New coordinator hired at FOCUS

Hannah Gross
NLJ Correspondent 
 
Jennifer Stulken has always been passionate about community outreach and helping people, and now she can do just that with her new job at FOCUS Inc. as the victim/witness coordinator, a job she started in August. A victim/witness coordinator works closely with crime victims and witnesses during criminal investigations and trials, acting as their advocate, Stulken said. 
“I enjoy being a listening ear for my clients,” she said. “I hope that the victims feel my support.”
Stulken said it’s important to her that victims are respected and understand the processes of the criminal justice system. She supports them through that. With her new job, she assists with protection for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence, as well as working shifts for FOCUS’s 24-hour hotline. 
Even as a student, Stulken said, she had a heart for victims of abuse. Throughout her middle school and high school years of involvement with Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America, she won several state and national awards for her projects, which always had something to do with outreach and community — usually focusing on the family. 
“In high school, I was extremely involved with FCCLA,” Stulken said. “I just had a zeal and a passion for it right from the beginning.” 
After graduating from Upton High School, Stulken spent a few years in Louisiana working as a municipal court clerk and assistant clerk, and that’s when she first became interested in the legal profession. Because she and her husband, Michael, the Weston County deputy county attorney, are parents to five children, Stulken said she didn’t have the time to put herself through college. She decided to go to various trade schools instead, studying to be a private investigator and a paralegal. She graduated with honors and is now enrolled in an online forensic science trade school program. 
“Forensic science is the hardest trade school I’ve ever been to,” Stulken said. 
Now that her kids are older and all in school (the oldest is 20 and her youngest is 10), she decided she could take on a job in addition to her other responsibilities. As a mother of five who works full time and attends an online school, Stulken rarely has free time, but she doesn’t mind because she doesn’t “know how to do nothing” and she sees school as her “hobby,” she said. 
“Being a mother is my first and foremost priority,” Stulken said, when asked how she balances her busy lifestyle. 
She prioritizes her family but also is involved with the community. As a way to give back to the community, she coaches soccer with her husband, and they hope to start basketball camps in the future. Stulken also served as vice president of the Upton Chamber of Commerce  and ran for mayor and has served on numerous boards. Currently, she sits on the Weston County Arts Council board. 
Stulken said she looks forward to her new life in Newcastle and getting involved with the Weston County community.