Best Practices for Working with Victims/Survivors in Community Corrections

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Rhea has an MA in Conflict Resolution from Portland State University. In her current role as Community Justice Manager with Multnomah County Department of Community Justice Rhea is responsible for supporting Victim and Survivor Services staff and addressing system gaps and barriers as her team works to enhance victim and survivor safety and healing in the criminal justice system. Rhea has spent the last decade committed to restorative justice as evidenced through various roles she has held working directly with crime victims/survivors and those who have caused harm as well as through facilitation, implementation and oversight of restorative dialogue and restorative programming. In 2017 Rhea was awarded Juvenile Justice Professional of the Year for the Metro Region by the Oregon Juvenile Department Directors Association and in 2020 the National Crime Victim Law Institute recognized Rhea for her outstanding work on behalf of crime victims. Rhea served as the Chair of the NW Justice Forum, on the Coordinating Committee of the Restorative Justice Coalition of Oregon and on the board of the Oregon Peace Institute for several years and is currently Co-Chair for the American Probation and Parole Association’s Victim/Survivor Committee. She recently published a peer reviewed volume with McFarland-- “Conflict Transformation: Essays on Methods of Nonviolence” that focuses on under-represented and marginalized voices within the field of Conflict Resolution.

Nichelle is the Lead Advocate at the Multnomah County Department of Community Justice (DCJ) in Oregon. Nichelle helps with navigating systems, accessing resources, safety planning, providing emotional support and trauma education, court accompaniment, restraining orders, and working toward whatever healing looks like for the survivor. As the Lead Advocate they also support other advocates with training and help coordinate team workflow. Nichelle has a bachelor's degree in Social Work and has worked in social services in Portland for over 15 years. Nichelle started out working in housing services and has done street outreach, staffed drop-in spaces, worked in shelters and transitional housing, and taught tenant education classes. Since 2010 they’ve worked with survivors of domestic and sexual violence in many capacities. Nichelle has spent many years responding to hospitals to support survivors of sexual violence, worked on a crisis line, provided advocacy at a Family Justice Center, and did financial education for survivors. Nichelle has also worked as a Child Welfare caseworker for 2 years and enjoyed supporting the families they served. Nichelle loves to serve the community and was recently honored to receive the Multnomah County Judge Herrell Award for Exceptional Leadership in Program and Community Response to Family Violence. Nichelle plays on an Ultimate Frisbee team, likes to take their dog on outings, reads lots of sci-fi and fantasy, and is forever working on Spanish.