Wraparound Services for Victims and Survivors
One of the largest needs we identified was a lack of robust, in-language, and culturally competent victims services for Asian American communities. We created a new victims services case management team, led by CYC, and developed a referral network among service providers with Asian language and cultural expertise. The case management team collectively speaks seven Asian languages and has served over 200 victims and survivors since the program began. At first, our focus was on anti-Asian hate, but we also received referrals for many non-hate-motivated incidents, including fire, home invasion, and homicide. The outpouring of need underscored the lack of support for Asian American victims and victims generally.
People who have received CYC’s victims services have reported positive outcomes.* At the close of a case, a majority of clients report experiencing healing. For example, 65% report completely or mostly returning back to normal since the incident. Additionally, the vast majority of clients (88%) say they are very satisfied with CYC’s services and no one was dissatisfied. Despite these successes, CYC staff have observed an underreporting of incidents and that many people are still unable to access victims services.
Main Program Components
Case management
The victims services team aims to reach clients quickly, with a majority of clients successfully contacted on the same day of the referral and within a week after the incident. A victim advocate will conduct an intake with a new client to obtain information about their situation and verify information from the intake form. The advocate will discuss needs and services with the client to form a service plan. The team can provide immediate services, such as direct monetary assistance, mental health services, and assistance with applying for victims compensation assistance and similar funding. The team can also provide referrals for mental health, caregiver, legal, senior escort, housing, and benefit application services. After the initial intake and referral process, the advocate will conduct regular wellness checks and stay connected with the client’s family members and loved ones to understand continuing needs. The victims services team will also liaise with the police department on behalf of their client to receive updates on their case.
The victim advocate closes the case when a victim has both mentally and physically recovered, unless the precipitating incident is in a legal process. The victim can reopen the case if any further needs related to the case arise.
Service referral network
The needs of victims and survivors are complex and individualized. In order to provide victim-centered support, we built partnerships, including with community-based organizations, government agencies, and medical providers, that can provide different specialties. This involves getting to know different organizations’ services more in detail, creating referral processes, and sharing information about service needs. In some cases, CCSJ has supported organizations in building capacity or getting additional funding in order to strengthen the service network.
Building the team
Hiring a multilingual, culturally competent victims advocate team is challenging because of the limited pool of talent with both victims services experience and language capacity. Moreover, the work is intense, hands-on, and emotionally challenging. Thus, staff support is incredibly important to develop and retain talent. Program creators should be prepared to provide intensive staff training, ongoing professional development, and emotional support.
Intake referral sources
Clients come to us from multiple sources, including community-based referrals, partnerships with city agencies, and self-referrals. To increase the knowledge of our services among community members, the victims services and outreach teams advertise services at community events and deliver safety workshops at schools, housing complexes, and other community sites. The outreach team maintains presences at multiple neighborhoods throughout the city to build one-on-one relationships and trust with community members. CCSJ has also advertised its services on Chinese-language media outlets, including radio, television, and print.
We have established partnerships with city agencies, such as the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) and District Attorney’s (DA) office, to receive referrals. The victims services and outreach teams have developed relationships with SFPD’s Community Liaison Unit and specific station captains. Because of these relationships, SFPD encourages AAPI victims to connect with CCSJ for further assistance. CCSJ’s partnership with the DA’s Victim Witness Assistance Program is memorialized in a memorandum of understanding in which we have agreed to accept referrals from one another and coordinate services.
*Data are from the CYC Victims Services client survey as of March 7, 2025.
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