4700 Waters Avenue
Heart & Vascular Building
Room 1190-A
Savannah, Georgia 31404
Phone: 912-350-0230 

Intercept:

• is a community-focused, hospital-based program designed to reduce recidivism among youth ages 12-25.
• is affiliated with the Emergency Department (ED) at Memorial Medical Center.
• is a program offered by the Victims-Witness Advocacy Program, a division of the Office of the District Attorney
• works with victims who are in the ED for intentional injuries, such as gun shots and knife wounds.
• is designed to address the physical, emotional, and social needs that victims of violence face after being released from the ED. 

Goals and Objectives

• To facilitate and optimize trauma-informed practice in the Emergency Department at Memorial Health
• To reduce rates of injuries and rates of arrests for violent crimes
• To break the cycle of arrest and emergency room re-admission for victims of violent injury in the 12-25 age cohort
• To assess issues of retaliation and witness intimidation at the earliest opportunity
• To ensure the location and participation of the victims of violence for court processes
• To provide wrap-around social services immediately after the injury 

Why Intercept?

• Without intervention, hospitals discharge victims of violence to the same violent environment where they were injured.
• Often this fosters a pathological cycle where they or their friends and family retaliate, causing even more injuries or death, arrest, and incarceration.
• Studies show that hospitalization for violence related injuries is recurrent, with hospital readmission rates for subsequent assaults as high as 44 percent and subsequent homicide rates as high as 20 percent.

STUDY SHOWS THAT HOSPITAL-BASED INTERCEPT PROGRAMS CAN REDUCE RATES OF INJURIES AND ARRESTS

In a clinical trial conducted from 1999-2002, researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine found that a hospital-based Intercept can help break the cycle of violence and violent crimes that often lead to traumatic injuries. The study, conducted at the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, part of the University of Maryland Medical Center, was published in the September 2006 issue of the Journal of Trauma. The researchers found:

• Patients who participated in the trauma center's Intercept were three (3) times less likely to be arrested for a subsequent violent crime
• Four (4) times less likely to be convicted later of a violent crime
• Two (2) times less likely to commit any crime at all
• The Intercept group's trauma center re-admission rate was 5% while the control group's was 35%  

Intercept Staff's Ongoing Connection With Clients

• The Intercept staff focuses on connecting victims to comprehensive support services such as:
  • Substance abuse treatment and Post Traumatic Stress treatment
  • Health care and physical rehabilitation
  • Education and counseling
  • Job training and placement
  • Transportation

Additionally, the staff undertakes the following:

• On-going phone calls and home visits
• Support and advocacy during the court process

Initiatives

In the fall of 2014, the District Attorney’s Office was jointly awarded a three year federal grant from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice. Only one of nine grants awarded nationwide, the Chatham County District Attorney’s Office is the only District Attorney in the nation to receive this grant. The grant provides $220,100 per year for three years. The money will be used to expand the Intercept program. Additionally, a new Youth Intercept program has been introduced in the local schools for at-risk youth. In awarding the money to the District Attorney’s office, the DOJ and DHHS offices cited the importance of the partnerships with Memorial Health, the school system, the Savannah-Chatham Metro Police Department, the Chatham County Sheriff’s Department, and local service providers. The nine grantees will each be used as models to be replicated elsewhere in the nation.

For more information, please contact 912-350-0231.