You may want to write a letter each year to the parole board to update them on how the crime continues to impact you and to inform them of your safety concerns. Information from these letters helps the parole board in assessing the offender’s understanding of the impact of the offense, the conditions necessary to manage the risk presented by the offender and his or her release plans. It is helpful to know the victim’s views, should the offender be released and placed near the victim.

The offender also reads these letters. He or she has access to everything you submit to the National Parole Board. Often victims don’t want the offender to know how afraid they are and how unsafe they feel. They don’t want the offender to get a “charge” from reading about the effects the murder has had on their lives. Consider carefully what you want to include in your letters and statements. Remember that you can’t send something that will be seen only by the National Parole Board. Copies will automatically be sent to the offender.

Mennonite Central Committee Canada. (2011). Getting through the maze: A guidebook for survivors of homicide.