The victim services department of MADD, Louisiana is dedicated to assisting victims of alcohol-related crashes - both surviving victims and bereaved family members of those killed in the crash. Our staff consists of three full-time advocates. The Victims Assistance Program is housed at the Louisiana State Office of MADD in Baton Rouge, with satellite offices located in New Orleans and Shreveport.

Victims of alcohol-related crashes are often faced with sudden, unanticipated grief and expense for which there is very little help readily available to them. As a program whose sole purpose is to provide comfort and support to these victims, the Victim Services Department offers a multitude of services to victims and their families, including:

• 24-hour crisis counseling -1.877.MADD.HELP
• injury and grief literature
• information on financial recovery and civil options

Fundamental to the program is the belief that victims should play an integral role in the prosecution of their offenders. To that end, we offer a variety of additional services to those victims whose cases are in the criminal justice system, including:

• information on Louisiana’s DWI laws and criminal justice system
• assistance in obtaining copies of the police report, autopsy report, crime scene photographs, blood alcohol content (BAC) results and driving record of the offender
• accompaniment to court proceedings
• accompaniment to pardon and parole board hearings
• assistance in completing Victim Impact Statements
• assistance in filing crime victim compensation claims
• advocacy for victims’ rights throughout the criminal justice process

MADD’s Victim Services Department was instrumental in passing Louisiana’s Child Endangerment Law in 1993 and Louisiana’s Constitutional Amendment for Victims’ Rights in 1997. We continue to support the national effort to amend our U.S. Constitution to include a Victims’ Bill of Rights and are very active in this movement as well.

MADD’s Victim Services Department sponsors several projects designed to honor the memory of victims killed or injured in alcohol-related crashes and to raise public awareness about the hazards of drinking and driving. Ongoing projects include:

1. Victim Impact Panels. MADD VIPs are held in conjunction with the criminal justice system and are present in several courtrooms throughout the state. These court-ordered panels are attended by convicted DWI offenders who listen as victims give personal accounts of their losses due to someone else’s decision to drink and drive. Victims report that each time they tell their stories to the offenders, the burden of grief lessens somewhat, while offenders report that hearing the live testimonials causes them to recognize the danger inherent in their decision to drink and drive.
2. Memory Tree. MADD’s Memory Tree is erected in a State Police Headquarters during each holiday season and displays ornaments bearing the names and pictures of victims killed in Louisiana by drinking drivers. Separate ornaments list the names of those injured in alcohol-related crashes. At the start of each season the tree is covered with white lights, with a red light being added each time an additional person is killed in an alcohol-related crash during the season.
3. Victim Slide Display. A slide presentation showing photographs of victims killed by drunk drivers is set to music and shown at MADD functions and outreach programs. The song, entitled “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday,” addresses the grieving issues suffered by the loved ones these victims left behind.

If you or someone you love is a victim of an alcohol-related crash, or to learn more about our program, please contact MADD’s Victim Services Department at one of the numbers listed below. Our advocates stand ready to assist you as you struggle to deal with the aftermath of this heinous crime.