Title
Proposing an amendment to The Philadelphia Home Rule Charter providing for the creation of the Office of the Victim Advocate, and providing for the submission of the amendment to the electors of Philadelphia.
Body
WHEREAS, In June 2017, the Council of the City of Philadelphia established the Special Committee on Gun Violence Prevention. Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson, the inaugural chair of the Special Committee, in turn established a Subcommittee on Victims and Co-victims; and
WHEREAS, The work of the Subcommittee culminated in a public investigative hearing in February 2020 that included testimony from government officials, providers of victims services, victim advocates, scholars, community members, and other stakeholders; and
WHEREAS, Based on the work of the Subcommittee on Victims and Co-victims, including the February 2020 hearing, the Council of the City of Philadelphia finds that:
(1) A broad array of government and government-funded agencies that serve victims, as well as co-victims, who are individuals that are substantially and adversely but indirectly affected by acts of violence and other crimes;
(2) That network of agencies constitutes a substantial pool of resources for victims and co-victims, and coordinates informally, but there is no single agency with a mandate to facilitate coordination and planning for the provision of victim services;
(3) In addition to service providers, a number of other government and government-funded agencies regularly interact with victims and co-victims. Although there have been efforts by City agencies to provide training on trauma-informed practices, victims and co-victims are still frequently re-traumatized by their interactions with government and government-funded agencies;
(4) Victims are not consistently and uniformly notified of their rights and the public generally is underinformed as to the rights of victims;
(5) There is no independent entity charged with investigating complaints regarding ...
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