KCIT WELCOMES NEW VOLUNTEERS!

Whitney Carmichael works at Alice Paul House in Indiana, PA, as Administrative Coordinator, and has over 10 years of experience in a comprehensive Victim Services Organization. She is co-chair of the Leadership and Development Committee within the Crime Victims Alliance of Pennsylvania, and has experience with children, elders, crime victims, and sexual assault survivors. She is rejoining the team as an active member, and we are happy to have her back!

Elizabeth Davidson is currently a Deputy Sheriff and DARE Officer in Washington County. She is a PIO (Media Liaison) in her department, teaches prevention programs for ages K-12, and also supports youth through mentorship programs. Elizabeth has experience with a variety of populations who have been victims of crime, including sexual assault survivors, and has multiple certifications to support her role as a Deputy Sheriff.

Rasheed Osman is a graduate student of Emergency Management and Social Work. Rasheed aspires to have a professional career as a Disaster Mental Health provider. He is currently interning with the South-Central Pennsylvania American Red Cross as a Disaster Mental Health Trainee in the Disaster Action Team.

QUARTER AT A GLANCE

KCIT coordinated and provided a companioning deployment for Misericordia University (Luzerne County) and coordinated one for A Woman’s Place (Bucks County).

KCIT conducted outreach to 24 forensic nurses.

We provided outreach support regarding 4 potential deployments in Philadelphia, Bucks, Montgomery and Delaware Counties.

KCIT onboarded 3 volunteers, and we recruited 3 additional mentors to assist with the volunteer contact support.

KCIT hosted an in-person Advisor meeting, volunteer meeting, and provided a cultural responsiveness training by Father Paul Abernathy.

Two KCIT Simulations were provided which reactivated a total of

6 KCIT volunteers.

KCIT coordinated, hosted and provided GCI training in September –

with 6 participants completing the training.

Curriculum development has begun for the training module on the topic of children in trauma.

NOVA Welcomes Melany Nelson!

Nova has hired KCIT’s own Melany Nelson as the new Director for Forensic Services and Crisis Response – overseeing the CAC, Forensic Nursing and KCIT. We are so excited to have her at NOVA and look forward to her work there!

Melany’s entire career has been dedicated to working with victims of crime – as the former Executive Director of Northwest Victim Services of Philadelphia to her most recent role as a Director of CARES through the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.

Harrisburg Meeting, July 2023

After too long apart, KCIT volunteers, staff, and advisory committee members gathered in Harrisburg for meetings, training, and socializing.

We hosted Father Paul Abernathy, whose training, "Engaging Racial Trauma: Interacting with Communities of Color in Times of Crisis", was very well received, and it was a pleasure to have him join us. The training speaks to our ongoing work and commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. To learn more about Fr. Abernathy and his work, please visit the Neighborhood Resilience Project website.

Our Advisory Committee Meeting also highlighted this mission, with discussion and an activity brought to KCIT from the Racial Equity Learning Community.

Mission, Vision, Values and Anti-Racist Statement

KCIT's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion is now reflected in our updated foundational language. Joyce Lukima and KCIT staff have been working with the Racial Equity Learning Community and drafting new documentation for our organization. Both were shared with our Advisory Committee at our in-person meeting in July and generated insight and conversation. We know creation of these statements serves as only the first step in the practice of anti-racism and equity, and we look forward to continuing our work with this lens in place.

KCIT Mission, Vision, and Values Statement

KCIT Mission, Vision and Values Statement:

Mission: KCIT provides support and promotes resilience for communities impacted by crime throughout Pennsylvania.

Vision: Crime victims throughout the Commonwealth will have access to responsive, compassionate, inclusive, community focused support by trauma informed KCIT trained volunteers.

Core Values: Compassion, Trauma Informed Approach, Inclusivity, Non-Judgmental, Community Focused, Resiliency, Empowerment

KCIT Anti-Racist Equity Statement

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” -Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou’s quote encapsulates the Keystone Crisis Intervention Team’s (KCIT’s) beliefs and guides our practice as we apply a racial equity lens to all that we do. This lens is intersectional and inclusive of racial, gender, economic, and social disparities.

KCIT is fully committed to being an anti-racist program and promoting racial equity, safety, and transparency for all our volunteers and communities we serve. We have revisited the program’s core mission, vision, and values to ensure that our foundation promotes inclusivity and racial equity. We have made a commitment to expand our own personal learning, exploring our own biases and creating growth opportunities for all our trained volunteers. KCIT is committed to ensuring all active volunteers participate in trainings and provide opportunities for reflection.

We understand and support the urgent need to heighten our own and our volunteer community’s consciousness of institutional and systemic racism and the impact it has towards achieving racial equity.

Part of KCIT’s procedure is to assess the intersectionality that impacts a particular community so that we may best serve them. We acknowledge and are working towards deepening our understanding of how systemic and institutional practices and policies have over time impacted the way crime shows up in marginalized communities, and how those communities do not receive timely and adequate support and resources in the aftermath of continued violence.

As the KCIT community strives towards a more equitable and just program to serve crime victims, we remain humble and receptive to ideas, suggestions, and perspectives so that as we know better we can do better.

KCIT's November GCI Training

Feel free to share this flyer as we are always looking to expand our KCIT team!

National Center for Victims of Crime

KCIT staff attended the National Center for Victims of Crime’s conference in Boston, a national event. Both Donna and Melissa enjoyed the conference, made connections, and learned a great deal, though many sessions were not provided with a trauma informed lens, highlighting the importance of the “safe rooms” KCIT provides for events like this.

National Center for Victims of Crime