St. Joseph County Victim Services Unit earns state honor

An all-volunteer group that operates under the St. Joseph Sheriff’s Department has captured a state award.

The Michigan Sheriff’s Association recently recognized St. Joseph County’s Victim Services Unit as the state’s “Unit of the Year.” The award was announced and presented recently at the conclusion of a Victim Services Unit annual training event in Lansing.

Sheriff Mark Lillywhite said St. Joseph County’s Victim Services Unit coordinator Maxine Kennedy was not aware of St. Joseph County’s award prior to its announcement.

“It was at the end of the training and as I was sitting there listening to the nomination being read, I said to the people sitting beside me, ‘Boy, that sounds like about the size of our county, that sounds close to our totals,’ and stuff like that,” Kennedy said. “Then, all of a sudden, they said our county’s name and we were all just dumbfounded. Totally, totally surprised. It was a really proud moment.”

Kennedy, who has twice been named the state’s “Advocate of the Year,” was quick to give credit to the team that makes up the county’s Victim Services Unit.

She explained that the 25-member group is comprised of five teams, with at least four people per team. Kennedy said as proud as she is of the county’s team, its work is done, unfortunately, in the wake of the lowest and worst moment of a person’s life.

“We are called by emergency personnel, either fire, police or EMTs and we show up at any unintended death,” she said. “We are meeting people at their worst time ever, and we’re just trying to help them through that worst time.”

Lillywhite elaborated, citing an example in which a VSU team would be summoned.

“Generally, they will be called following something traumatic, a fatal crash, or a natural death … anything in which family members might feel is traumatic,” he said, explaining their role goes beyond a friendly voice or compassionate soul at a time of loss. “It includes providing a ride for someone who is too shaken up to drive, or walking someone through the process of getting a death certificate. Obviously, the person being helped is, at that moment, in a state of mind that’s not normal once they receive traumatic information.”

VSU teams are present, for example, when a law-enforcement official shows up at the door of a family to announce the grim news that a family member died in a car crash.

Lillywhite said VSU personnel undergo a 20-hour training, followed up by monthly re-training sessions. Lillywhite said advocates must be trained to effectively work with people whose emotions could range from shock to hysterical.

More than half the counties in the state have a VSU, Lillywhite said. He said he is proud of the unit and the recognition its members received.

“It’s rewarding to see all the hard work that they put in is being recognized by the state of Michigan and the MSA,” Lillywhite said. “It’s rewarding for me to see them succeed.”

The unit has responded to 48 calls so far this year.

St. Joseph County’s VSU was formed in September 2000. It is funded, in part, through the St. Joseph County United Way.