Debbie Snyder

Project Payback Program Manager

caseyg@sao8.org

120 W University AVE

Gainesville FL 32601

(352) 337-6174

Debbie Snyder became the Program Manager of Project Payback in August 1999.  She supervises a dedicated staff of three and conducts individual job skills training for juveniles who are court ordered to pay restitution. For the past seven years, Gretchen has complied demographic data of the annual juvenile offenses committed in the 8^th Judicial Circuit, and she has presented the report to several juvenile justice agencies serving the six counties.  She successfully filed, introduced, and passed victim legislation in the 2002 Florida Legislature, which requires clerks’ offices to provide victims with information on how to enforce restitution orders that have been converted to civil liens.

Prior to accepting her position with Project Payback, Gretchen worked for thirteen years as a victim advocate in Alachua County providing counseling and advocacy to survivors of homicide, DUI, and other forms of violence. For the past 12 years, Gretchen has been instrumental in the creation and development of the Victim’s Memorial Park, the first county park in Florida to be dedicated to victims of crime. Gretchen has received local and statewide awards for her service to crime victims from MADD, Parents of Murdered Children, and the Florida Network of Victim Witness Services.  She is currently the president for the Florida Network of Victim Witness Services. She is a frequent presenter and trainer at Victim Service conferences.  She received her B.A. from the University of Florida in 1985 and has completed intensive certification training in Morita and Naikan Therapies.