Stanley J Phillips, MS, CA

Background

It has been an honor and privilege to return to my alma mater in 2017 as an Adjunct Professor with the Social Work Department.  I developed and currently instruct the department’s first course on “Working with Crime Victims,” a State and Nationally-accredited Victim Services Core Training, as well as an Advanced “Treatment of Crime Victims” course.  Saint Martin’s holds a special place in my heart, having graduated here myself in 2000.  The small class sizes at Saint Martin’s allow me to get to know each of my students and work with them towards success.  I bring over two decades of clinical experience in professional crime victim services to the classroom, integrating best practices with hands-on activities, victimology curricula, and exposure to allied professionals to ensure students have the most diverse and practical experiences.  These classroom experiences provide students with the knowledge and skills they need to become the most competent and compassionate social workers or criminal justice practitioners when they graduate. I am passionate about social work and criminal justice majors graduating as well-rounded professionals, and there is no better way to do that than to become trained in victimology and gain an understanding of the impact crime has on victims and what we can individually and collectively do to help victims and survivors heal and recover. 

I started my formal Victim Advocacy career in October of 2000, with the Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office as the sole victim advocate in Juvenile Court. In this capacity, I provided advocacy for victims of all types of crimes, with the majority of time spent working with parents who were victims of domestic violence and child victims of sexual assault.  I was one of the first victim advocates in the office to participate in multi-disciplinary team meetings when the Thurston County Child Justice and Advocacy Center was formed.  In 2008, I transferred to the office’s Crime Victims Advocacy Network program, where I served in the capacity of Senior Victim Advocate for fifteen years. During this time, I was a Field Supervisor for the Social Work Department, supervising and mentoring countless BSW students. I love nothing more than seeing these former students enter the professional workforce and bring the skills and knowledge they learned in field placement with them.  I am currently employed in a professional victim liaison capacity managing a facilitated communications program between victims/survivors and incarcerated individuals.  Much of this work is in the restorative justice arena, coordinating victim-offender dialogue meetings. 

I graduated with my MS in Psychology from California Coast University (2004) and BA in Community Services from Saint Martin’s University (2000), summa cum laude & inducted into the Society of Fellows. I am also very proud to have graduated with my AA from South Puget Sound Community College in 1998.  I have been a Nationally Credentialed Victim Advocate since 2004, currently holding a designation as Advanced Comprehensive Victim Intervention Specialist.  In 2001, I graduated from the National Victim Assistance Academy in Fresno, CA, and in 2023, I graduated with my 40-hour certification in Victim-Offender Dialogue Facilitation from the Oregon Department of Corrections.  I spent many years as a member of the Washington State Vinelink Governance Board, Department of Corrections Victim Council, Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorney’s Victim/Witness Training Committee, Address Confidentiality Program Advisory Council, Animal Cruelty Task Force, and State Crime Victim Service Center Advisory Council.  Since 2008, I have trained and certified new Victim Advocates, provided foundation-level training at the State Victim Assistance Academy (formerly State Advocate Core Training), as well as trained on specialized topics including homicide, violent crime advocacy, victim rights, property crimes, working with victims with disabilities, ethics, communication, and identity theft, to name a few. 

In 1999, I graduated from the Reserve Police Academy and served seven years as a volunteer Reserve Police Officer with a small city police department in Thurston County.  All of these experiences have provided me with a holistic perspective on the criminal justice system and issues affecting crime victims.

Accomplishments

2014 - Stanley was one of three Advocates in the State to be accepted into, and graduate from the National Victim Assistance Academy’s Leadership Institute.

2016 - Received the President's Award of Merit from the WA Association of Prosecuting Attorneys for work done to protect funding for victim advocacy programs statewide.

2023 - Recognized by the WA Secretary of State's Office for work strengthening the Address Confidentiality Program to survivors can now have addresses of property they purchase protected.

Areas of Interest

In my spare time, I enjoy gardening, camping, boating, hiking, exploring trails on Mount Rainier, spending time with friends and family.