The Two Days in May Conference on Victim Assistance will enter its 26
th year with the theme “A Call to Action.”
Victim advocates have diligently laid the foundation, and now it’s time to raise the bar. The best place to feed the passion of Ohio’s victims’ rights movement is at the annual gathering on May 15-16 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, who has been participating in Two Days in May since he took office in 2011, learned the importance of helping crime victims early in his career when he served as prosecuting attorney in Greene County.
Today, he continues to find better ways for his office to provide services to them. Most recently, in January, the Attorney General’s Office awarded more than $2.6 million in grants to create five Trauma Recovery Centers to provide crisis intervention to victims of violent crime.
“These Trauma Recovery Centers will fill a gap in connecting victims of crime to services, especially those within underserved, vulnerable populations that may face barriers in accessing or may not know how to access victim services,” he said.
At the heart of the conference are the 35 workshops covering topics such as childhood trauma, human trafficking, and elder abuse. Social workers, victim advocates, nurses and attorneys can earn continuing education credits for attending.
‘Idea Incubator’
New this year is the special event, “Idea Incubator: Protecting Our Children.” Participants will listen to speakers and then break into smaller groups to answer questions and try to come up with ideas to help abused children through prevention, intervention, and accountability. The ideas will be collected for a final report to be shared with participants. Representatives from urban and rural schools, the courts, hospitals, and youth advocate organizations have been invited to take part, but the event is open to all registrants, up to 120 people.
The May 15 lunch speaker Mike Pistorino, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, drug abuse, homelessness, and prison, who is now the vice president of a multimillion-dollar distribution business, will be the perfect segue into the Idea Incubator event.
Among the other Two Days in May speakers are Mark Wynn and Gretchen Hunt.
Wynn, an abuse survivor, served with the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department for 21 years, where he was a lieutenant in the Domestic Violence Division and a member of the SWAT team. He is also a national trainer on child abuse, domestic violence, sexual assault prevention, and intervention.
Gretchen Hunt leads the Office of Victims Advocacy for the Kentucky Attorney General. She has advocated for the rights of victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, and human trafficking for the past 17 years.
Special Courage Award
A new award will be presented, along with the Promising Practice and Robert Denton Special Achievement awards, at the Two Days in May luncheon. The Special Courage Award will be given to an individual who has demonstrated strength, resiliency, and perseverance in serving crime victims.