TOPEKA – (April 14, 2021) – Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt today recognized the Wichita Family Crisis Center for outstanding service to crime victims.

In a video presentation as part of this year’s virtual Crime Victims’ Rights Conference, Schmidt announced that the Wichita Family Crisis Center (WFCC) was the recipient of the Outstanding Victim Service Organization Award.

In addition to providing lifesaving shelter for victims of domestic violence, WFCC offers outreach services, such as support groups, court advocacy; a 24-hour hotline, 24-hour medical advocacy, Sedgwick County Jail advocacy; parent/child advocacy and teen/young adult advocacy. Additionally, WFCC assists victims and their children in Sedgwick, Cowley and Sumner counties with safety planning; case management; and other holistic survivor services.

Those who nominated WFCC for this award highlighted not only the longstanding service delivery, but also the outstanding adaptations that were made to critical services due to the COVID pandemic. One nominator stated, “The Wichita Family Crisis Center has risen above and beyond throughout the years but especially now when they have been faced with new and entirely unique barriers due to COVID.”

Despite the dramatic change in the way WFCC advocates had to deliver services, WFCC tirelessly continued to save lives. WFCC’s survivor-driven, trauma-informed advocacy means working in partnership with survivors. As such, WFCC is a great representative for the incredible work that is done by domestic and sexual violence agencies across the State.

The annual recognition of those who provide outstanding service to victims of crime is taking place during the 23rd Annual Crime Victims’ Rights Conference, hosted this week by the governor and attorney general. This conference is being held virtually for the first time and comes ahead of next week’s observance of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. The video highlighting all of this year’s award recipients is available at https://youtu.be/vvtQNvOIOyE.