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The mission of TVSA is support, education, and recognition for victim service providers. |
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Texas Victim Services Association Newsletter
Fall 2024 |
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President
Rose Luna, MSLC
Austin
President-Elect
Mary Breaux, PhD
Huntsville
Secretary
Sarah Lackey, MSSW, LCSW
Austin
Treasurer
Suzanne Bradford, BBA, CPA
Lockhart
Region A Coordinator
Kristi Thompson, BA
Lubbock
Region B Coordinator
Roya N. Williamson, MA, LCDC
San Marcos
Region C Coordinator
Jennifer Betts-Williams, MS
Arlington
Region D Coordinator
LeShae Haynes, BA
Richmond
Region E Coordinator
Osvaldo "Ozzie" Carrasco Jr., BA
El Paso
Region F Coordinator
Brenda Fuentes
Edinburg
At-large Member
Belinda Beltrán-Swan,
MPA
Huntsville
At-large Member
Patricia Lerma, MA
McAllen
At-large Member
Christina L. Richardson, MS, LPC
Dallas At-large Member
Roman Sanchez, BSW
Edinburg
Ex Officio
Executive Director
Jeni Pirtle, BA
Austin |
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We welcome the following new members who have joined TVSA in the last quarter:
Virginia Partida, Hallettsville Jessica Ruiz, Lamesa Diana Smith, Southlake Maci Torres, Greenville New Agency Members: Grapevine Police Department Haydee Hall Makayla Moore Clarissa Padron Shannon Perry Smith County District Attorney's Office Jacob Putman Christopher Gatewood Lance Long Sherry Magness Sheila Parker |
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Board Spotlight: Belinda Beltrán-Swan
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We welcome Belinda Beltrán-Swan to the board as an at-large
member in Huntsville, Texas.
Over the course of Belinda’s career, she has had the
pleasure of serving her community in a variety of public service roles. She
currently serves as Partnerships Program Manager for the National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) where she manages programmatic
partnerships with local, state, and national organizations and delivers safety
and prevention programming to children, families, and professionals.
Previously, she worked for the Texas Supreme Court, the Council on At-Risk
Youth, and the Texas Attorney General’s Office Law Enforcement Division.
However, the spark that led to her ongoing commitment to child safety was her
first job in victim services when she was only 19 years old. Working in her hometown
for the City of Alice Police Department, “I had the wonderful opportunity to
see how systems can work together to provide support for victims and their
families. Over 25 years later, I am still grateful for that insight.”
On the value of TVSA and board service, Belinda says, “TVSA
is valuable to me and my colleagues because TVSA provides opportunities to
learn from other experts across the state. As types of victimization change, as
laws change, and so on, TVSA stays true to its mission, which ultimately
benefits every victim service provider. The opportunities to network and learn
via TVSA are phenomenal.
“For me, serving on TVSA’s board provides an invaluable
opportunity to support the dedicated victim service providers of our state who
work tirelessly to support our most vulnerable community members.” |
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Keeping your profile updated ensures you receive all TVSA communications, including training events and notices. Follow this link to view and edit your TVSA profile: txvsa.org/Sys/Profile
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TVSA has a job board on our website! We have retooled the job board to make it easier for employers to submit job postings. Employers wishing to post a victim services position opening can fill out a form online to submit their posting to TVSA. Please send us your available job listings!
Victim services professionals engaged in job searches can view postings as well, with links to the human resources departments of pertinent agencies and/or applications directly for the listed positions. The job board is available at this link: http://www.txvsa.org/Active-Job-Postings |
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Message from the Executive Director |
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By Natacha Peláez-Wagner, M.Ed.
As I write this column for the last time as Executive Director, I think of multiple transitions in my life that have concurrently occurred over the past year: my only child getting married, the passing of my remaining parent, and also the professional transition here at TVSA.
In the spring of 2023, I gave our board of directors notice of my intention to retire. I told the board I wished to ensure a smooth transition to a new Executive Director and would assist in that process. I am happy to report that as of October 31st of this year I wrapped up my 10-year tenure as TVSA’s Executive Director, and on November 1st I began the onboarding process with our new director, Jeni Pirtle.
Reflecting on my tenure with TVSA, I feel honored to have been hired back in 2013 to “take TVSA to the next level”, as the board tasked me. The statement was not defined beyond those words, but what was clear was the board’s understanding that, as TVSA approached its 20th year in operation, it had reached its capacity in its then-structure and operational model. TVSA was formed by individual victim advocates back in 1997 and had remained as a grassroots organization run solely by a volunteer board of very dedicated, but busy professionals with their own full-time jobs and demands. They recognized that if TVSA was to continue to grow and further develop its potential as the professional association for victim service providers in Texas, a fresh approach needed to be taken, which began with hiring a staff person whose job would be to manage the day-to-day operations of the organization and to lead it into that “next level”.
I believe we have met that challenge, and in the past decade have indeed grown TVSA and professionalized it into a new phase of operations. After an initial high level organizational assessment, which included a review of its institutional history and interviews, focus groups and surveys of current and past members and some previous board presidents, we used the findings from the assessment to chart a course for growth, which was then adopted into two subsequent five-year plans to continue to move us forward. We took signature achievements of the first years of TVSA such as its popular training conference, some past training academies, and the promulgation of a professional Code of Ethics for Texas victim services providers, and enhanced those, while adding to our programs and service offerings to our victim service professionals. In the past decade we have:
- Revised our governance and operational bylaws, to provide consistency with operational practices needed to grow.
- Instituted new and further developed financial management systems and policies, with appropriate oversight for grant reporting, both fiscal and programmatic.
- Obtained grant funding that enabled us to add programs, and staff to manage the programs, for the benefit of victim services professionals.
- Updated our Code of Ethics to bring it current with new technologies presenting emerging needs in ethical standards and conduct of our professionals.
- Using lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, expanded our online capabilities to deliver programs and services, enabling us to engage with more professionals across our large state for meetings and trainings.
- Held five biennial training conferences, including our 20th anniversary celebration conference officially opened by Texas First Lady Cecilia Abbott, with a sixth one coming up in May 2025.
- Held three research symposiums, in response to stakeholder requests for access to current trends informing better service delivery in the field.
- Institutionalized an annual Texas Advanced Academy for Victim Assistance in management and leadership (TAAVA), for victim services professionals wishing to advance in their career paths.
- Created a proprietary curriculum for TAAVA, specifically for professionals working in a trauma-based profession.
- Created an alumni network for TAAVA graduates, to enable them to have opportunities for continued professional development in management and leadership.
- Created the Texas Victim Friendly Initiative, a self-directed, TVSA facilitated and supported quality assurance program designed to help law enforcement agencies, prosecutors’ offices and non-profit service organizations become more trauma-informed/victim friendly in their services to crime victims.
- Held a quarterly virtual series on systems-based victim services, delivering information and resources at the “macro” (state) and regional/local levels.
- Continually worked to identify and encourage further engagement in TVSA with our professionals through opportunities for board service and committee work.
- Provided onboarding to every new board member, to maximize their involvement in and understanding of TVSA’s needs and to develop professional board service skills in many first-time board members.
All of these accomplishments tie back to the core of TVSA, and its vision of promoting the delivery of a full range of consistent, high-quality, professional services to crime victims, their families, and communities, which we realize through meeting our mission of support, education and recognition for victim service providers in Texas.
I am proud of our increased ability to serve our crime victim services professionals, thus uplifting our profession and enhancing its role in the criminal justice and service systems in our state.
I have committed, at the board’s request, to staying on at TVSA in a new capacity, as the organization’s Program Specialist, managing our grant funded services programs and serving in a dual role as this year’s conference planner as well. I pledge my full support to work with my very qualified and able successor, Jeni Pirtle, and look forward to seeing her take her turn now to move TVSA to its next level! |
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By Jeni Pirtle, BA Reflecting on Natacha's legacy as Executive Director, I am profoundly grateful for her leadership and the standards she has advanced for TVSA moving forward. TVSA has truly thrived, thanks to her integrity, commitment, and expertise. Her continuing dedication to TVSA's mission of support, education, and recognition for victim services providers is nothing short of inspiring! Having known Natacha since I first joined TVSA as a member and volunteer, I am thrilled that we will get to continue working together. Many thanks to Natacha and our amazing Board of Directors, whose thorough planning paved the way for a smooth transition! My own dedication to TVSA's mission comes from my experience working in victim services, a significant part of my 20 years in the non-profit sector. I became a TVSA member during my tenure at United Tissue Resources, where I developed the organization's first grief support program for the families of organ, eye, and tissue donors. As I learned about TVSA's programs through my volunteer role producing the newsletter, I found myself wishing I had known about such an important resource when I was supporting victims at the National Domestic Violence Hotline and at Integral Care's Psychiatric Emergency Services unit. I was very excited, then, to join the TVSA staff in 2021 as Curriculum Facilitator, managing the adaptation of TAAVA to the virtual setting during the pandemic. In my subsequent experience as a DSHS-certified Community Health Worker coordinating mobile health resource clinics, I continued to see the need for support among professionals in trauma-based fields. Support, education, and recognition of our profession are vital to promoting consistent, high quality services to crime victims and their communities. Equipping victim services providers with the resources needed to be successful and resilient means that we can achieve delivery of these services in a manner that is both individually and collectively sustainable. Ensuring our own sustainability as TVSA's new Executive Director is one of my key priorities. Our growth has been deliberate, with the mission and vision at the heart of everything we do. Under the board's leadership, I look forward to working with our staff to maintain TVSA's mission-aligned trajectory and the excellence of our signature programs with an eye towards future avenues for growth. I also look forward to getting to know and hear from you; as Rose says below, we're here to listen and grow together! In the meantime, I am very excited that preparations are well underway for our upcoming 2025 Texas Advanced Academy for Victim Assistance (TAAVA) and Biennial Training Conference! As a TAAVA alum myself, I highly encourage you to learn more about the Academy (applications due this Friday, December 6th) and the training conference (calls for workshop proposals, sponsors, and exhibitors open this week), as they are terrific opportunities to find the support, education, and recognition we promote. Thank you for your support of TVSA as we continue to lift each other up. I wish everyone a safe, happy holiday season! |
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By Rose Luna, MSLC
Greetings and Happy Fall from Texas!
While the Texas temperatures might still feel like summer, the real heat this season is in the exciting news for TVSA: the selection of Jeni Pirtle as our new Director! Among a pool of highly qualified candidates, Jeni stood out as the right leader to take TVSA into its next chapter.
As TVSA President, I am honored to steward this organization through this transitional period. We bid farewell to an era of outstanding success under Natacha Peláez-Wagner's leadership and welcome the beginning of a new and promising phase with Jeni at the helm. I am confident in her ability to lead TVSA to even greater accomplishments, and I look forward to seeing the impact of her vision in the years ahead.
Fall is a time of change and renewal, and in Texas, it also marks the prelude to the upcoming legislative session. Every two years, the Texas Legislature convenes to address laws that significantly affect crime victims and the dedicated professionals who serve them. This season serves as a powerful reminder of the partnerships and collaborations that set Texas apart.
In my role as CEO of the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault (TAASA) and as the Board President of TVSA, I see firsthand how critical these partnerships are. As the legislative session officially begins in January 2025, TAASA’s policy team is already hard at work advocating for meaningful changes. One of our top priorities is pushing for increased funding directly benefiting systems-based advocacy through the Other Victims Assistance Grants (OVAG) and Victim Coordinators and Liaison Grants (VCLG) at the Texas Office of the Attorney General.
Community-based advocates thrive through the vital partnerships they share with systems-based advocates, which lie at the heart of TVSA's mission. TAASA is proud to stand alongside our partners in this collaborative effort, demonstrating our commitment by advocating for increased funding that directly benefits crime victims. This support is a testament to our shared dedication to ensuring a robust, interconnected network of services for those who need it most.
Though January might feel far away, legislative work has already begun, with bill filing and the Texas budget-making process underway. If you’re interested in following TAASA’s advocacy efforts, I encourage you to check out “TAASA Talks the 89th” on YouTube: TAASA Talks the 89th.
TVSA’s strength lies in the dedication of its membership and the robust partnerships we foster locally and statewide. Your input is invaluable, and we welcome your ideas, feedback, or suggestions for the TVSA board, staff, or membership. Don’t hesitate to reach out—we’re here to listen and grow together.
On behalf of the TVSA board, I wish you all a joyful and prosperous fall season!
Rose Luna
TVSA Board President |
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By Brooke King, M.A., Membership Committee Chair
On behalf of your Regional Coordinators (Kristi Thompson, Region A; Roya Williamson, Region B; Jennifer Betts-Williams, Region C; LeShae Haynes, Region D; Ozzie Carrasco, Region E; and Brenda Fuentes, Region F) we hope you enjoy this cooler weather and get to spend some quality time with family and friends during the holiday season! We have been actively working to spread the word about the full range of high-quality supports TVSA provides to professionals to in turn support crime victims, their families, and Texas communities and gearing up for the upcoming biennial conference in South Padre Island in May. Please help us spread the word about the resources and professional development opportunities TVSA provides!
I have had the privilege and honor of serving as the Membership Chair for TVSA for the past 10 years. I have seen this organization grow and achieve remarkable things during my tenure and made some life-long friends. This organization will always hold a special place in my heart but it is time for me to pass the torch to a new leader and give them the opportunity to witness the same. It is with great excitement that I get to share with you that LeShae Haynes (current Region D coordinator) has graciously accepted this crucial role within TVSA! I am so grateful for the time this organization has given me to learn, grow, and to support professionals in Texas.
As my final farewell, I wanted to thank you all one last time for everything you have done to support this wonderful organization, crime victims in Texas, and one another.
With all my gratitude,
Brooke King
Regional Coordinator Updates:
Region A Coordinator, Kristi Thompson, (Panhandle-Amarillo/Lubbock/ Wichita Falls), KThompson@lubbockcounty.gov.
Region B Coordinator, Roya Williamson, (Central-Austin /Waco/San Antonio), rwilliamson@sanmarcostx.gov: Hello all, as we start the holiday season, I want to wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving and a merry Christmas! Hoping to see everyone at TVSA’s Biennial Training Conference in South Padre Island May 6-9, 2025. More information about the conference is available in the Professional Development and Training column in this newsletter. And, remember to always take care of yourselves.
Region C Coordinator, Jen-Betts Williams, (Northeast-Dallas/ Fort Worth/Tyler), jbettswilliams@theturningpoint.org
Region D Coordinator, LeShae Haynes,(Southeast-Beaumont/Houston/College Station), leshae.haynes@fortbendcountytx.gov: I am continuing to network and build relationships with victim service providers within Region D as well as spreading information in regards to TVSA. If you are a part of Region D and would like additional information about TVSA please feel free to reach out! At this time, I am also thrilled to step in as the Membership Committee Chair for TVSA. Brooke has left some big shoes to fill with her ongoing commitment to advancing the TVSA organization. Thank you so much, Brooke, for your dedicated service; it truly does not go unnoticed. I look forward to collaborating with all the regional coordinators of our board and the TVSA staff and continuing to grow our organization.
Region E Coordinator, Ozzie Carrasco, (West-El Paso/Midland/San Angelo), ocarrasco@crmtx.org
Region F Coordinator, Brenda Fuentes, (South-Corpus Christi/Laredo/McAllen), brenda.fuentes@da.co.hidalgo.tx.us: Along with my two fellow TVSA board members from Region F we are working on recruiting a new member per month to TVSA. We have met briefly to discuss ideas on recruitment and on how we can share updates from TVSA through social media. We shared the Advanced Academy post on each of our Facebook pages and we will continue to share posts from TVSA as they are posted.
Not sure what region you are in? Check out our regional map and lists to see where your county lies in our TVSA regions! TVSA Regions |
Professional Development and Training
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TVSA is presently hard at work on planning and preparation for two of its signature training events: our annual Texas Advanced Academy for Victim Assistance in management and leadership (TAAVA) and our Biennial Training Conference.
TAAVA 2025 is scheduled for February 26-28 in Hutto. The advanced academy curriculum is specifically designed for managers, supervisors and leaders/administrators working in a trauma-based profession; emerging leaders looking to move into management and leadership as part of their victim services career path are also welcome. Applicants should have three years or more in victim services. Space at the academy is limited and students are selected through an application process, which is currently open through December 6th. More information about TAAVA and the application are available at: TAAVA 2025. There is still time to apply this week!
Concurrent with preparing for TAAVA, we are also hard at work on plans for our Biennial Training Conference, which is scheduled for May 6-9, 2025 at the Holiday Inn Beach Resort on South Padre Island. The conference will host its pre-conference ethics session on May 6th in the afternoon, with its official opening plenary session the morning of May 7th, followed by concurrent workshops in four tracks on the 7th and 8th all day, and wrapping up with a closing plenary on the 9th in the morning. Other activities will include our TVSA networking reception the evening of the 7th and our annual meeting and luncheon on the 8th, with our board service farewells and new member installations. CEUs will be offered for Social Work, LPC and LMFT. TCOLE hours offering is in process.
Our conference Call for Workshop Proposals will be distributed on December 3rd, and our Call for Sponsors and Exhibitors will be distributed on December 4th. Registration for the conference will open on February 3rd. Save the dates! We hope you will join us on South Padre Island in May. Our conference information will be continually updated on our website at TVSA Biennial Training Conference Info and on our social media; please check those sources for updated information. For direct inquiries please email us at tvfi@txvsa.org.
Additionally, our next TAAVA Alumni Network meeting has been rescheduled to January 29th. More information will be forthcoming soon. If you are a TAAVA alumni, save the date for another continuing education training, designed especially for you! |
Texas Victim Friendly Initiative
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TVSA is most pleased to announce that our Texas Victim Friendly Initiative program has received continuation funding from the governor’s Public Safety Office for another year. While we have recently gotten underway with our new project sites for another year, we have also recently issued victim friendly award designations to seven sites that completed the project with us this fall.
These seven sites spent a year working with our facilitation and support in assessing their level of trauma-informed (victim friendly) services to crime victims and developed an action plan of specific goals and tasks to grow in their trauma-informed quality of services to crime victims. Two of our sites achieving the gold level designation agreed to share their experiences of participating in our Texas Victim Friendly Initiative and how it has helped them raise their quality of care to the crime victims they serve: |
Smith County District Attorney’s Office
Lance Long, Training Resource Prosecutor |
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Smith County District Attorney Jacob Putman, (right) and Training Resource Prosecutor Lance Long, with their TVFI Victim Friendly Gold Level Designation award. (Not pictured: TVFI project team members Christopher Gatewood, Sherry Magness, and Susie Saxon) |
The Smith County District Attorney’s Office’s experience with the Texas Victim Friendly Initiative began with a staff survey and an organizational self-assessment. After receiving the results, we developed an action plan with fourteen items on it and went to work. With the assistance of TVSA we secured consultant professionals to train our leadership team in trauma-informed management and supervision skills and to train our lead attorneys in trauma-informed care. Jacob Putman, our elected district attorney, authored a pamphlet explaining the court process that is now mailed to all victims along with the Victim Impact Statement. Our leadership team, AKA “The Book Club,” read Reducing Secondary Traumatic Stress-Skills for Sustaining a Career in the Helping Professions by Brian C. Miller (highly recommended). We drafted an onboarding checklist for our new attorneys that includes reading Articles 56A and 56B of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, attending a tour and orientation with the staff of the East Texas Crisis Center, an orientation with our Victim Services Coordinator, watching the Texas District and County Attorneys’ Association’s Victim Services video, and watching a video on being victim-friendly that was prepared by the Collin County District Attorney’s Office during their participation in the TVFI program in a previous year. A pamphlet containing the contact information for the assistance agencies serving Smith County is now in a location on every prosecutor’s desk that is visible to victims who are in our office for a meeting. We now have a policy requiring prosecutors to make every effort to arrange victim meetings through one of our victims’ assistance coordinators so that they can be present during the meeting.
These are just some of the highlights of the completed items on our action plan. None of this would have been possible without support from Mr. Putman, guidance from TVSA, and the dedication and effort shown by Sherry Magness, our victim services coordinator. Not only were we awarded the gold designation level by TVSA as a victim friendly agency, but our office implemented lasting changes that will benefit crime victims in the future. |
Go for the Gold with TVFI
Bronwyn Blake, Chief Legal Officer
Texas Advocacy Project
Participating in the Texas Victim Friendly Initiative (TVFI) through the Texas Victim Services Association (TVSA) has been an eye-opening and valuable experience for both Texas Advocacy Project (TAP) and me, an advocate for over 19 years and TAP’s Chief Legal Officer. TAP works to end dating and domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, stalking, and human trafficking in Texas by providing victims with free legal services and access to the justice system. We have long been committed to offering trauma-informed services, so when the opportunity to participate in TVFI arose, we saw it as a chance to evaluate and refine our existing policies and practices.
From the start, we used TVFI’s model to identify clear, actionable goals aligned with our mission. With guidance from TVSA and support from TAP leadership, we developed a detailed, achievable plan and moved forward with confidence. Throughout the year, ongoing coaching from TVSA kept us on track, equipping us with the tools to make lasting improvements. On a personal level, being part of a collaborative and results-driven team was highly rewarding, and I even applied the TVFI model to other projects, enhancing my task management. By the end of the year, TAP earned the Gold Level Agency Designation; however, the true value of the initiative came from the process and the improvements we made along the way. |
TVSA can still accommodate two more participant sites for its TVFI program this year. If you are interested, please contact tvfi@txvsa.org or complete our application at 2025 TVFI Application.
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THE TEXAS VICTIM SERVICES ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER IS PUBLISHED QUARTERLY. Please forward articles, announcements, shout outs, job openings, training information, reviews, information and other items of interest to info@txvsa.org. Be sure and let us know if your email changes. Texas Victim Services Association is very grateful for the support of its sponsors, members, friends and colleagues. TVSA does not specifically endorse or recommend any referral resources or vendors over others.
Copyright © 2024 Texas Victim Services Association. All rights reserved.
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