How MADD Can Help

MADD National Victim Services Helpline

1-877-MADD-HELP

The helpline is a 24-hour live nationwide victim assistance provider.  A counselor is available Monday - Friday from 5:00pm till 8:00am the next morning and 48 hours through the weekends.  The helpline service is also available on all holidays.  The helpline counselors will provide supportive listening, guidance, and referrals.  After initial phone assistance, the helpline counselor will refer all victim/survivor callers to local MADD chapters and/or state offices for ongoing support. 

Victim Advocate for MADD Maryland:

The victim advocate for  MADD Maryland is Jan Withers.  Jan can be reached by e-mail at www.madd.centralmd@verizon.net .  Jan hosts a support group, Family Forever,  on the First and Third Mondays of every month at 7:30pm.  The meetings are held in Upper Marlboro, MD.  Please call Jan Withers if you wish to attend - 301-627-7315 or 301-627-1743.

A mourner is, perforce, a person with a story.  The pity is, how very rarely it gets told. 

~Christian McEwen

We provide services for all persons victimized by the crime of drunk driving, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age or relationship with the victim.  Our services are free of charge.

MADD victim advocates help drunk driving victims/survivors in the following ways;

• Provide emotional support and information by phone or in person.
• Offer referrals for professional counselors, civil attorneys and clergy skilled at working with crash victims.
• Hold victim support groups where you share your experience.
• Offer a wide selection of publications for crash victims (in Spanish and English).
• Assist in applying for financial assistance through the Crime Victims' Compensation Fund (in Maryland, call 1-888-679-9347.  TTY/TDD 1-800-735-2258 or www.dpscs.state.md.us/cicb).
• Inform you about drunk driving laws and victim rights.
• Monitor your court case against the defendants.
• Assist in preparing a victim impact statement.
• Accompany you to court to offer support and inform you about legal proceedures.
• Represent your family with statements to the media - at your request.
• Assist with the development of probation conditions if the offender does not go to jail.

What are Your Rights?

Under the Maryland Constitution and under State laws and guidelines, a victim of crime must be treated with dignity, respect and sensitivity during all phases of the criminal justice process.

• A victim may have the right to be notified of all hearings related to their case.
• A victim may have the right to be present at the trial.
• A victim is not required to speak to the defense attorneys or their investigators prior to the hearings.
• A victim or the victim's representative may have the right to address the court to describe the impact of the crime.
• A victim has the right to request restitution.
• A victim may have the right to be notified of any further hearings related to the defendant's sentence or release by the Division of Correction, Patuxent Institution, or the Parole Commission.

We help each other - even unconsciously, each in our own effort, we lighten the effort of others - sorrow comes in great waves...but it rolls over us, and though it may almost smother us it leaves us on the spot and we know that if it is strong we are strong, in asmuch as it passes and we remain.

~ Henry James