TRAUMA VICTIM SUPPORT ADVOCATES

 

Round the clock support

Temple University Hospital offers 24-hour support to patients who are treated in our Emergency Department or admitted to our trauma service for a crime-related injury. Our hospital’s Trauma Victim Support Advocates are here to assist crime victims in meeting their physical, emotional, and personal needs both during and after their care at Temple Health. These advocates perform a variety of functions, including: offering comfort to patients in the trauma bay, updating families about their loved ones’ conditions, providing grief support to families of homicide victims, linking survivors to crime victim services, and offering emotional support to patients after they’ve been discharged from the hospital, to name a few.

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To help ensure that patients who are victims of crime receive the support they need, regardless of where they reside, we have teamed up with North Philadelphia’s community-based agencies. This collaborative, comprised of Northwest Victim Services, North Central Victim Services, Congreso de Latinos Unidos and Concilio, links traumatically injured patients with victim advocates before they’ve even left the hospital.

Victims Compensation Assistance Program

One resource that is available to crime victims is the Victims Compensation Assistance Program. Though it is generally considered they payer of last resort, VCAP can assist with such things as:

  • Medical expenses

  • Counseling

  • Loss of earning

  • Loss of support

  • Funeral costs

  • Travel costs

  • Childcare

  • Stolen cash

  • Relocation

  • Crime scene cleanup

  • Other costs

If you were recently the victim of a crime and would like to obtain information about receiving victim services, please complete the form below and a member of Temple’s Crime Victim Collaborative will be in touch with you shortly.