MARGARET HOLLAND MCDUFF is the CEO of Family Service of Rhode Island, which was recently presented with the Mutual of America Community Partnership Award, recognizing the nonprofit for its work with multiple police departments in Rhode Island to provide psychological first aid and assistance to victims of crime. The award includes a $25,000 grant and came nearly 15 years after the program was implemented. Family Service of Rhode Island is one of just 10 organizations in the country to receive this award.
Where did the idea to work with police departments in this capacity come from? Family Service of Rhode Island has been comforting and counseling crime victims since we were founded 125 years ago. So, partnering with the police made sense. There was a new mayor in Providence, David Cicilline, and a new police chief, Col. Dean Esserman, and I thought perhaps they would see it as a good time to start a partnership. I met with Col. Esserman and he asked me if we were interested in the Child Development-Community Policing Program he helped develop with Yale. I said yes, and our Police Go Team was created reflecting that model. So, it was Dean Esserman’s idea. Many children and families have benefited from his vision and compassion.
What initially prompted you to help police provide aid to crime victims? At a crime scene, police officers’ primary focus is safety. Did they arrest the perpetrator? Are the victims safe from harm? We’ve found that police officers deeply care about the victims, but they were dealing with a lot of issues at often chaotic crime scenes. Family Service of Rhode Island’s staff [is] trained to effectively work at such scenes to help victims begin healing from the trauma they just experienced, trauma that could affect them the rest of their lives.
What situations does Family Service of Rhode Island help police with? Family Service of Rhode Island’s police partnership team regularly responds to sexual assault, human trafficking, homicide, suicide, domestic violence, child maltreatment and other forms of crime and violence.
How important is it to help victims through the entire healing process, beyond just having the violent offender being put in jail? Healing trauma is not only about mental health; it’s about learning at school, earning at work, having family and friends and belonging to a supportive community. Studies indicate that untreated trauma may affect all of these and more well beyond the date of the traumatic incident.
You help Providence, East Providence and state police. Are there plans to expand this program statewide and, if so, what is needed for it to become a reality? We would like to see our police partnership model replicated in all communities in Rhode Island and beyond. Funding is the primary issue. Most of our fiscal support has been from the federal Victims of Crime Act, administered by the state Public Safety Grant Administration Office. We’ve had help from some private funders, too. But we’re always writing grants to cover costs. It’s challenging.