A woman opens her front door to police officers. She has a cut on her cheek and bruises around her neck. Across town a police cruiser picks up a teenager on drugs caught shoplifting. On a main boulevard, a truck side-swipes a motorcycle and a bloodied rider scrapes the pavement.
These three scenarios are fabricated for the purpose of this article. However, in each potential trauma case, St. Albert Victim Services, a police-based unit, is on-call to assist.
Working closely with the St. Albert RCMP detachment, the crisis support service’s three trained staff and 18 volunteer advocates provide information, agency referrals, and compassion for victims and witnesses of crime and tragedy.
Typically, staff and volunteer advocates handle numerous files at any given time. Files on victims of crime range from domestic and sexual violence, assaults, threats, child luring/harassment, and forcible confinement, to robbery, theft, break and enter, fraud, and traffic-related injury or death.
Additionally, the crisis centre works with non-criminal matters such as sudden death, suicide, and family and neighbourhood disputes. Although fire tragedies are not typically within the unit’s mandate, members also rushed to assist seniors at the Citadel Mews West disaster on May 6.
“It’s like an insurance service. People don’t necessarily think about it until they need it. Then they’re so glad it’s in place,” said Lyle Toop, chair of St. Albert Victim Services' board.
By providing a safe, supportive, and confidential environment, the centre’s end goal is to help victims find inner resilience and ease the impact of crime-related trauma.
“The one thing you want to do along the way is empower them (victims) to understand there is more than just one tragedy or situation or whatever it might be. They are more than this. They have so much more to give and so much more to do in their life. It’s all about moving past this,” said Shelly de Tremaudan, program director.
The process starts once officers are dispatched to a call. If they feel an individual requires assistance from Victim Services, he or she is referred to the unit.
Prior to COVID-19, advocates would meet in-person with clients. For many in tragic circumstances, a warm touch on the arm or holding their hand provided unspoken comfort and reassurance.
Depending on the need required, advocates could work on a file from 10 hours to two years. The court and judicial system are complex and, at times, convoluted. Providing in-person support for a Crown meeting or a court appearance was a relief to many victims.
Once the pandemic shut everything down in March 2020, a different plan of action was required.
“We had to reduce our volunteer service-delivery model. It created a lot of pressure on the staffing side, so we had to create another way of doing business without the 18 volunteers we had. So, we created a call-centre format where the calls and referrals were received by one person and farmed out to the other two staff. We did that for the first portion of 2020. Once things began to calm down and restrictions were reduced, we were able to bring back our volunteers for a certain period of that time in 2020,” de Tremaudan said.
She said officers referred more than 600 victims to the unit last year. While that number might seem high, de Tremaudan said it was, “only half of what we normally do.”
Crime had not dropped. Only referrals had dipped in that time frame. As restrictions were lifted, the centre saw a jump in domestic files, sexual-assault files, mental-health issues, and problems with family disputes.
With staff and advocates now conducting support via phone and email, did the level of service change?
“I’ll be honest. Initially I was concerned it would make a difference. However, it really hasn’t. You know you’re on the phone talking to somebody and you really have to listen. You need to pay attention to what people are saying, and what their needs are and clarify those needs. People don’t feel heard if you don’t do that. If you’re there to simply give answers to A B C D, there’s no connection. There is a real skill in providing these services over the phone and building a connection,” said de Tremaudan.
Volunteer advocates see victims on one of the worst days of their lives, and it can take a toll dealing with the tragedy and challenges they confront.
“It’s all about creating that professional self and ensuring you’re coming into this doing a good job. And it’s about being able to leave it at the door when you leave the office. When you hang up that phone and you’re done, if you feel a sense of heaviness, a sense of sadness, it’s all about debriefing. We provide those services to advocates on an ongoing basis,” de Tremaudan said.
Effects of crime can persist for many years and have life-long implications for victims. Both initial and ongoing assistance can affect their recovery. Victim Services is recruiting new advocates for 2022.
“Our advocates or staff must be available 24/7, 365 days a year. When they sign up for this, they are on a rotation. They may get a call at two in the morning. It takes real commitment and that’s something advocates are very proud of.”
Additionally, de Tremaudan said new recruits 18 years and older must be compassionate, understanding, and ready to be good listeners.
The annual budget for St. Albert Victim Services is $250,000. While the majority of the funding is distributed from Alberta Justice and Solicitor General, the City of St. Albert contributes a grant worth slightly more than $60,000. Additional funding is received through smaller fundraisers and donations.
