Victim Impact Panel

Counseling Associates/Arisa Health is contracted with the Arkansas Department of Human Services, Division of Aging, Adult, & Behavioral Health Services, to provide VIP (Victim Impact Panel) services.

Please be aware that due to concerns with COVID-19 and to align with CDC and state official guidelines our VIP in-person classes are canceled until further notice.  We currently offer LIVE interactive classes online.

The Victim Impact Panel program brings together the criminal justice system and those directly or indirectly affected by drunk and drugged driving crashes and underage drinking. Speakers may be bereaved or injured victims, and may also include victim families, first responders or substance abuse/treatment representatives.

The Victim Impact Panel program follows a restorative justice model by allowing crime victims a healing opportunity by talking about the crime’s impact upon themselves, their families, friends, and the community. During the panel, speakers describe the crash in which they or their loved ones, were involved, and how life has changed since the crash. They DO NOT blame or judge the audience; they simply share their personal experiences.  Victim Impact Panels are designed to provide offenders with the understanding that drunk and impaired driving is a choice that impacts the lives of innocent people—and how the resulting consequences and tragic outcomes are 100% preventable.

Victim Impact Panels are not intended to replace conventional sanctions.  Rather, they are offered to enhance and supplement such programs by placing offenders face to face with real people whose lives have been permanently changed by a substance impaired driver.

For more details about the VIP and to register for the Victim Impact Panel, please download, print, and complete the registration document via this link: https://caiinc.org/victim-impact-panel/ca-vip-form/