I had the privilege of attending the recent annual symposium of the National Organization of Victim Assistance (“NOVA”) in San Diego this week. I was in the company of well over 1500 victim advocates who exemplify the meaning of being passionate about their calling to help others. I was honored to do a presentation at one of the breakout sessions where I got to talk with many of the attendees on a more personal basis. My participation in the symposium energized my commitment to seeing our grass roots endeavor through to a successful conclusion.
The conversations I had with many of those at the symposium confirmed one thing for me. All of us, and I am definitely including myself in this, will need to leave our comfort zone of working in the background. The agenda that has come together will demand our best effort even when we face challenges and potential setbacks. Those events will simply be opportunities for us to excel.
Please join with me in this project. I am confident that our efforts will be successful in getting the national registry of child abusers fully operational. We will also be successful in changing the way in which child abusers are sentenced – focusing on the harm that was done to the child victim(s), rather than what is expedient. The time is now and the hard work begins today.