New Washington County victim advocates share passion in helping
Holly Tonini
Corey Watkins of Monongahela works at the District Attorney’s Office of Victim Services in Washington as a victim advocate.
Holly Tonini
Amy Mazanetz of Donora works at the District Attorney’s Office of Victim Services in Washington as a victim advocate.
Corey Watkins of Monongahela and Amy Mazanetz of Donora work at the District Attorney’s Office of Victim Services in Washington as victim advocates.
Holly Tonini
The two newest victim advocates in the Washington County District Attorney’s office live in the Mon Valley, but perhaps more importantly, Amy Mazanetz and Corey Watkins share a passion for wanting to help people improve their lives.
“It started when I was younger,” said Mazanetz, 50, of Donora, who began working last month with victims of adult offenders. “I was always the shoulder you could cry on.”
“It allows me to make a difference,” said Watkins, 30, of Monongahela, who began his job as a juvenile victim advocate last month as well. “I like taking care of people.”
Advocates support crime victims by going to hearings with them, helping them with compensation claims and collecting restitution information. Washington County has three full-time and two part-time victim advocates.
“We have made the enhancement of victim services a priority in the office,” said Gene Vittone, county District Attorney, in a news release. “It is important to me that victims of crime are supported throughout the criminal justice process, which is often stressful and confusing.”
Mazanetz, who is originally from Charleroi, has a psychology degree from California University of Pennsylvania. Mazanetz previously worked at the Southwestern Pennsylvania Human Services Inc. in Charleroi, where she worked with the elderly.
“When you’re working with the elderly, you have to be compassionate and respect their rights,” said Mazanetz, adding that many in her family work as nurses and caregivers. “It is all about the victims.”
Watkins, meanwhile, works with the developmentally disabled for Fayette Resources in a group home setting. He studied at the Fayette County campus of Pennsylvania State University.
Both Mazanetz, who is a full-time employee, and Watkins, who is part-time, said they are amazed by the number of laws they need to know, as well as how the legal process works. And both admit that less than a month into the jobs, they are touched by the cases they’ve been involved with.
“I will always give 100 percent to what I do,” Mazanetz said, adding, “I hope I have made a difference.”
Mazanetz, who is single, said she likes go out with friends in her free time and eat chicken wings at the Monessen Fireman’s Club. Watkins, who is married, said he likes to spend time with his wife, Erin Watkins, and their one-year-old daughter, Lailah.
“I am honored and humbled to be a role model,” Watkins said.
Both positions are mostly funded by grants from the state Commission on Crime and Delinquency. Judy Nemeth, director of Victim Services and Public Information, said she is hopeful to get funding in January for another position so she can have a victim advocate for the elderly, a position she said she would like to see Mazanetz fill.