RECLAIM YOUR LIFE
LAVO offers a range of compassionate and professional services tailored to empower survivors as they rediscover their inner strength.
FREE COUNSELING
REFERRALS
LAVO offers victims and survivors free individual and group counseling referrals throughout the post-conviction process. These resources provide a safe, confidential, and supportive space to process trauma and loss and work toward holistic mental and emotional health.
Counseling is a partnership between client and therapist. We believe that each person has within them what they need to heal and change. LAVO ensures that all recommended service providers operate from a person-centered, trauma-informed, compassion-based approach. Counseling services are available through HIPAA secure video conferencing.
For more information on counseling services or to schedule an appointment, please call 225.421.7745 or click the button to contact us directly. We respect your privacy.
ACCOUNTABILITY
LETTER PROGRAM
YOUR PATH TO HEALING
At LAVO, we recognize the profound impact that harm can have on victims and survivors. Our Accountability Letter Program is a powerful tool designed to foster understanding, acceptance of responsibility, and support your healing journey.
Participation in our program is entirely voluntary, offering you the assurance that it won't impact the offender's release, ensuring your safety remains our top priority. Through approved programs, offenders communicate their acknowledgment and genuine remorse, focusing on understanding the harm caused.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
The process is straightforward. Offenders participate in a class, acknowledging the crime and expressing genuine remorse. This confidential and secure program ensures your privacy, with offenders remaining unaware of any letter requests, and strictly prohibits the use of the letters for future contact.
Our dedicated Crime Victims Services Bureau handles the secure delivery of letters, further safeguarding your privacy and ensuring a respectful and private exchange.
VICTIM/OFFENDER
DIALOGUE
YOUR PEACE IS
OUR PRIORITY
Victims and survivors often have questions only their offenders can answer, and wish to talk directly with the person responsible for their harm. Victim-Offender Dialogue (VOD) provides the opportunity for a face-to-face meeting between the victim/survivor of a crime and the person who committed the crime. It is a cautious process facilitated by a trained professional.
The program empowers victims/survivors to control the conversation as they desire. Their comfort sets the pace and topics discussed, creating a healing and empowering space.
VICTIM REQUESTED
Only victims and survivors may initiate the process.
VICTIM DRIVEN
Victims and survivors decide the pace of the process and what is or isn’t addressed.
VICTIM SENSITIVE
The victims' and survivors' rights and needs are considered at every step of the process.
SURVIVOR EMPOWERMENT
Victims and survivors may feel stronger and more confident in their lives as a result of this process.
If you're interested in participating in the VOD Program, here are some additional requirements to consider.
Participants in this program must be at least 18 years old.
Requests involving offenders on probation or under parole supervision are not currently being accepted; ensuring your safety is prioritized.
The VOD process must be completed before the parole hearing. The VOD preparation is designed not to overlap with legal processes, ensuring your focus remains on healing. VOD preparation cannot overlap with appeals, civil suits, or parole/pardon processes.
An offender may choose to participate or not to participate and will neither be rewarded nor punished for the decision.
The facilitators, the victim, or the offender can pause or end the process at any point. Participation in preparing the dialogue doesn't guarantee a conversation will happen. The prep work takes as long as it needs to (could be over a year) and leads to a single meeting.
An offender may not use the VOD process in an attempt to obtain an early release from prison.
SURVIVOR IMPACT
STATEMENT ASSISTANCE
YOUR VOICE MATTERS
A Victim Impact and Reentry Statement is your voluntary right and a tool to express to the Board of Pardons and Parole the effect a crime has had on you. Revisiting that time in your life and articulating it in words can be emotional and very difficult. LAVO is here to help.
We can help you gather and organize your thoughts and provide support before, during, and after a pardon or parole hearing. We offer a second pair of eyes to look at your statement and help you edit and refine your thoughts. We are trained and capable of working with a wide range of victims, from children (over 12) to seniors.
LAVO can help facilitate the process of editing and submitting your statement on time, notify the Board of your attendance, and be present as a support system for you and your family. We create a safe space for you as you confront past trauma and work toward holistic healing. We provide impact statement assistance over the phone or through one or more confidential video sessions.
LAVO meets victims and survivors at all stages of healing. We care about your wellness and keep you informed so you can approach this process more easily and confidently.