Wright, who was hired after a national search, will lead the bureau as it provides crime victims with clinical services that will help them through the healing process. She also will spearhead efforts to expand services to victims whether or not the office is able to bring a case or whether the victim wants to see the prosecution through.
“I am proud that Tanishia G. Wright has agreed to join my team and will help bring trauma-informed care to crime victims throughout Los Angeles County as they embark on the journey to becoming survivors,” Gascón said in a news release. “She brings a depth of experience that will help victims heal and recover mentally, physically and emotionally.”
“I am thrilled and honored to be working for a District Attorney who places a priority on victims’ needs,” Wright said. “I hope that my expertise will help those who have been harmed or wronged receive the healing and justice they deserve on their road from being a victim to being a survivor.”
Wright will oversee a staff of 78 victim service representatives. She will be responsible for leading, planning, organizing and evaluating the operations of the Bureau of Victim Services and also will implement programs to grow victim services in the District Attorney’s Office.
“For too long, we have had a myopic view of how to support victims, one that largely treated them as tools in a trial and nothing more,” said Tiffiny Blacknell, Special Advisor to Gascón. “With Tanishia Wright at the helm, our office changes that and will offer victims numerous tools as they go on their journey to healing. She will lead an agency committed to connecting people with the services and support that they need.”
Most recently, Wright worked for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, where she was Director of Programs at MLK Community Healing and Trauma Prevention Center. There, she developed and implemented trauma-informed programs aimed at reducing toxic stress and trauma prevention for victims of crime, including abuse and gun violence.
Wright has a Master of Science degree from Mount Saint Mary’s University, Los Angeles, in counseling psychology and a Post-Master of Science degree in trauma-informed care from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix. She received her Bachelor of Arts from University of California, Los Angeles.
The Bureau of Victim Services is one of the oldest and largest programs of its kind in the United States, with victim services representatives who work in courthouses and police stations throughout the Los Angeles County and provide an array of services.
Victim services are provided free of charge and there is no legal residency or citizenship requirement. For more information, call the Bureau of Victim Services at 800-380-3811.
[Information via news release from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.]
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Beecee says
‘Clowns clapping heard in the background’