Victim Services
The victims MADD serves are at the heart of MADD. Every 3 minutes, MADD and its team of dedicated staff and volunteers provide a supportive service to a drunk, drugged or underage drinking victim or survivor. Victims receive emotional support, advocacy and information through MADD’s certified victim advocates. Among the many services offered, advocates also accompany victims to court hearings, help them with impact statements and provide any other assistance needed to protect their rights as crime victims. In 2018, the number of victims served was 15,338 through direct services, with a total of 186,693 services provided. MADD offers a Victim Services private Facebook Group that has grown to nearly 4,000 members. The group offers an avenue for many new victims to reach out to MADD for the first time and receive support from others who have been impacted by these crimes. An essential component of MADD’s services to the victims of these horrific and preventable crimes is MADD’s 24-hour Victim Help Line, 1-877-MADD-HELP, or live chat at madd.org. The Help Line is always answered, providing an emotional lifeline 365 days a year to people who don’t know where else to turn. Volunteers donate their time to make sure the phone lines are answered on nights, weekends and holidays. By the end of 2018, MADD had served 869,000 victims. 24-hour Helpline Victim Impact Panels are a healing opportunity for victims and help prevent offenders from choosing to drink and drive again. In 2018, nearly 200,000 offenders attended MADD VIPs. MADD offers an online class reservation system that accepts credit card payments for VIP fees to enhance efficiency and ease of access to this program. The addition of the online reservation system allowed for the option for those needing to attend the class to make a donation at the time of registration. This option resulted in over $90,000 in donations made through VIP in 2018 at the point of registration, almost twice as much as in 2017, the first year donations could be made through the reservation system. MADD’s Court Monitoring program grew to almost 30,000 new cases entered into MADD’s National Court Monitoring Database in 2018. A key component of court monitoring is promoting public interest in the justice system and creating awareness of the outcomes of drunk driving cases. MADD court monitors look for trends and inconsistencies, and when appropriate, present these findings to prosecutors and judges. Court monitors let prosecutors and judges know - in a nonadversarial way — that MADD is watching drunk driving cases and looking for trends in how these cases are handled. Through this process, MADD seeks to maintain strong partnerships with members of the judicial system. The program grew to include 12 states in 2018. Victim Impact Panel (VIP) Court Monitoring
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