For over eight years, Aglahia Blanco has served as Juvenile Court Counselor at Multnomah County’s Juvenile Services Division.
As a bilingual counselor and a lead in a service model called Functional Family Probation — a strength-based approach that brings in family members to support youth involved in the justice system — Blanco drafts safety and supervision plans, conducts assessments, prepares for court, coordinates treatment, and more.
And through all the complexity of her work, Blanco — as her colleagues attest — never loses sight of the victims and survivors impacted by a case.
“Throughout my career, I’ve worked on mental health counseling, trauma, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and the effects of a trauma on situations and how to deal with that, and how to understand and validate feelings and connect with a particular person,” she said. “A lot of the things we do here is connect and develop trust and rapport. That is critical work when it comes to victims and survivors.”
Blanco is one of many juvenile court counselors and parole and probation officers who incorporate survivor-led, trauma-informed processes into their caseloads. That work also involves working with the department’s Victim and Survivor Services program, which provides direct support to victims who have been harmed by a justice-involved individual, helping them navigate the justice system and access resources.
This week that work is under a well-deserved spotlight as Multnomah County and organizations across the United States commemorate National Crime Victims Rights Week. This year’s theme, “Survivor Voices: Elevate. Engage. Effect Change,” calls upon communities to amplify the voices of survivors and create environments where survivors have the confidence that they will be heard, believed and supported.
Originally from Cuba, Blanco studied psychology before immigrating to the United States and Oregon. She completed her psychology degree at Portland State University, then worked as a drug and alcohol counselor at Central City Concern for a decade. In 2015, she joined the Juvenile Services Division, a natural transition that drew on her years of experience working in an intensive treatment program. Many of the adults she worked with, before coming to the County, struggled with substance use disorders.
“There are similarities across treatment,” said Blanco. “I also have to be certified, so you have to learn a lot of techniques on motivational interviewing and de-escalation — all of those skills have been transferred to this field in Multnomah County.”
Blanco now works with youth involved in the justice system. She also works to ensure victims and survivors are heard and supported in the ways that they choose.
Often, that involves coordinating with a victim’s advocate through the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office Victim’s Assistance Program. Advocates can guide victims and survivors through court processes and provide them with information about their rights as victims, opportunities to submit information about their losses for restitution, and notification letters on cases’ status and disposition. But once a case is adjudicated, Blanco and Victim and Survivor Services can step in.
“Sometimes the courts have issued ‘no contact’ orders between the youth and the victim, but if, for example, the victim requests notification of court hearings such as a relief hearing, we must call to notify them, among other roles,” said Blanco. “We do see that when someone is informed on how things are progressing, they feel more at ease, particularly for relief hearings.”
The Victim and Survivor Services team, which includes culturally specific and bilingual advocates, helps Blanco provide advocacy and notifications in advance of any critical court hearing, information on restitution plans, client assistance, and even access to emergency funding that supports victims.
And as a juvenile court counselor, Blanco works to prevent and stem violence and harm by holding youth accountable and responding to violations. She also develops action plans and meets regularly with the youth, along with their family, to help them push toward positive behaviors.
The work is inextricably tied to the victim’s experience.
“This work may involve a treatment plan that is very victim-centered,” said Blanco. “We always work with the youth and remind them about the victim or survivor. How do you think your decision-making is impacting the victim’s life?”
Blanco and advocates can’t emphasize enough: The process is survivor-led. Some survivors may not wish to be involved in any part of the process, but others very much do. However a person may choose to proceed is always at the fore — all the while upholding their rights, and treating victims and survivors with dignity and respect. This means listening and supporting.
Some victims and survivors wish to read an impact statement in court or, depending on their comfort level and relationship, they may wish to have Blanco read that statement in court.
“There was one occasion when we got closer to a relief hearing, and I had a victim who wrote a letter to court but didn’t want to be at the hearing, but still wanted to share her experience,” she said. “She was really impressed with the work we were doing with her and the youth. I was able to translate the message she wanted to share and read it to the court.”
Victims and survivors may also request a letter of responsibility from the youth. Alongside advocates from Victim and Survivor Services, Blanco incorporates and implements these requests. Sometimes, a Restorative Justice Coordinator is requested to review or, in some cases, begin the processes for a dialogue for those who wish to receive it.
In these cases, Blanco says, she connects the youth to the Restorative Justice Coordinator, who contacts the victim. “It’s a lot of work between the juvenile court counselor, the coordinator and those staffing the case in determining what’s appropriate.”
In certain cases, specifically those involving sex abuse, a survivor may request a clarification letter and meeting. In these cases, the youth takes accountability in a highly specialized process in which the therapists for the survivor and the justice-involved person coordinate and prepare their respective clients for sessions.
In these sessions, a youth verbalizes full responsibility for the abuse. They acknowledge the harm they have done to the survivor, and the survivor and other family members can ask questions. The youth assigns no blame and accepts full responsibility in an honest, thorough and non-defensive manner.
“This again is always driven by the victim,” said Blanco. “They decide where the meeting will happen. How will it happen? Who is going to be there? The victim is the one who controls everything about the meeting. If the victim is open to a face-to-face meeting, this may be facilitated. Sometimes it’s even by phone.
“Whatever the victim wants we try to provide.”
Recently, there’s been a renewed use of Restorative Justice practices that emphasize repairing the harm caused by a youth’s behavior and working with everyone involved to help instill healing.
Blanco highlighted the Hands of Wonder Garden Program, a restorative justice program that encourages youth to meaningfully reflect on the ripple effects of their criminal activity, including its impact on their victims, their community and their family. The youth work to make things right, give back to the community, and gain hands-on job skills in the process.
“When someone can take accountability for their offense, they can try to repair the damage. There is a tremendous healing power, and that really changes people’s behavior when they process and are more aware of their behavior,” Blanco said. “Sometimes they don’t even realize how they’ve impacted that person, and they become more aware of their decision-making.”
Originally from Spokane, Washington, Kari Page moved to Portland in 2010. She interned at the Department of Community Justice while working toward a post-baccalaureate program in criminology and criminal justice in 2016, and soon after became a sworn parole and probation officer.
As a parole and probation officer for the Multnomah County Department of Community Justice’s Domestic Violence Unit who works with the Domestic Violence Enhanced Response Team (DVERT), Page supervises justice-involved individuals.
Still, throughout all of her work, Page works hard to center the voices of victims and survivors.
DVERT is a long-standing multidisciplinary unit that works in high-priority, high-risk domestic violence cases by partnering with law enforcement, the District Attorney’s Office, nonprofit service providers, child welfare workers, legal resources officials and victims’ advocates. In addition to supervising cases, Page co-leads the Domestic Violence Unit, acting as a liaison to her managers.
“As a parole officer in the DV Unit, we staff cases with the team and have specific duties and caseload management,” said Page. “We do check-ins and enforce the conditions of supervision, offer cognitive behavioral interventions and build insight on previous behaviors.”
Making direct contact with victims and survivors of domestic violence can be life-saving — and Page works to do it quickly.
“We want to know if there are any active concerns and mitigate them. I want to be in the know, making those connections right away,” said Page. “We may connect through the District Attorney’s Office or through police reports. I typically introduce myself and ask if this is a good time to talk, and listen and try to gauge what needs to happen. And usually during that conversation, I try to gauge if they have support and are working with an advocate.”
Page uses these initial meetings to gauge what the victims and survivors need.
“Sometimes the need is just understanding what is going on and understanding court processes, or how restraining orders work. But I try to make those connections,” said Page.
Clients might already be working with advocates through the District Attorney’s Office. But if they don’t have one, Page said, she can refer them to the Department of Community Justice’s Victim and Survivor Services. Multnomah County is one of just six Oregon counties that provide this kind of support during community supervision.
Page checks in often with advocates as well as the survivors themselves, particularly if they have a pressing need. She schedules phone check-ins to give them updates and also works with partner agencies.
Victim and Survivor Services can provide resources and referrals to other resources in the community, advocacy, offer information about and help with navigating the justice system, and coordinate transportation, or even accompany victims and survivors, to court. Advocates can also offer safety planning, emotional support, trauma education, and access to an assistance fund, and can also send advance notices about upcoming critical steps in the court process.
When Page has to go to court, it’s often because one of her clients violated probation. In those cases, she works closely with the victim or survivor to explain the process and makes sure they know that they can provide an impact statement or a letter.
“Facing someone in court can be very overwhelming, and just making sure there’s an advocate there is very helpful,” said Page. “Some of the survivors really connect with you. They really want you there.”
Supporting victims and survivors is deeply tied to the kinds of work that Page does with the justice-involved clients she supervises.
“We do a lot of interventions, we assess risk and we conduct criminality assessments. And we are mindful of reunification,” said Page. “We’re really working on pro-social behaviors, domestic violence counseling and mental health needs. Those have to be met.”
Page acknowledges that the differences among the people she supervises, accompanied by a degree of unpredictability, can make the work challenging.
“How someone appears on paper may not necessarily indicate how you’ll be supervising them,” Page said. “I’ve worked with people who have really extensive history and have been model people on parole and probation, and others who have had no criminal history but required a higher level of supervision.”
Despite the challenges, the changes she helps her clients achieve keep her pursuing more successes.
“Having a client who is initially very resistant but then embraces being accountable and having insight into power and control dynamics — you can see the progress,” she said. “That is huge and something that we hope for in every case we get.”
Page’s work — with justice-involved individuals and those they’ve harmed — hinges on coordination and collaboration among teams and partners. But when it comes to supporting survivors and victims, it takes genuine connection — and a commitment to listening to their voices — to help them uncover and express what they need to heal and move forward.
“By connecting with them and making plans to help, they can stay safe,” said Page.