
we
can't
be
successful
until
those
systems
learn
from
each
other
and,
most
importantly,
communicate
their.
P
We
their
work
between
each
other,
so
that
cross-system
collaboration
is
kind
of
what
I
want
to
end
with,
which
is
that,
along
with
the
ability
to
share
data
which
we
don't
actually
have
right
now,
we
need
to
use
those
data
to
formulate
solutions
through
a
multidisciplinary
partnerships
using
a
community
voice.
And
so
it's
not
just
enough
to
share
the
data.
P
We
have
to
actually
figure
out
what
to
do
with
it,
and
so
an
example
of
this
is
on
the
cardiff
model
from
wales,
where
health
systems
and
police
shared
data
and
met
with
community
agency
representatives
and
reduced
violence,
injuries
the
most
famous
one
being
they
found
that
the
bottles
in
bars
were
being
used
to
as
they're
cutting
injuries,
and
so
they
basically
had
all
the
bars
replaced
their
glass
with
plastic
and
reduce
their
injuries.
But
they
needed
to
actually
do
the
research
on
that
now.
P
We
have
somewhat
more
complex
issues
that
maybe
we
may
be
addressing
in
Philadelphia
other
than
beer
bottles,
but
it's
still
an
example
of
taking
the
data
that
we
have
filtering
it
through
a
community
lens
and
making
a
change
happen
and
we're
actually
trying
this.
This
is
going
on
right
now,
the
Cardiff
in
DeKalb,
Georgia,
Atlanta
and
Milwaukee,
and
we're
trying
to
actually
think
about
getting
funding
and
resources
to
begin
the
Cardiff
approach
here
in
Philadelphia
as
well
for
the
CDC.
P
P
I
hope
that
my
dual
role
is
a
clinician
and,
as
an
academic,
helps
me
convey
how
both
community
inspired
programs,
but
also
rigorous
evaluation
of
these
programs
interact
whatever
we
do
should
be
supported
by
evidence
implemented
with
fidelity
infused
with
trauma-informed
practice
and
informed
by
community
voice.
I.
Just.
A
A
Okay,
when
I
sit
in
that
chair
and
I,
listen
to
budget
and
one
of
the
reasons
I,
don't
miss
budget
hearings
like
that's,
then
I'm
nerd
out
I
get
my
little
snacks
and
I
sit
there,
because
you
hear
different
bits
and
pieces
of
the
problem
by
Department
and
the
solutions
by
Department.
So
whether
you
start
talking
about
mental
health
or
nutrition,
you'd
be
surprised
how
they're
interconnected
to
a
condition
in
a
community
like
real
quick,
if
you
did
a
the
poorest
part
of
my
districts,
are
224
fairly
high
and
around
60
FM
market.
A
That's
ground
zero,
never
make
it
come
ups
and
substantial
change.
But
if
that's
where
that's,
where
the
height
of
my
problems
in
my
district
are
you'll
look
and
do
a
map
and
see
dropout
rates,
you'll
see
pre,
teen,
pregnancy,
you'll,
see
food.
Deserts,
you'll,
see
organ
failures,
you'll
see
violent
crime
all
within
a
met
that
you
could
put
right
over
top
of
it,
but
with
in
identifying
that
problem.
A
If
you
reverse
engineer
it,
you
probably
have
the
seeds
of
a
solution:
better
education,
better
health,
remove
the
food
deserts,
conflict
resolution
not
by
the
end
of
gun
and
recreation.
Believe
it
or
not,
a
sprinkle
of
recreation
for
kids
to
do
goes
a
very
long
way,
so
I
guess
what
I'm
challenging
you
to
do
today.
If
you
had
all
of
those
dials
and
controls
by
Department,
which
ones
would
you
dial
up?
Which
ones
would
you
say,
are
okay?
Which
ones
would
you
tone
down.
O
A
P
That's
a
great
my
way
of
looking
at
it
I
think
another
way
of
looking
at
it
is
that
every
human
is
made
up
of
the
different
parts
and
they
have
different
needs.
So
it's
the
ability
to
turn
up
and
down
those
resources
for
a
particular
family
and
the
the
dexterity
which
you
do
that
that
is
the
most
important
thing
and
that's
what
we
find
out
in
the
violence.
Intervention
programs
that
some
families
need
four
of
the
six
things
that
can
be
provided.
P
We
do
housing,
we've
moved
families,
we've
provided
beds
for
families
that
moved
into
a
house
with
no
furniture
and
we've
gone
to
court
with
them
and
represented
them
with
TAC.
So
you
you
bring
up
very
well
all
of
these
resources
that
are
needed.
But
but
the
point
is
that
you
can't
necessarily
tell
what
one
family
in.
P
D
Actually
think
the
councilman's
question
sort
of
ties
up
for
me.
What
has
been
really
present
in
this
hearing,
which
is
government
interventions,
particularly
the
criminal
justice
system,
that
have
wonderful
intentions
but
on
the
scale
which
we
administer
criminal
justice
in
Pennsylvania
have
horrific
consequences
and
government
can't
do
everything.
D
Government
can
legislate
that
glass
beer
bottles
should
be
replaced
with
plastic
ones
when
there's
evidence
to
indicate
keep
that,
but
government
on
its
own
is
not
going
to
implement
even
evidence-based
programs
with
fidelity
on
the
scale
with
which
we
have
problems
in
Philadelphia.
It
just
isn't,
and
so
you
know
some
of
what
where
we
started
today
was
people
who
are
turning
to
the
government
to
help
them
after
they've
lost
kids
and
the
government
was
Ratana
tizen
them.
D
A
A
Some
of
these
kids
were
living
in
a
house,
run
by
kids,
a
lot
more
runaways
all
aboard
in
there
for
survival,
and
it
was
almost
like
Robin
Hood
and
the
very
band
of
thieves.
They
still
you
redirect
resources
and
somehow
we
failed
that
household
those
kids,
because
no
DHS
worker
found
them
one.
Child
had
been
absent
a
whole
number
of
days
from
school.
All
of
those
little
indications
in
those
little
silos
popped
up,
but
nobody
was.
R
I
may
have
comment
on
that.
Just
a
little
hi
you
I'm
Natalie,
we
haven't
met,
yet
you
are
somewhere
else,
multitasking
I'm,
a
child
abuse
physician
at
chop.
In
the
story
you
just
told
I
see
hundreds
and
hundreds
and
hundreds
of
times
a
year.
In
fact,
just
last
week,
DHS
was
going
to
close
a
case
when
something
happened
to
one
of
the
children
and
they
realized
all.
R
R
E
Well,
I
want
to
say,
I
agree
with
everything
you
said
and
I
think
that
our
system
has
become
so
overburdened
because
we've
taken
on
everything,
yes
and
we've
got
to
be
able
to
let
some
things
go
and
put
them
back
into
the
realm
of
the
professionals
who
are
trained
to
deal
with
some
of
these
issues,
much
better
than
our
criminal
justice
system.
Can
one
of
the
things
that
you
said,
though
I
think
is
really
hard
for
us
to
do?
Is
the
accountability
portion
right?
E
You
know
I'm
talking
to
community
of
your
health,
and
we
know
we
use
a
lot
of
programs
and
a
lot
of
programs
generate
people
and
recycle
people
so
many
times.
Where
are
those
standards
that
we
should
be
looking
for?
I
know,
addiction
is
tough
because
it's
up
and
down,
and
so
is
an
adverse
childhood
experience,
because
it's
not
you
know
you
don't
have
a
finite
period
of
time
and
say
they
should
be
cured
by
this
period
of
time.
R
I
mean
I
can
only
speak
to
so.
I
know
that
there
are
national
accountability,
standards
for
children
in
the
foster
care
system
and
how
to
hold
agencies
accountable.
I
do
know
that
Philadelphia
has
struggled
for
many
years
to
implement
those
systems
into
our
system.
It's
something
that
can
be
done
and
should
be
looked
at
and
I
think
there's
innovative
ways
to
do
that.
Using
techniques
as
dr.
P
The
barrier
one
of
the
barriers
to
accountability
we
find
this
in
medicine
as
well,
and
we've
tried
to
get
over
this
I
think
halfway.
There
probably
is
is
that
when
you
hold
people
accountable
or
programs
accountable,
there
is
a
fear
that
they
will
be
held
guilty
right.
And
so,
if
it's
a
system,
which
is
a
blameless
system,
that
we
are
all
trying
to
approve
any
quality
improvement
method
rather
than
a
you
stake
method,
then
I
think
it
really
changes
the
tent
tone.
P
But
what
we
have
found
in
our
and
Laura
can
talk
so
much
more
eloquently
about
this
than
I.
But
my
listening
to
the
stories
of
what
we've
tried
to
accomplish
is
that
when
we
run
into
barriers,
it's
because
people
fear
that
when
they
go
to
the
point
where
they
could
really
help
a
family
they're
going
to
get
penalized
for
that,
because
they're
they're
venturing
outside
of
their
own
territory
and
that's
where
I
hate
to
say
this,
but
they
may
need
to
take
the
chance.
P
We
may
be
able
to
offer
them
the
safety
of
doing
something
beyond
where
they're
thinking
they
should
in
order
to
get
work
done.
For
that
family
or
that
system,
and
so
I'm
just
going
to
out
there
because
they
think
it's
that's
the
general,
the
fear
of
retribution
and
fear
of
losing
your
job
and
losing
your
your
role
is
one
of
the
barriers
that
we
find
for
accountability.
You.
F
Know
and
I:
listen
to
you
because
I
think
about
the
the
public
health
perspective.
Did
you
live
and
I?
You
know
how
I
feel
about
chopped.
My
daughter's
has
sickle
cell
and
we've
been
there
for
17
years,
but
seventeen
years
ago,
I
walked
into
the
chop.
Environment
and
kids
would
die
from
sickle
cell
because
of
their
blood
infections
and
through
the
process
they
learned
it
if
they
meet
Leah,
give
my
daughter,
antibiotics
that
that
would
stop
her
from
from
dying.
F
You
know,
and
17
years
later
my
daughter
is
healthy
and
continually
we've
been
doing
it
every
time
she
gets
a
fever.
She
goes
into
the
hospital
and
she
gets
her
antibiotics
because
they
think
it
may
be
and
as
I
saved
their
life
and
so
I
think
about
what
you
say
is
that
process
you
know
of
really
understanding
how
public
health
perspective
can
really
be
the
game
changer
in
this
whole
conversation,
how
do
you
get
folks
to
move
into
this
space
and
and
I
guess,
more
importantly
and
doctor,
and
maybe
all
of
you
didn't?
F
How
do
we
get
these
systems
to
be
able
to
talk?
I
could
bring
one
of
my
young
kid
that
I
divert
it
to
you
today
in
the
middle
of
this
room
and
he
can
have
all
of
these
services
around
them,
and
no
one
knows
that
my
kid
is
in
foster
care.
No
one
knows
that
he's
dealing
with
multiple
levels
of
trauma.
No
one
knows
that
he's
he's
been
beat
ten
times
and
I
mean
all
this
stuff
that
we
know
about
him,
and
no
one
can
tell
me
about
it.
F
P
Of
juvenile
justice,
we
can't
get
any
information
from
on
our
on
our
kids
and
and
there's
there's
a
reason
for
that
right.
But
but
in
a
public
health
world
you
would
want
to
say
okay.
This
is
a
public
health
problem,
so
just
like,
we
do
with
HIV
and
sexually
transmitted
infections,
where
we
create
data
repositories
so
that
we
can
help
people
better
and
use
it
a
public
health
law
to.
Let
us
talk
to
each
other.
That's
one
string
that
we
could
follow
that
we
haven't
Philadelphia
for
violence.
F
D
D
C
P
I
said
that
in
our
violence
intervention
program
sure
the
children
and
families
that
were
accepted
and
consented
to
be
in
that
program,
eighty-nine
percent
of
them
requested
mental
health
care.
Now
I,
don't
that
doesn't
mean
they
have
a
mental
illness
I
think
it's
really
important
to
make
sure
that,
in
fact,
that's
part
of
the
stigma
that
we
have
to
get
rid
of.
P
P
I
I,
don't
think
that
it
trauma
is
read
eteri
in
any
genetic
sense
of
the
word.
I
think
trauma
sometimes
is
passed
their
generations
because
of
the
reach
harmonization
through
generational
trauma,
intergenerational
trauma,
there's
also
the
traumatic
growth
that
occurs
in
that
family.
So
the
answer
is
no
I.
Don't
think
it's
hereditary
I
think
that
it
is
environmental
outcome.
If
you
have
to
ask
me
to
separate
those
two
which
science
will
tell
us
is
not
that
easy
to
do.
I'm.
E
Gonna,
just
let
you
know
we
have
to
end
steno
has
the
reader
so
for
a
second,
so
I
will
give
her
that
courtesy,
but
thank
you
so
much
for
your
information
that
you're,
very
informative
and
I
hope
that
we
are
able
to
work
through
some
of
these,
because
especially
the
accountability
push
and
the
data
points
that
we
need
to
look
at
are
really
important.
Thank
you
so
much.
Thank
you.
Thank.
G
M
Good
morning,
I
am
Melanie
Nelson
the
executive
executive
director
for
Northwest
Victim
Services,
so
I
did
edit
a
little
bit.
You
guys
already
received
it
correct.
Okay,
so
I
did
edit
a
little
bit
because
Jeff
Blystone
he
spoke
and
I
didn't
want
to
go
over
some
things
that
some
people
were
saying
good
afternoon.
My
name
is
Melanie
Nelson
and
I.
M
Am
the
executive
director
for
Northwest
Victim
Services
I
would
like
to
read
a
statement
prepared
by
myself
in
the
licensed
social
worker
of
North
West
Victim
Services
I
would
first
like
to
begin
by
thanking
you
for
this
wonderful
opportunity
to
have
this
statement.
Read
at
this
forum.
North
West
Victim
Services
is
the
first
grassroot
nonprofit
agency
created
and
dedicated
to
serving
victims
and
witnesses
of
crime
in
the
5th
14:30
5th
and
39th
police
districts.
Since
1981
its
reputation
for
compassionate
effective
service
has
spread
throughout
the
Philadelphia
region
and
beyond.
M
The
mission
of
Northwest
Victim
Services
is
to
provide
prompt,
effective
and
holistic
services
to
victims
and
witnesses
of
crime
in
Northwest
Philadelphia,
while
increasing
prevention
strategies
to
elevate
community
safety,
NBS
provides
free
services
to
all
victims
and
witnesses
of
crime
and
I'll
just
go
off
so
we're
in
the
criminal
justice
center.
Three
days
a
week,
Monday
Tuesday
and
Thursday.
We
go
to
court
with
our
our
victims
to
help
them
through
the
preliminary
hearing
stages.
This
can
be
a
very
trying
time
for
victims,
so
we
are.
We
are
there
for
them.
M
M
North
West,
Victim
Services
receives
grant
money
from
the
Pennsylvania
Commission
on
crime
and
delinquency,
P
CCD
and
the
Philadelphia
District
Attorney's
Office.
One
of
our
requirements
is
to
reach
out
to
victims
within
72
hours
of
receiving
notification
from
the
or
police
districts.
In
our
area
every
day
we
receive
a
document
called
part
ones
from
the
fifth
fourteen,
thirty
fifth
and
thirty,
nine
police
districts,
which
outlines
every
crime
that
have
occurred
within
the
past
24
hours.
The
NBS
advocates
mail
information
to
the
victims
or
witnesses
who
may
be
eligible
to
file
a
claim.
M
Jeff
Blystone
spoke
about
the
claim
and
what
the
eligibilities
are
because
of
our
many
important
collaborations
we
have
with
numerous
organization
many
times
the
72-hour
requirement
has
been
cut
in
half
some
victims.
We
reach
in
real
time
with
the
help
of
the
victim
assistance.
Officers
are
VA
us
each
Bao
and
the
Northwest
Police
Department
is
phenomenal,
efficient
professional
and
they
respond
to
our
requests.
Within
an
hour.
We
can
accompany
the
VA,
owes
to
hospitals,
home
visits
and
they
provide
us
with
police
reports
in
a
timely
manner.
M
Nbs
has
three
important
partnerships
that
help
us
respond
to
victims
in
real
time.
Nbs
is
an
is
a
responder
of
the
network
of
neighbors
which
focuses
on
violence
and
traumatic
incidents
that
occur
with
youth
19
years
of
age
and
younger
NBS
also
receives
referral
from
Temple,
Hospital
and
Einstein
hospital.
Shortly
after
a
victim
is
admitted
to
the
trauma
unit
or
or
released
from
the
emergency
room,
temple
and
ison
hospital
referrals
from
the
emergency
department
comes
from
the
healing
hurt
people
program.
M
Nbs
tries
strives
to
provide
the
needs
of
all
victims
we
encounter.
The
reason
we
are
successful
in
this
endeavor
is
because
we
have
dedicated
board
members
staff
in
the
collaborations
we
have
with
all
of
the
other
victim
agencies.
South
Philadelphia
victim
agency,
North,
Central,
victim
agencies,
Center
City,
victim
agency,
northeast
victim
agency,
AVP,
congresso
and
concealed
EO
Northwest
victim
services
also
collaborates
with
every
murderers,
with
real
women
against
women
organized
against
rape,
women
against
abuse,
Tabor
Children
Services.
M
We
recently
developed
a
relationship
with
the
charles
foundation.
There
are
times
we
work
with
others
to
ensure
the
victims
we
are
working
with,
receives
all
the
services
they
need
to
help
them
heal.
For
example,
on
Saturday
October,
the
14th
2017
I
received
a
call
from
the
inspector
from
the
Northwest
Police
Department,
informing
me
of
services,
a
grandmother
needed
because
her
16
year
old
was
shot
in
the
back
and
killed
during
a
shootout.
M
M
Mbs
provides
counseling
services
for
the
grandmother,
and
we
are
also
working
with
the
mother
to
provide
her
with
relocation,
because
the
shooters
still
reside
in
the
neighborhood.
So
she
sees
those
shooters
every
day
it
took
mom
about
a
month
to
come
into
our
office
to
ask
for
services
for
relocation,
but
the
grandmother
is
the
one
who's
seeking
services
for
the
young
children,
so
I
understand
the
importance
of
collaboration
with
Northwest
Victim
Services,
and
that's
how
we're
going
to
be
able
to
provide
services
to
all
the
victims
that
we
encounter.
J
And
good
afternoon
my
name
is
Ashley
Howell
and
I
am
an
intern
with
Northwest
Victim,
Services
and
I
work
under
the
supervision
of
Gwendolyn
phillips,
who
is
the
licensed
clinical
social
worker
at
the
agency?
I
just
want
to
touch
it
on
a
few
key
points
about
how
trauma
affects
affects
the
communities
and
individuals
that
we
serve
at
victim
services.
J
Traumatic
experiences
can
change
how
you
interact
with
your
environment,
the
people
around
you
how
you
perceive
the
world
and
how
the
world
perceives
you
trauma
left
untreated,
can
give
rise
to
a
host
of
mental
health
disorders
and
maladaptive
behaviors,
including
substance
abuse,
depression,
anger,
management,
suicidal
ideation,
PTSD
and
anxiety
trauma
can
affect
the
brain
development
of
children
and
adolescents
and
children
that
are
traumatized
our
risk
for
intellectual
delays,
impaired
emotional
regulation
and
mental
illness.
You
can
reference
the
ACE
studies,
adverse
childhood
experiences.
J
J
Many
of
the
neighborhoods
and
communities
Northwest
Victim
Services
serves
are
predominantly
people
of
color,
since
I've
started
working
with
this
population
and
in
the
mental
health
field
directly,
I've
noticed
that
there
is
often
hesitation
when
it
comes
to
people
of
color,
especially
seeking
help
from
outside
providers
and
professionals
on
a
weekly
basis.
I
assist
with
victims
and
witnesses
outside
of
courtroom.
J
This
means
that
many
people
in
Philadelphia
may
not
have
access
to
or
feel
comfortable
enough
to
go
to
spaces
where
they
can
express
process
and
heal
their
trauma.
It
also
means
that
many
people
are
attempting
to
cope
with
their
pain
in
unhealthy
ways.
This
is
why
we
will
need
to
see
expansion
and
growth
within
Victim
Services
and
the
social
services
field
in
general.
We
will
need
to
continue
to
create
safe
spaces
and
agencies
that
not
only
provide
trauma-informed
care
but
also
crisis
training
that
encourages
community
partnerships
and
outreach
programs.
J
E
You
thank
you.
I
just
have
one
question:
when
you
talk
about
the
fact
that
people
don't
want
to
go
to
these
treatments,
do
you
think
that
if
we
change
the
service
model
and
bring
the
counselors
to
them
that
there
may
be
more
of
a
willingness?
I
know
that
a
lot
of
it
has
to
do
with
just
roadmap
in
your
life
and
fitting
that
into
all
the
other
things.
So
maybe
that
could
help
get
people
to
treatment
a
little
bit
yeah.
J
I
I
would
totally
agree,
and
you
know,
coming
from
a
new
insider's
perspective,
meeting
people
outside
of
the
courtroom.
Their
anxiety
is
at
ten.
So
when
you
are
presenting
the
services
it's
like
automatic
shut
down,
they
don't
know
who's
around
who's.
Who
say
she
wants.
You
know
who's
saying
what
and
so
I
do
believe
that
maybe
having
an
outreach
where
people
are
mobile
would
be
very
helpful
and.
M
E
M
Fuss
we
understand
the
importance
of
being
a
community-based
agency,
so
Northwest
Victim
Services
is
beginning
to
go
into
the
restorative
justice
realm.
If
you
will,
there
is
Movida
spoke
about
it,
saying
that
offenders
some
of
I'm
sorry
some
victims,
may
want
to
speak
to
the
offender.
There
is
a
victim
offender
dialogue
where
a
victim
can
actually
reach
out
to
it's
in
Harrisburg.
They
can
reach
out
to
them
and
say
I
want
to
speak
to
this.
M
Offender
and
I
have
been
trained
for
this
program
where
the
victim
will
go
to
the
prison
where
the
victim
is
actually
face
to
face
with
the
offender,
but
the
offender
has
to
agree
with
it.
It's
great
we're
in
a
room
is
just
a
offender,
the
victim
and
then
the
two
trained
people
who
will
be
in
the
room
with
them
and
they're
able
to
whether
they're
going
to
talk
whether
they're
going
to
yell
whether
they're
gonna
curse,
but
they
can't
touch
each
other.
M
But
it
is
such
a
healing
process,
so
North
West,
Victim
Services,
understands
the
whole
restorative
justice
piece
because
for
us
to
be
able
to
make
our
community
safer,
we
have
to
figure
out.
Why
did
this
person
do
what
they
did?
Is
this
something
going
on?
So
how
do
we?
We
have
programs
for
the
victim
services
when
these
things
happen,
they
can
come
to
North
West
victim
services,
but
for
these
offenders-
and
we
see
young
offenders,
why
aren't
we
talking
to
them?
What.
E
Do
you
think
that
needs
to
happen?
I
know
you
talk
about.
You
provide
relocation,
funding,
it's
not
a
lot,
so
I
don't
know
how
far
they
can
go,
but
if
people
can't
live
in
their
community,
so
they're
living
amongst
the
shooters
who
they
see.
Why
is
that
not
being
brought
to
any
kind
of
attention
like
you'd
rather
live
in
this
looking
at
this
person,
but
you
don't
you
can't
tell
anyone?
Maybe
you
don't
make
the
9-1-1
call
yourself,
but
they
can't
tell
you
they.
Can
they
can't
tell
anyone
about
the
shooter
yeah?
M
M
We
have
two
things
that
we
can
look
at
for
relocation.
I
do
know
that
the
District
Attorney's
Office
under
unique
circumstances
may
do
relocation,
but
then,
as
you
heard
Jeff,
when
we
file
a
claim,
then
we
can
file
a
claim
for
relocation.
It's
only
a
thousand
dollars
and
it's
reimbursable,
so
the
person
has
to
spend
that
thousand
dollars
first,
so
we
see
victims
not
only
Northwest
victim
services,
all
of
victim
agencies.
We
see
victims
where
our
hearts
bleed,
because
they
don't
have
the
money
to
move
and
think
about.
M
E
M
D
E
M
Then
in
the
neighbors
right,
and
so
if
the
neighbors
say
it
but
nobody's
willing
to
come
forth
to
say
anything
now,
mom
has
gone
to
the
police
department,
but
they're
saying
they
don't
have
enough
evidence
to
get
this
person.
So,
but
then
you
have
that
where
these
residents
they
know
who
did
it,
but
they
won't
say
anything
because
they're
in
fear
of
their
lives
and
their
children's
life.
Thank.
E
You
I
think
that
can
I
really
appreciate
the
two
of
you
coming
to
share
your
information.
I
think
it
was
very
informative
for
me,
because
I
didn't
know
what
all
of
these
things
existed
and
I'm
glad
that
you
know
you're
looking
at
new
ways
to
deliver
these
services
to
people
who,
before
they
sit
with
my
office
across
the
table,
I
think
that's.
That
concludes
our
hearing
for
today.
I
think
I
know
even.