Meet The Board

Founder

Michelle is a proud Mom of four amazing children, a grandmother, and a Domestic Violence Survivor and escapee.  Michelle makes time to speak to DV victims at all hours of the night, finding resources for victims, including safe housing, and legal resources.  Michelle was thrust into the bail profession about 3 decades ago, as she became a single Mom on public assistance and saw a way to help people in need of navigating the criminal justice system.  Michelle has been advocating for crime victims and accountable bail release policies since 2012.

Executive Director

Jennifer  Harrison was forced to become an expert on victims' rights and criminal justice issues when both her boyfriend of 6 years and his best friend were murdered on January 15, 2005.  Three brothers were arrested and charged but justice was not served as two of those brothers, both who had records, were freed in a sweetheart deal. Ultimately only one person served just 9.5 years for killing two  people. That brother was released in 2014.  At 27 years old, while all of her friends were planning weddings and having babies, she sat in  courtrooms listening to the defense vilify the love of her life and learning how completely broken our system is for victims. It was life changing. Through that horrible experience she connected with support  groups on both the national and local level.  She became an advocate  against some of the atrocities she witnessed and tried to help other survivors of homicide victims connect with the resources they need to navigate through this endless nightmare. She has dedicated her life to  helping other victims ever since. 

Jennifer  has become a fierce advocate against dangerous criminal justice  "reforms" that have been implemented in multiple states across the country such as “Bail Reform'' along with other dangerous and deadly  “social justice” initiatives.  She has provided legislative and policy analysis, and has contributed to drafting legislation and policy for many state and federal elected officials and campaigns nationwide. 

"Victims  have no voice in politics or government. We live in a completely upside  down world where somehow those of us thrown into it, through no choice or fault of our own have become the villains for simply wanting justice, while those that have intentionally inflicted harm on others have become  victims.  In our newfound “progressive society” all empathy, compassion  and logic have been replaced by a depraved indifference towards human  life. This is an epidemic sweeping across our country.  We are  literally in a battle of good vs. evil. We are not only fighting for  victims and so that this does not happen to your family but we are  fighting for the soul of our country."

Board Member

Andy Kahan served as the Victim Advocate for the Mayor’s Office and Houston Police Department for 26 years before retiring and joining Crime Stoppers of Houston to resume his career as the Director of Victim Services and Victim Advocacy 

Andy Kahan received his Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice in 1983 from the University of Houston. He worked as both a Parole and Probation Officer before becoming the first victim advocate in the country to work in a Mayor’s Office. Some of his responsibilities included working with local crime victim’s rights organizations to facilitate the pooling of resources and the exchange of information. In addition, he will accompany and represent victims before the Parole Board. He also put crime victims in touch with local crime victims support and advocacy groups in addition to court accompaniment. 

The Advocate conducts several annual events to assist crime victims:

• National Day of Remembrance for surviving family members of homicide
• Unsolved Homicide Day
• Memorial Holiday Tree Ceremony for homicide victims
• National Missing Person’s Day
• National Crime Victims Rights Week 

Board Member: 

• Parents of Murdered Children & Surviving Family Members of Homicide
• Texas Equusearch

Since its inception, the Advocate has had great success in working with the Legislature in support of Victims Rights & Public Safety. Mr. Kahan’s advocacy efforts have played a pivotal role in the passage of numerous laws and policy changes, including:

• 1993: Creating a Capital offense for those who murder a child under the age of six
• 1993: Reduction in the amount of Parolees released in Harris County.
• 1995: Abolishment of Mandatory Release of convicted felons.
• 1995: Promotion of gun safety by making adults criminally responsible for failure to properly store firearms.
• 1996: Enacted a policy change to allow victims families to witness executions.
• 1997: “Lori’s Law” Allowing juveniles to be criminally charged with Failure to Stop and Render Aid.
• 1997: Mandating the Parole Board meet with either the victims or family members before a vote takes place.
• 1997: Allowing Governmental Agencies the option of providing public information to convicted felons who are incarcerated.
• 1999: Creation of an enhanced sex offender’s notification to include names, specific numeric address and photographs free of charge.  Direct mailing of the above provided to residents within three blocks of a high- risk offender.
• 1999: Extended Crime Victims compensation benefits for relocation expenses to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.
• 2000: Instrumental in bringing Victim Information and Notification Everyday (VINE) to Harris County.
• 2001: Spearheaded National Campaign to prevent convicted criminals and their agents from profiting from the sale of “Murderabilia”.  Several states as a result enacted the Notoriety for Profit Law.
• 2001: Extension of Statute of Limitations on Hit-And-Run fatalities from three years to unlimited, as in other cases of homicide.
• 2003: Extended Parole Set-offs from a maximum of three years to five years for violent offenders.
• 2005: Changed the cause of death from “Homicide” to Judicial Order on a death certificate of an executed inmate.
• 2005: Allows for victim notification on cases found not guilty by reason of insanity.
• 2006: Initiated policy change within the Texas Department of Public Safety to include deported sex offenders on their public database.
• 2006: Initiated policy change within MySpace to screen death row inmate web pages.
• 2009: Enhanced Conspiracy to Solicit Capitol Murder to a 1st Degree Felony
• 2009: Added Conspiracy to Solicit Capitol Murder to the list of offenses eligible for Termination of Parental Rights
• 2009: Pre-1980 Homicide Cases will now be eligible to receive Crime Victim Compensation Benefits.
• 2011: Eliminated convicted first degree murderers from being eligible to receive Probation
• 2011: Mandated the Court to ask Prosecutors before a plea bargain is accepted if the victims/survivors have been notified 
• 2013: ‘Emma’s Law’ which give the Parole Board discretion to set-off all Injury To a Child cases for up to five years upon denying parole
• 2013: Graphic Crime Scene Photos no longer automatically released to the public upon request unless a stipulated by a Court order
• 2015: Allowing discretion for the Parole Board not to review offenders convicted of Capital Murder and Aggravated Sexual Assault for up to ten years upon denial of parole
• 2015: Allowing the Parole Board to impose sex offender conditions on offenders convicted on non-sexual offenses as long as evidence clearly indicates a sexual assault took place.
• 2018: City ordinance crafted to regulate parolee halfway houses in Houston
• 2019: ‘Sir Romeo Law’: Allows families whose children were the victim of Attempted Murder to apply for Relocation Expenses from the Crime Victim Compensation fund
• 2019: The Adult Clear Alert enacted to allow alerts to be broadcast on adults who go missing as a result of Criminal Conduct

Andy Kahan in his role as Victim Advocate has received national recognition on Television and News Shows such as:

• CNN       
• The Oprah Winfrey Show
• Anderson Cooper Show    
• ABC’s 20/20/Prime Time
• CBS’s 48 Hours
• Dateline     
• The Today Show
• Court TV      
• Good Morning America
• The Nancy Grace Show    
• Fox News
• MSNBC
• America’s Most Wanted    
• CBS 60 Minutes
• National Geographic Taboo
• Newsweek    
• People Magazine  
• Crime Watch Daily                                     
• The John Walsh Show
• A@E Network 
• Discovery  ID 
• Netflix : Killer Nurses and Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer
• Time Magazine 

• Governor’s Senator Ralph Yarborough Allied Professional Award for Outstanding Leadership by a Service Professional
• Foundation for Improvement of Justice National Award Winner for significant contributions to the field of criminal justice
• National Council of Jewish Women Hannah G. Solomon Award for enacting social change to improve crime victims rights
• Ronald Wilson Reagan Public Policy Award from the United States Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) for public policy leadership and innovation that benefits crime victims
• National Organization of Parents of Murdered Children Becky Reed Memorial Award for outstanding contributions  on behalf of survivors of homicide
• Crime Stoppers of Houston Leiv Platou Award for contributions to enhance public safety and victims’ rights
• Recognized by the City of Katy as one of their top Person’s of the Year 2018
• Andy Kahan Day Proclamation issued by the City of Houston 2018
• National Office for Victim Assistance (NOVA) Marlene Young Leadership Award for Victim Advocacy