The Catskill Chronicle

To the Editor:

In honor of National Crime Victims Rights Week, April 22-28, 2012, the Sullivan County Probation Department Crime Victims Program would like to gratefully acknowledge the following volunteers for their service during the past year: Anne Solenski, Charles Gramlich, Nicole Pitcher, Maria Flores, and Cynthia Smith. The volunteers are essential for the success of the program.

The Sullivan County Crime Victims Program was established during 1998 by the Sullivan County Legislature. The Program is designed to help victims of crimes through a stressful period.

Eligible victims include those who either reside in Sullivan County or when the crime occurred within Sullivan County.

During 2011, the Sullivan Crime Victims Program assisted 383 victims and their family members, including 26 surviving family members of homicide victims.

The services offered by the program, at no cost to victims, may include compassionate listening and emotional support, accompaniment to courts, hospitals and police agencies, preparation of victim-impact statements submitted to sentencing courts to provide perspective on the experience and needs of the victim, referrals to available services, advocacy with service providers and criminal justice agencies, and assistance in filing a claim for compensation with the New York State Office of Victims Services (OVS), if applicable.

The Crime Victim Program operates within the Sullivan County Probation Department in the annex of the Sullivan County Government Center, Monticello, NY, and is funded both by the OVS through fines raised from convicted offenders, and the Sullivan County Legislature.

If you or someone you know has been victimized by crime or if you would like to volunteer, feel free to call the Sullivan County Crime Victims Program at 845-807-0351 for information and assistance. All information is kept confidential.

Very truly yours,

Jeffrey Mulinelli

Director of Probation II

(Photo caption: The Sullivan County Probation Department Crime Victims Program staff consists of, from left to right: Louis Setren, Probation Supervisor, Anne Solenski, volunteer, Charles Gramlich, volunteer, Samata Horwitz, Sullivan County Crime Victims Services Advocate, and Jeffrey Mulinelli, Sullivan County Director of Probation. Absent from the photo: volunteers Nicole Pitcher, Maria Flores, and Cynthia Smith.)