Sunday, April 25, 2010
Philadelphia PA Lawyer Talks About The Crime Victims Compensation Fund
A vastly underused source of funds is available for crime victims and their families, perhaps at the time when it is needed most. Many states have a Crime Victims Compensation Fund.
The Pennsylvania fund may cover medical expenses, loss of earnings, loss of support, funeral expenses, money stolen or defrauded from individuals on a fixed income, such as Social Security or pension, counseling expenses, relocation expenses, childcare/home health care expenses and crime-scene clean up. The program does not cover pain and suffering or stolen or damaged property, except replacement of stolen or damaged medical devices.
The claim must be filed within two years of the date of the crime. A longer period applies if the victim is a child. In certain circumstances, family members of the crime victim may be eligible for compensation.
The crime must be reported to the proper authorities within three days. You must cooperate with law enforcement authorities investigating the crime, the courts and the Victims Compensation Assistance Program in processing the claim.
The Crime Victims Compensation fund is regarded as a payer of last resort. Payment will be reduced by the amount of any other source, including, but not limited to: health or life insurance, awards for civil lawsuits or insurance, Medical Assistance, Medicare, disability insurance, Workers' Compensation, or Social Security.
Most claims are processed within three months, but can take longer if the claim is complex.
The Pennsylvania Crime Victims Compensation Act became law in 1976. This fund consists of fines and penalties assessed against persons convicted of crimes. No general tax revenues of the state are used.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Pennsylvania department of health posts Shigella advisory
Outbreaks of shigellosis have been reported in Philadelphia, Allegheny, Dauphin, and York counties. Special attention to cleanliness is urged in daycare centers, among school-age children, and young adults. "Shigella is highly contagious, and the recent outbreaks suggest that this organism is spreading in the Commonwealth." The recent warmer weather may be a factor in its spread as well.
Most Shigella infections are caused by two bacterial organisms, Shigella sonnei and Shigella flexneri. The Shigella bacteria pass from one infected person to the next. According to the CDC:
"Shigella are present in the diarrheal stools of infected persons while they are sick and for up to a week or two afterwards. Most Shigella infections are the result of the bacterium passing from stools or soiled fingers of one person to the mouth of another person. This happens when basic hygiene and handwashing habits are inadequate and can happen during certain types of sexual activity. It is particularly likely to occur among toddlers who are not fully toilet-trained. Family members and playmates of such children are at high risk of becoming infected.
Shigella infections may be acquired from eating contaminated food. Contaminated food usually looks and smells normal. Food may become contaminated by infected food handlers who forget to wash their hands with soap after using the bathroom. Vegetables can become contaminated if they are harvested from a field with sewage in it. Flies can breed in infected feces and then contaminate food. Water may become contaminated with Shigella bacteria if sewage runs into it, or if someone with shigellosis swims in or plays with it (especially in splash tables, untreated wading pools, or shallow play fountains used by daycare centers). Shigella infections can then be acquired by drinking, swimming in, or playing with the contaminated water. Outbreaks of shigellosis have also occurred among men who have sex with men."
The Pennsylvania Department of Health recommends that persons with diarrheal illness do not attend or visit group settings particularly where children are present. Suspected cases should be confirmed by stool testing, then initiation of antibiotic. Since the bacteria may still be present in recovered patients, "children and staff members with Shigella must have two negative stool cultures, obtained at least 48 hours after the last dose of antibiotic and at least 24 hours apart, prior to returning to child- care facilities. The same restrictions apply to persons with Shigella who are healthcare workers or employed as food handlers. "
The most important ways to prevent Shigella transmission are good handwashing habits, practicing good general hygiene, and keeping surfaces clean and disinfected.
"Any questions or concerns regarding these recommendations should be directed to the Pennsylvania Department of Health at 1-877-PA-HEALTH. Further information on shigellosis is available on the PADOH web site at www.health.state.pa.us or the web site of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at www.cdc.gov."
Friday, March 12, 2010
Trauma Cleaning: Without Standards, The Pain Can Keep Coming
by Kent Berg
National Institute Decontamination Specialist
As an instructor in crime and trauma-scene recovery and a board member of the American Bio-Recovery Association, I am often approached by attorneys, the public and insurance adjusters to evaluate the service they or their clients received from other crime-scene cleanup companies.
For the most part, these are just routine questions from people who want to make sure that the service they received was within the normal parameters of good practice. But a few times each month I receive calls that just cause my stomach to knot up and my blood to boil.
With the bio-recovery industry in its 14th year, it is mind-boggling to find individuals who still decide that they are going to start-up a new company and declare themselves “experts” in crime and trauma scene cleanup without any research or training.
It is even more outrageous to find that, although they know almost nothing about the science, chemistry, biology or laws of our industry, they are charging fees that are often four or five times the industry average.
The majority of those operating in the industry today are honest, ethical professionals. It’s the few bad apples in the bio-recovery barrel, so to speak, that amplify the problems tainting our industry.
Example 1: The Hit-and-Run Guys
A husband argues with his wife in their kitchen. As she prepares supper, he grabs a shotgun and, standing in the doorway between the kitchen and dining room, blows his head off.
It is still daylight when the police arrive. In order to see better, they open the brain-splattered dining room drapes. Splatter is on the dining room and kitchen walls, but since the body fell onto the vinyl tile floor of the kitchen, the largest amount of blood pooled there.
The family asks the police about scene cleanup, and is directed to a local company. The company tells the family that payment will have to be made in cash prior to starting the job, and that the family will not be allowed inside of the house while the cleaning process takes place.
The family agrees and stays with relatives until they get the call that the job is complete and they can return. The company is long gone, and upon cursory inspection, the rooms look contaminant-free.
It is now night and, in an effort to keep neighbors from seeing into the dining room, the wife pulls the drapes closed. To the horror of the family, the drapes had apparently never been checked and still have blood and brain matter clinging to the material.
The kitchen floor appears to be clean but, when the wife walks across the floor, bright red blood spurts up between the tiles, making little puddles and polka-dotting her shoes.
If this isn’t enough to re-traumatize the family, the wife goes to remove the now-cold pot of chili from the stove and promptly throws up when she sees a 3-inch piece of her husband’s skull nestled neatly atop the pot.
The family contacted the attorney general for their state, who then called me to review the family’s statements prior to a decision on prosecution.
Example 2: The Little-Extra-on-the-Side Guys
A man who lived alone died in his bed of natural causes, but wasn’t found for several weeks. When the authorities were finally called, the decomposition could be smelled from the street.
When a crime-scene-cleanup company was called in, the man’s relatives were told that the odor had permeated everything in the house with disease. Their recommendation was that everything in the house should be removed and destroyed.
The family, already nauseated from the smell, relied on the “professional opinion” of the technicians and agreed to let them remove everything from the good silver and china to the appliances.
In short, every piece of furniture, appliance, electronic component and fixture was removed because they were declared “not salvageable.”
The relatives were then presented with a bill for approximately $40,000! If this wasn’t obscene enough, a few weeks later the family found many of the home’s contents that were supposedly “not salvageable” being sold at a local flea market.
Example 3: The Cutting-Down-on-Overhead Guys
It is standard practice for crime and trauma-scene cleanup companies to dispose of human-blood-contaminated items that can’t be salvaged. They do this by red-bagging and boxing these items and sending them to a medical waste processing facility. This includes dismantling recliners, mattresses, and other large items to fit in these containers.
In this case, a company responded to a gunshot suicide in an apartment. The victim had sat in his favorite recliner and put a pistol in his mouth. The subsequent wound bled profusely until there was no more blood for the heart to pump. This resulted in the complete saturation of the recliner.
In an apparent effort to save on labor and disposal fees, the crew decided that they would dispose of the recliner by wrapping it in plastic, putting it in the back of their truck and then dumping it in the woods of a neighboring county.
All seemed to go well until a few days later, when hunters found the chair and called police. Thinking that they had stumbled upon evidence of a homicide, the police launched a full-scale investigation that lasted for weeks and logged many detective hours before they were actually able to review the crime scene photos of every police department in the surrounding counties.
When the mystery was finally attributed to this particular crime-scene-cleanup company, not only were they slapped with fines for littering, they were saddled with reimbursing the cost of the investigation. Every law enforcement agency that heard about this dropped the company like a hot potato, and the subsequent media attention tarnished the reputation of crime-scene-cleanup companies everywhere.
I would like to emphasize the fact that these complaints are not clients disappointed with a poorly painted wall or an out-of-true vanity top. These are abuses by unscrupulous companies that are subjecting their clients to financial greed, improper disinfection, and re-traumatizing that no one should have to endure.
Could training and certification eliminate these types of abuse? Perhaps a good portion of them, but in the end, it is the honesty and character of the companies themselves that should be monitored. I believe the way to do that is to pursue standards, as well as meeting with our state legislators to create specific regulations for our industry.
National Institute Decontamination Specialist
As an instructor in crime and trauma-scene recovery and a board member of the American Bio-Recovery Association, I am often approached by attorneys, the public and insurance adjusters to evaluate the service they or their clients received from other crime-scene cleanup companies.
For the most part, these are just routine questions from people who want to make sure that the service they received was within the normal parameters of good practice. But a few times each month I receive calls that just cause my stomach to knot up and my blood to boil.
With the bio-recovery industry in its 14th year, it is mind-boggling to find individuals who still decide that they are going to start-up a new company and declare themselves “experts” in crime and trauma scene cleanup without any research or training.
It is even more outrageous to find that, although they know almost nothing about the science, chemistry, biology or laws of our industry, they are charging fees that are often four or five times the industry average.
The majority of those operating in the industry today are honest, ethical professionals. It’s the few bad apples in the bio-recovery barrel, so to speak, that amplify the problems tainting our industry.
Example 1: The Hit-and-Run Guys
A husband argues with his wife in their kitchen. As she prepares supper, he grabs a shotgun and, standing in the doorway between the kitchen and dining room, blows his head off.
It is still daylight when the police arrive. In order to see better, they open the brain-splattered dining room drapes. Splatter is on the dining room and kitchen walls, but since the body fell onto the vinyl tile floor of the kitchen, the largest amount of blood pooled there.
The family asks the police about scene cleanup, and is directed to a local company. The company tells the family that payment will have to be made in cash prior to starting the job, and that the family will not be allowed inside of the house while the cleaning process takes place.
The family agrees and stays with relatives until they get the call that the job is complete and they can return. The company is long gone, and upon cursory inspection, the rooms look contaminant-free.
It is now night and, in an effort to keep neighbors from seeing into the dining room, the wife pulls the drapes closed. To the horror of the family, the drapes had apparently never been checked and still have blood and brain matter clinging to the material.
The kitchen floor appears to be clean but, when the wife walks across the floor, bright red blood spurts up between the tiles, making little puddles and polka-dotting her shoes.
If this isn’t enough to re-traumatize the family, the wife goes to remove the now-cold pot of chili from the stove and promptly throws up when she sees a 3-inch piece of her husband’s skull nestled neatly atop the pot.
The family contacted the attorney general for their state, who then called me to review the family’s statements prior to a decision on prosecution.
Example 2: The Little-Extra-on-the-Side Guys
A man who lived alone died in his bed of natural causes, but wasn’t found for several weeks. When the authorities were finally called, the decomposition could be smelled from the street.
When a crime-scene-cleanup company was called in, the man’s relatives were told that the odor had permeated everything in the house with disease. Their recommendation was that everything in the house should be removed and destroyed.
The family, already nauseated from the smell, relied on the “professional opinion” of the technicians and agreed to let them remove everything from the good silver and china to the appliances.
In short, every piece of furniture, appliance, electronic component and fixture was removed because they were declared “not salvageable.”
The relatives were then presented with a bill for approximately $40,000! If this wasn’t obscene enough, a few weeks later the family found many of the home’s contents that were supposedly “not salvageable” being sold at a local flea market.
Example 3: The Cutting-Down-on-Overhead Guys
It is standard practice for crime and trauma-scene cleanup companies to dispose of human-blood-contaminated items that can’t be salvaged. They do this by red-bagging and boxing these items and sending them to a medical waste processing facility. This includes dismantling recliners, mattresses, and other large items to fit in these containers.
In this case, a company responded to a gunshot suicide in an apartment. The victim had sat in his favorite recliner and put a pistol in his mouth. The subsequent wound bled profusely until there was no more blood for the heart to pump. This resulted in the complete saturation of the recliner.
In an apparent effort to save on labor and disposal fees, the crew decided that they would dispose of the recliner by wrapping it in plastic, putting it in the back of their truck and then dumping it in the woods of a neighboring county.
All seemed to go well until a few days later, when hunters found the chair and called police. Thinking that they had stumbled upon evidence of a homicide, the police launched a full-scale investigation that lasted for weeks and logged many detective hours before they were actually able to review the crime scene photos of every police department in the surrounding counties.
When the mystery was finally attributed to this particular crime-scene-cleanup company, not only were they slapped with fines for littering, they were saddled with reimbursing the cost of the investigation. Every law enforcement agency that heard about this dropped the company like a hot potato, and the subsequent media attention tarnished the reputation of crime-scene-cleanup companies everywhere.
I would like to emphasize the fact that these complaints are not clients disappointed with a poorly painted wall or an out-of-true vanity top. These are abuses by unscrupulous companies that are subjecting their clients to financial greed, improper disinfection, and re-traumatizing that no one should have to endure.
Could training and certification eliminate these types of abuse? Perhaps a good portion of them, but in the end, it is the honesty and character of the companies themselves that should be monitored. I believe the way to do that is to pursue standards, as well as meeting with our state legislators to create specific regulations for our industry.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Teen Suicide: Experts tell what to look for, how to prevent it
There are still several unknowns surrounding the Feb. 25 suicides of Gina Gentile and Vanessa Dorwart, but the teens’ decision to step in front of a speeding Amtrak train sent one very clear message to some experts,
“This was not a drama driven, woe-is-me call for help,” said Philip Rutter, psychologist and assistant professor at Widener University. “This was an exit strategy. … These were young women with a plan who wanted to make sure they died.”
Police say the Interboro High School sophomores planned their deaths and embraced one another before they were struck near the Norwood train station at 10:33 a.m. on a snowy Thursday morning.
That another classmate pleaded for Gentile, 16, and Dorwart, 15, to get off the tracks after deciding not to join them only fueled a story that quickly went national.
Those details, compelling as they might be, cannot recede quickly enough for parents and people who dedicate their lives to the study and prevention of suicide.
“My preference is that it not be covered at all but in a situation like this, where it probably can’t be avoided, you hope there will be some restraint,” said Tony Salvatore of Springfield, a suicide prevention specialist for Montgomery County Emergency Service, Inc. “If you are not channeling some of your energy and concern to prevention and education at a time like this, a terribly-sad event could turn into a long-term tragedy.
“People will just go on with their lives and not talk about it until something like this happens again.”
Suicide is the third-leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-olds, behind automobile accidents and homicides, and the sixth-leading cause of death for 5- to 14-year-olds, according to the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry.
It accounts for the deaths of approximately 4,000 teenagers per year.
Attempts and thoughts of suicide are far more common.
In 2007, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 14.5 percent of high school students seriously considered suicide in the previous 12 months and 6.9 percent made at least one suicide attempt.
Studies have found attempts among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender teens are two to three times more prevalent than among heterosexuals.
“There are four risk factors we typically associate with teen suicide — hostility, negative self-concept, isolation and hopelessness,” Rutter said. “We should be concerned whenever a young person is exhibiting one of these stressors but when they’ve got two or three, we should be very worried about some type of self-injurious behavior.”
Warning signs could range from the giving away of prized possessions, loss of appetite and change in sleeping habits or personality to self-mutilation like cutting or branding to talk of suicide or death.
A founding member of the Delaware County Suicide Prevention and Awareness Task Force, Salvatore said everyone has different pressure points and triggers.
“We’re all different in terms of resilience and have different responses to our experiences, whether it’s an economic problem, losing someone or a relationship that’s gone bad,” he said.
Classmates have pointed to the recent death of another Interboro student as a possible trigger for Gentile and Dorwart’s actions but experts warn against trying to cite a specific incident or reason for suicide, saying the act is more often the result of a number of underlying problems and factors.
Without a strong support system, good coping skills or a sense of self-worth, teenagers can become susceptible to severe psychological pain that leads to suicidal feelings.
“Those feelings can grow into thoughts of hurting yourself, which can lead to a plan that eventually gives way to the how,” said Salvatore, who serves on the board of Survivors of Suicide, Inc.
“As a person goes from one stage to the next, it’s like the Richter Scale, with the second step being 10 times more serious than the first and third step 100 times more serious than the second.”
Rutter said many teenagers are unable to wait out a temporary crisis.
“The thing that is so tough about teen development is that it’s all about the immediacy of the moment,” he said. “If something catastrophic happens on a Tuesday, they believe the rest of their lives will be similarly catastrophic.
“It is outside their developmental experience to think, ‘With time, this pain will pass.’”
On his Web site, Kevin Caruso, executive director of Suicide.org, urges people with suicidal impulses not to take a permanent step to treat a temporary problem.
“If you are in intense emotional and/or physical pain, remember that your judgment is being clouded by that pain,” he writes. “If you are considering suicide, you are trying to end that pain. Please do not confuse ending your pain with ending your life. The two are very different.”
Salvatore said temporary psychological pain can lead to a dangerous case of tunnel vision.
“It’s not that they stop loving the people around them or stop caring for them or want to hurt them,” he said. “But after a while, the pain becomes the center of their existence and all they care about is finding a way to stop it.
“Suicide is not a decision, it’s the outcome of a process.”
There are approximately 33,000 suicides in the U.S. each year, most by adult white males and more than half involving firearms. Delaware County averages about 60 suicides per year, typically no more than a handful by teenagers.
While suicide pacts are extremely rare, clusters, in which one suicide is followed by others, are more prevalent. Last year, the city of Palo Alto, Calif. lost four teenagers to separate suicide-by-train incidents in a six-month period.
In February 2000, three students in the Rose Tree Media School district hanged themselves in a two-week period, one a 12-year-old Springton Middle School student.
The deaths of Gentile and Dorwart were an anomaly in many respects, the first being teenage girls, while more likely than boys to attempt suicide, are about four times less likely to kill themselves and, when they do, the method is rarely as violent as death-by-train.
Rutter believes parents should have unfettered access to their children’s social media sites and friends should take any mention of suicide or death seriously.
“Often it’s friends who are privy to this kind of behavior before anyone else,” he said. “They need to know how to support their peers and recognize the danger when they read a friend’s Facebook post that expresses dismay or talks about offing themselves.
“Teenagers don’t use the same type of soft, conceptual language as adults. They say, ‘It’s going to happen Tuesday at 2.’ A kid who reads something like that has got to be able to go to a parent and say, ‘I’m worried about my friend, Joey.’”
Salvatore said the number of suicides would fall dramatically if the warnings were always so obvious.
“Unfortunately, this stuff doesn’t show up on and X-ray and people can’t see a lot of it,” he said. “There’s no light that pops up on the forehead that says, ‘I’m at risk.’”
Salvatore, who co-authored a pamphlet entitled “What Teens Need to Know About Suicide,” said a small investment in prevention and education could save a lot of lives.
“We’re not talking about a huge amount of money,” he said. “Just a little more education in schools, a little more sensitivity, maybe a little more screening by physicians or something as simple as a sign when you’re sitting in that cubicle which says ‘Do you or any of your family have any of the following symptoms?”
He said suicide prevention programs can be effective, citing one instituted by the Air Force in the 1990s that lowered the rate from 15 per 100,000 people to 5 per 100,000 people within a few years.
Rutter has gone as far as to set up a mock viewing in therapy sessions where the person with suicidal thoughts is asked to lay down and listen while their family members speak of them as if they were dead.
“I think parents should use this (tragedy) to have a horribly difficult conversation that covers what suicide is, whether their kids have ever thought about it, and what can be done to take it off the table,” he said. “Rather than dissecting the hell out of these girls’ experiences, we should be focusing on what goes on in young men and women that makes them think dying would be better than working through their problems.”
Salvatore said the Gentile and Dorwart families may be able to rebuild their lives over time but they will never get over the loss of their daughters.
“Think back to the hours and days after 9/11 — that vulnerability and helplessness we all felt,” he said. “Now here we are, nine years later, and everyone has gotten past it except for families of the people who died or jumped out of those buildings.
“That’s what it’s going to be like for those parents in Norwood.”
By Saturday, a Facebook memorial page for the girls had attracted 10,000 members.
Rutter said the girl who decided not to join Gentile and Dorwart on the tracks showed a lot of strength.
“She probably feels awful but what courage it took for her to choose not to die,” he said. “She’s to be commended.”
The funeral Mass for Vanessa Dorwart was held Saturday at St. Gabriel Church in Norwood. The Mass for Gentile will be held 11 a.m. Monday at Saint Gabriel with viewing hours from 5-9 p.m. tonight and 9-10:15 a.m. Monday at Kevin M. Lyons Funeral Service in Glenolden.
“This was not a drama driven, woe-is-me call for help,” said Philip Rutter, psychologist and assistant professor at Widener University. “This was an exit strategy. … These were young women with a plan who wanted to make sure they died.”
Police say the Interboro High School sophomores planned their deaths and embraced one another before they were struck near the Norwood train station at 10:33 a.m. on a snowy Thursday morning.
That another classmate pleaded for Gentile, 16, and Dorwart, 15, to get off the tracks after deciding not to join them only fueled a story that quickly went national.
Those details, compelling as they might be, cannot recede quickly enough for parents and people who dedicate their lives to the study and prevention of suicide.
“My preference is that it not be covered at all but in a situation like this, where it probably can’t be avoided, you hope there will be some restraint,” said Tony Salvatore of Springfield, a suicide prevention specialist for Montgomery County Emergency Service, Inc. “If you are not channeling some of your energy and concern to prevention and education at a time like this, a terribly-sad event could turn into a long-term tragedy.
“People will just go on with their lives and not talk about it until something like this happens again.”
Suicide is the third-leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-olds, behind automobile accidents and homicides, and the sixth-leading cause of death for 5- to 14-year-olds, according to the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry.
It accounts for the deaths of approximately 4,000 teenagers per year.
Attempts and thoughts of suicide are far more common.
In 2007, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 14.5 percent of high school students seriously considered suicide in the previous 12 months and 6.9 percent made at least one suicide attempt.
Studies have found attempts among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender teens are two to three times more prevalent than among heterosexuals.
“There are four risk factors we typically associate with teen suicide — hostility, negative self-concept, isolation and hopelessness,” Rutter said. “We should be concerned whenever a young person is exhibiting one of these stressors but when they’ve got two or three, we should be very worried about some type of self-injurious behavior.”
Warning signs could range from the giving away of prized possessions, loss of appetite and change in sleeping habits or personality to self-mutilation like cutting or branding to talk of suicide or death.
A founding member of the Delaware County Suicide Prevention and Awareness Task Force, Salvatore said everyone has different pressure points and triggers.
“We’re all different in terms of resilience and have different responses to our experiences, whether it’s an economic problem, losing someone or a relationship that’s gone bad,” he said.
Classmates have pointed to the recent death of another Interboro student as a possible trigger for Gentile and Dorwart’s actions but experts warn against trying to cite a specific incident or reason for suicide, saying the act is more often the result of a number of underlying problems and factors.
Without a strong support system, good coping skills or a sense of self-worth, teenagers can become susceptible to severe psychological pain that leads to suicidal feelings.
“Those feelings can grow into thoughts of hurting yourself, which can lead to a plan that eventually gives way to the how,” said Salvatore, who serves on the board of Survivors of Suicide, Inc.
“As a person goes from one stage to the next, it’s like the Richter Scale, with the second step being 10 times more serious than the first and third step 100 times more serious than the second.”
Rutter said many teenagers are unable to wait out a temporary crisis.
“The thing that is so tough about teen development is that it’s all about the immediacy of the moment,” he said. “If something catastrophic happens on a Tuesday, they believe the rest of their lives will be similarly catastrophic.
“It is outside their developmental experience to think, ‘With time, this pain will pass.’”
On his Web site, Kevin Caruso, executive director of Suicide.org, urges people with suicidal impulses not to take a permanent step to treat a temporary problem.
“If you are in intense emotional and/or physical pain, remember that your judgment is being clouded by that pain,” he writes. “If you are considering suicide, you are trying to end that pain. Please do not confuse ending your pain with ending your life. The two are very different.”
Salvatore said temporary psychological pain can lead to a dangerous case of tunnel vision.
“It’s not that they stop loving the people around them or stop caring for them or want to hurt them,” he said. “But after a while, the pain becomes the center of their existence and all they care about is finding a way to stop it.
“Suicide is not a decision, it’s the outcome of a process.”
There are approximately 33,000 suicides in the U.S. each year, most by adult white males and more than half involving firearms. Delaware County averages about 60 suicides per year, typically no more than a handful by teenagers.
While suicide pacts are extremely rare, clusters, in which one suicide is followed by others, are more prevalent. Last year, the city of Palo Alto, Calif. lost four teenagers to separate suicide-by-train incidents in a six-month period.
In February 2000, three students in the Rose Tree Media School district hanged themselves in a two-week period, one a 12-year-old Springton Middle School student.
The deaths of Gentile and Dorwart were an anomaly in many respects, the first being teenage girls, while more likely than boys to attempt suicide, are about four times less likely to kill themselves and, when they do, the method is rarely as violent as death-by-train.
Rutter believes parents should have unfettered access to their children’s social media sites and friends should take any mention of suicide or death seriously.
“Often it’s friends who are privy to this kind of behavior before anyone else,” he said. “They need to know how to support their peers and recognize the danger when they read a friend’s Facebook post that expresses dismay or talks about offing themselves.
“Teenagers don’t use the same type of soft, conceptual language as adults. They say, ‘It’s going to happen Tuesday at 2.’ A kid who reads something like that has got to be able to go to a parent and say, ‘I’m worried about my friend, Joey.’”
Salvatore said the number of suicides would fall dramatically if the warnings were always so obvious.
“Unfortunately, this stuff doesn’t show up on and X-ray and people can’t see a lot of it,” he said. “There’s no light that pops up on the forehead that says, ‘I’m at risk.’”
Salvatore, who co-authored a pamphlet entitled “What Teens Need to Know About Suicide,” said a small investment in prevention and education could save a lot of lives.
“We’re not talking about a huge amount of money,” he said. “Just a little more education in schools, a little more sensitivity, maybe a little more screening by physicians or something as simple as a sign when you’re sitting in that cubicle which says ‘Do you or any of your family have any of the following symptoms?”
He said suicide prevention programs can be effective, citing one instituted by the Air Force in the 1990s that lowered the rate from 15 per 100,000 people to 5 per 100,000 people within a few years.
Rutter has gone as far as to set up a mock viewing in therapy sessions where the person with suicidal thoughts is asked to lay down and listen while their family members speak of them as if they were dead.
“I think parents should use this (tragedy) to have a horribly difficult conversation that covers what suicide is, whether their kids have ever thought about it, and what can be done to take it off the table,” he said. “Rather than dissecting the hell out of these girls’ experiences, we should be focusing on what goes on in young men and women that makes them think dying would be better than working through their problems.”
Salvatore said the Gentile and Dorwart families may be able to rebuild their lives over time but they will never get over the loss of their daughters.
“Think back to the hours and days after 9/11 — that vulnerability and helplessness we all felt,” he said. “Now here we are, nine years later, and everyone has gotten past it except for families of the people who died or jumped out of those buildings.
“That’s what it’s going to be like for those parents in Norwood.”
By Saturday, a Facebook memorial page for the girls had attracted 10,000 members.
Rutter said the girl who decided not to join Gentile and Dorwart on the tracks showed a lot of strength.
“She probably feels awful but what courage it took for her to choose not to die,” he said. “She’s to be commended.”
The funeral Mass for Vanessa Dorwart was held Saturday at St. Gabriel Church in Norwood. The Mass for Gentile will be held 11 a.m. Monday at Saint Gabriel with viewing hours from 5-9 p.m. tonight and 9-10:15 a.m. Monday at Kevin M. Lyons Funeral Service in Glenolden.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Philadelphia PA Lawyer Talks About The Crime Victims Compensation Fund
A vastly underused source of funds is available for crime victims and their families, perhaps at the time when it is needed most. Many states have a Crime Victims Compensation Fund.
The Pennsylvania fund may cover medical expenses, loss of earnings, loss of support, funeral expenses, money stolen or defrauded from individuals on a fixed income, such as Social Security or pension, counseling expenses, relocation expenses, childcare/home health care expenses and crime-scene clean up. The program does not cover pain and suffering or stolen or damaged property, except replacement of stolen or damaged medical devices.
The claim must be filed within two years of the date of the crime. A longer period applies if the victim is a child. In certain circumstances, family members of the crime victim may be eligible for compensation.
The crime must be reported to the proper authorities within three days. You must cooperate with law enforcement authorities investigating the crime, the courts and the Victims Compensation Assistance Program in processing the claim.
The Crime Victims Compensation fund is regarded as a payer of last resort. Payment will be reduced by the amount of any other source, including, but not limited to: health or life insurance, awards for civil lawsuits or insurance, Medical Assistance, Medicare, disability insurance, Workers’ Compensation, or Social Security.
Most claims are processed within three months, but can take longer if the claim is complex.
The Pennsylvania Crime Victims Compensation Act became law in 1976. This fund consists of fines and penalties assessed against persons convicted of crimes. No general tax revenues of the state are used.
The Pennsylvania fund may cover medical expenses, loss of earnings, loss of support, funeral expenses, money stolen or defrauded from individuals on a fixed income, such as Social Security or pension, counseling expenses, relocation expenses, childcare/home health care expenses and crime-scene clean up. The program does not cover pain and suffering or stolen or damaged property, except replacement of stolen or damaged medical devices.
The claim must be filed within two years of the date of the crime. A longer period applies if the victim is a child. In certain circumstances, family members of the crime victim may be eligible for compensation.
The crime must be reported to the proper authorities within three days. You must cooperate with law enforcement authorities investigating the crime, the courts and the Victims Compensation Assistance Program in processing the claim.
The Crime Victims Compensation fund is regarded as a payer of last resort. Payment will be reduced by the amount of any other source, including, but not limited to: health or life insurance, awards for civil lawsuits or insurance, Medical Assistance, Medicare, disability insurance, Workers’ Compensation, or Social Security.
Most claims are processed within three months, but can take longer if the claim is complex.
The Pennsylvania Crime Victims Compensation Act became law in 1976. This fund consists of fines and penalties assessed against persons convicted of crimes. No general tax revenues of the state are used.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Appeals panel agrees that failure to read document doesn't null contract
KEITH ARNOLD, Daily Reporter Staff Writer
A Franklin County appellate panel was unable to conclude that the Franklin County Municipal Court's determination in a breach of contract suit between a specialty home-cleaning service and the next of kin of a Grove City man who died in his home was against the manifest weight of the evidence in a recent decision.
"Upon our review of the record, we find no error in the trial court's determination that an enforceable contract existed between the parties," 10th District Court of Appeals Judge Patrick McGrath wrote for the 3-0 court.
The appellate court's holding overruled Nancy Buffington's claim that the trial court was mistaken to find that the contract between her and the cleaning service was enforceable and, therefore, obligated the woman to utilize the company's services per the agreed terms.
Buffington's father died in his home on Nov. 10, 2005, case summary provided. The man's body was discovered one-and-a-half to two days after his death. Approximately one week later, the personal belongings were removed from the home and it was listed for sale.
On Jan. 14, 2006, Buffington contracted for the services of Aftermath Inc., which provides biological remediation and cleanup services. According to the contract, the woman agreed to pay for cleanup services concerning an unattended death in the Grove City home.
Aftermath's complaint alleged that after the firm rendered services, appellant refused to pay the amount due under the contract. After a trial to the bench, the trial court concluded that a valid written contract existed between the parties and that the company was entitled to payment for the services rendered in accordance with the contract. The court awarded damages in the amount of $6,189.36 to Aftermath.
The panel noted Buffington signed both a site cleanup agreement and a fee agreement for non-insurance-related jobs. Additionally, the court rejected the woman's claim there existed no evidence that she understood or agreed to biological remediation of her father's home.
"... As noted by the trial court, appellant's stated failure to read the documents prior to signing them is of no consequence as it is well-established that the failure to read the terms of a contract is not a valid defense to enforcement of the contract," as in Haller v. Borror Corp. (1990), 50 Ohio St.3d 10, 14.
"Further, appellant's argument that she was 'mistaken' equally fails because 'relief for a unilateral mistake of material fact will not be provided where such mistake is the result of the negligence of the party seeking relief,'" as in Hikmet v. Turkoglu, 10th Dist. No. 08AP-1021, 2009-Ohio-6477, and Marshall v. Beach (2001), 143 Ohio App.3d 432, 437.
Fellow 10th District Judge Susan Brown and John Connor joined McGrath to form the majority.
The case is cited as Aftermath Inc. v. Buffington, 2010-Ohio-19.
A Franklin County appellate panel was unable to conclude that the Franklin County Municipal Court's determination in a breach of contract suit between a specialty home-cleaning service and the next of kin of a Grove City man who died in his home was against the manifest weight of the evidence in a recent decision.
"Upon our review of the record, we find no error in the trial court's determination that an enforceable contract existed between the parties," 10th District Court of Appeals Judge Patrick McGrath wrote for the 3-0 court.
The appellate court's holding overruled Nancy Buffington's claim that the trial court was mistaken to find that the contract between her and the cleaning service was enforceable and, therefore, obligated the woman to utilize the company's services per the agreed terms.
Buffington's father died in his home on Nov. 10, 2005, case summary provided. The man's body was discovered one-and-a-half to two days after his death. Approximately one week later, the personal belongings were removed from the home and it was listed for sale.
On Jan. 14, 2006, Buffington contracted for the services of Aftermath Inc., which provides biological remediation and cleanup services. According to the contract, the woman agreed to pay for cleanup services concerning an unattended death in the Grove City home.
Aftermath's complaint alleged that after the firm rendered services, appellant refused to pay the amount due under the contract. After a trial to the bench, the trial court concluded that a valid written contract existed between the parties and that the company was entitled to payment for the services rendered in accordance with the contract. The court awarded damages in the amount of $6,189.36 to Aftermath.
The panel noted Buffington signed both a site cleanup agreement and a fee agreement for non-insurance-related jobs. Additionally, the court rejected the woman's claim there existed no evidence that she understood or agreed to biological remediation of her father's home.
"... As noted by the trial court, appellant's stated failure to read the documents prior to signing them is of no consequence as it is well-established that the failure to read the terms of a contract is not a valid defense to enforcement of the contract," as in Haller v. Borror Corp. (1990), 50 Ohio St.3d 10, 14.
"Further, appellant's argument that she was 'mistaken' equally fails because 'relief for a unilateral mistake of material fact will not be provided where such mistake is the result of the negligence of the party seeking relief,'" as in Hikmet v. Turkoglu, 10th Dist. No. 08AP-1021, 2009-Ohio-6477, and Marshall v. Beach (2001), 143 Ohio App.3d 432, 437.
Fellow 10th District Judge Susan Brown and John Connor joined McGrath to form the majority.
The case is cited as Aftermath Inc. v. Buffington, 2010-Ohio-19.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Pennsylvania Leads Nation in Black Homicide Victimization
For the third time in four years, Pennsylvania leads the nation in the rate of black homicide victimization. According to unpublished 2007 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) data (the most recent available), the Keystone State's black homicide victimization rate of 36.36 Per 100,000 is nearly seven times the national overall homicide rate of 5.30 per 100,000.
This is the fourth year that my organization, the Violence Policy Center, has issued the study Black Homicide Victimization in the United States and the third time that Pennsylvania has ranked first. Additional states with black homicide victimization rates that place them in the top five are: Missouri at number two with a rate of 34.82 per 100,000; Indiana at number three with a rate of 30.89 per 100,000; and, Nevada and Wisconsin tied at number four with a rate of 29.83 per 100,000
As in past years, the study found overwhelmingly that firearms, usually handguns, were the weapon of choice in the homicides.
For the entire United States, the study found:
There were 7,387 black homicide victims in the United States. Of these, 6,345 (86 percent) were male, and 1,042 (14 percent) were female.
The homicide rate for black victims in the United States was 20.86 per 100,000. In comparison, the overall national homicide rate was 5.30 per 100,000 and the national homicide rate for whites was 3.11 per 100,000
For homicides in which the weapon used could be identified, 82 percent of black victims (5,743 out of 7,011) were killed with guns. Of these, 73 percent (4,204 victims) were killed with handguns. There were 701 victims killed with knives or other cutting instruments, 247 victims killed by bodily force, and 200 victims killed by a blunt object.
For homicides in which the victim to offender relationship could be identified, 72 percent of black victims (2,474 out of 3,431) were murdered by someone they knew. Nine hundred fifty-seven victims were killed by strangers.
For homicides involving black victims for which the circumstances could be identified, 69 percent (3,023 out of 4,362) were not related to the commission of any other felony. Of these, 55 percent (1,669 homicides) involved arguments between the victim and the offender.
Stating that "the devastation homicide inflicts on black teens and adults is a national crisis, yet it is all too often ignored outside of affected communities," the study concludes that for "blacks, like all victims of homicide, guns--usually handguns--are far and away the number one murder tool. Successful efforts to reduce America's black homicide toll must put a focus on reducing access to firearms."
This is the fourth year that my organization, the Violence Policy Center, has issued the study Black Homicide Victimization in the United States and the third time that Pennsylvania has ranked first. Additional states with black homicide victimization rates that place them in the top five are: Missouri at number two with a rate of 34.82 per 100,000; Indiana at number three with a rate of 30.89 per 100,000; and, Nevada and Wisconsin tied at number four with a rate of 29.83 per 100,000
As in past years, the study found overwhelmingly that firearms, usually handguns, were the weapon of choice in the homicides.
For the entire United States, the study found:
There were 7,387 black homicide victims in the United States. Of these, 6,345 (86 percent) were male, and 1,042 (14 percent) were female.
The homicide rate for black victims in the United States was 20.86 per 100,000. In comparison, the overall national homicide rate was 5.30 per 100,000 and the national homicide rate for whites was 3.11 per 100,000
For homicides in which the weapon used could be identified, 82 percent of black victims (5,743 out of 7,011) were killed with guns. Of these, 73 percent (4,204 victims) were killed with handguns. There were 701 victims killed with knives or other cutting instruments, 247 victims killed by bodily force, and 200 victims killed by a blunt object.
For homicides in which the victim to offender relationship could be identified, 72 percent of black victims (2,474 out of 3,431) were murdered by someone they knew. Nine hundred fifty-seven victims were killed by strangers.
For homicides involving black victims for which the circumstances could be identified, 69 percent (3,023 out of 4,362) were not related to the commission of any other felony. Of these, 55 percent (1,669 homicides) involved arguments between the victim and the offender.
Stating that "the devastation homicide inflicts on black teens and adults is a national crisis, yet it is all too often ignored outside of affected communities," the study concludes that for "blacks, like all victims of homicide, guns--usually handguns--are far and away the number one murder tool. Successful efforts to reduce America's black homicide toll must put a focus on reducing access to firearms."
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