Victim Service Unit

A group of civilian volunteers from different walks of life, various ages, primarily with little or no law enforcement background with a desire to assist individuals and families experiencing the trauma of a sudden, unexpected event.  We assist area Police Officers/Deputies, Fire Departments, Medical Examiners and Medical Personnel of Barry County with death notifications, domestic violence, unattended deaths, car accidents, rapes, and suicides.  We are not professional grief counselors; however we are compassionate and supportive in your time of need.   We assist as a liaison between the family and the emergency personnel.

 We stay with the survivors until at least one additional person or family member is available to support the survivor in their grief.  We provide assistance by making contacts with other family, friends, and church members.  Each call is a different situation and each advocate supports the family with various resources (i.e.  death checklist, list of funeral homes, shelters, and crisis centers, action/safety plans for domestic violence, accompanying victims through the court process and obtaining personal protection orders, transporting homeless to shelters and possibly from hospital to home (case by case);  information to continue the journey of healing together.

If you are interested in joining this great team please go to the following website http://www.BarrySheriff.net  under digital download media or stop into the Barry County Sheriff Office and ask for an application.  If you would like an Advocate to call you back leave your name and number and someone will get back to you.  (When we call you the number may be blocked if not calling from the Sheriff Office.)