Victim Support Team
Victim Support
NEW IN 2024! On April 4, 2024 Seattle Human Services formally launched the new Seek Then Speak website, an empowerment tool for survivors of sexual assault. Survivors can access this new tool from any digital device, at the time and place of their choosing. The text can also be translated into more than 100 languages, further increasing access. The Seek then Speak app was created by End Violence Against Women International and is supported locally by the Seattle Police Foundation.
The Seek Then Speak website was donated by the Seattle Police Foundation and produced pro bono by the web development team at Seattle-based Strategies 360. With offices in 13 western states, Vancouver B.C. and Washington, D.C., Strategies 360 is a leading public affairs, communications, and research firm with a full, in-house creative design and marketing agency.
The Seattle Police Foundation is honored to stand with survivors of domestic violence and other violent crimes through its support of the City of Seattle Victim Support Team (VST).
Established in 1996 in partnership with the Seattle Police Department, VST provides short-term advocacy and resources to survivors of violent crimes. The primary goal is to listen to survivors, help them identify what next step they want to take, address immediate safety concerns, and offer connections to resources in the community and within the Criminal Justice System.
The program was founded to address the gap in services available for domestic violence survivors and their children in between the time patrol officers respond to a call, and the time that advocates, detectives, and prosecutors contact the victim for follow-up. Since then, the program has evolved and expanded to join the Crime Survivor Services Unit with the Human Services Department. In partnership with the Crime Victim Advocates, VST now offers services to survivors of sexual assault, commercial sexual exploitation, elder abuse, and general violent crimes.
Your support of the Seattle Police Foundation helps empower people who have survived domestic violence and other violent crimes by connecting them with vital resources.
The Seattle Police Foundation proudly accepts donations for the VST program. Your generous gift has an immediate impact on the survivors of violent crimes, by providing emergency resources such as bus tickets, grocery store gift certificates, personal care items, access to locksmiths, temporary housing, overnight stay vouchers, cell phones, and emergency relocation assistance. To help the Seattle Police Foundation support this vital work, make a donation today. For more information on VST, including how to become a VST volunteer, visit the City of Seattle’s VST webpage.