News & Features

News from Grantees

New Resources for Law Enforcement to Support Victims' Access to Compensation

Law enforcement officers play a critical role in assisting victims of crime. In many cases, law enforcement officers are the only justice system personnel with whom victims of crime interact.

It is therefore vital that officers have tools and training so they can communicate information about victim compensation and other services to victims of crime.

To assist law enforcement agencies, the International Association of Chiefs of Police created Law Enforcement's Role in Victim Compensation. This project was developed in partnership with the Police Foundation and the National Center for Victims of Crime, and with funding support from OVC.

Law Enforcement's Role in Victim Compensation offers training videos and companion guides customized for first responders, investigators, and law enforcement leaders. Materials also include frequently asked questions about victim compensation, customizable resources to assist your agency, and more.

(Posted October 9, 2018)

Funding Opportunity: Center for Victim Research Announces Fellowships

The Center for Victim Research (CVR) recently announced the availability of Researcher-and-Practitioner Fellowships of up to $15,000. The fellowship program aims to encourage collaboration between victim researchers and service providers that helps to build an evidence base for victim services.

The Researcher-and-Practitioner Fellowships program can fund three forms of fellowships:

• Early stage partnerships and projects that focus on building a relationship while taking early research steps.
• Existing partnerships and projects, in which partners expand an existing project or plan.
• Advanced partnerships and projects, in which longtime partners further analyze or publicize findings from earlier work.

Proposals must be received by 6:00 p.m. e.t. on October 8, 2018, and contracts must be fully executed by November 30, 2018. Fellowships will last 9 months.

Visit the CVR website to learn about this tool for victim service providers and researchers to connect and share knowledge. CVR facilitates access to victim research and data while improving the utility of research and data collection to crime victim services nationwide.

(Posted September 25, 2018)

Funding Opportunity: Reaching Victims of Crime in Underserved Communities

The National Resource Center for Reaching Victims will fund up to 10 projects that serve victims from communities frequently underrepresented in healing services and avenues to justice.

The Reaching Victims of Crime Mini-Grant program will address unmet needs and close gaps that prevent survivors from accessing and benefiting from victim services. Projects funded by this program will better identify, engage, and serve survivors from underserved communities or those who face particular barriers to accessing the help they need.

Apply by October 12, 2018.

Interested applicants are strongly encouraged to send an email to reachingvictims@vera.org by October 5 stating an intent to apply.

Awards will be worth up to $50,000 and the projects will be funded across a 9-month period beginning in December 2018 and ending in August 2019.

Only 1 in 10 victims of violent crime report receiving victim services, according to the National Crime Victimization Survey. The National Resource Center for Reaching Victims aims to be a one-stop shop where providers, policymakers, and others will be able to obtain information to enhance their ability to serve all victims, especially those from communities that often have less access to services and justice.

(Posted September 24, 2018)

Funding Opportunity: 2018 National Identity Theft Assistance Network Expansion Program

The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), through a cooperative agreement with U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), announced a new grant opportunity under the National Identity Theft Assistance Network Expansion Program (NITVAN II).

Through NITVAN II, ITRC awarded six grants to coalition leaders across the nation in 2017. Learn more about these identity theft and cybercrime coalitions.

ITRC anticipates making up to 10 additional awards to organizations that will develop and lead an identity theft and/or cybercrime coalition.

This funding opportunity builds on prior NITVAN II efforts, and will further strengthen the network previously established. Each coalition will work to expand services to better address the rights and needs of identity theft and/or cybercrime victims. Applicants may achieve this goal through various initiatives, including, but not limited to—

• community outreach and public awareness campaigns,
• improved interagency infrastructure, coordination, and referrals, and
• education and training of service professionals within the geographic region.

Successful applicants will be awarded up to $50,000, for a period of 1 year (October 2018–September 2019).

Learn more and apply by July 31, 2018.

(Posted February 13, 2018; updated June 27, 2018)

Register to Attend Free Language Access Training

Register to attend one of three Achieving Language Access for Crime Victims regional trainings, hosted by the OVC-sponsored Translating Justice Initiative. This training series seeks to enhance the capacity of victim services personnel to serve people with limited English proficiency and people who are deaf and hard-of-hearing.

The training will cover the following topics:

• an overview of why language access matters;
• the legal and ethical responsibilities of providing language access;
• how to plan for language access;
• how to conduct a needs assessment and where to find resources in your community;
• working with interpreters;
• how to manage the use of other language access devices, including the use of technology; and
• how to monitor your language access plan for quality assurance.

Click on the links below for additional details about each training and to register.

Washington, D.C.: June 27–28, 2018

Minneapolis, Minnesota: July 11–12, 2018

Albuquerque, New Mexico: August 22–23, 2018

(Posted May 24, 2018)

Mobile App Offers Support to Victims of Sexual Assault

According to 2016 Bureau of Justice Statistics data, only 12 percent of victims of serious violence reported receiving services to assist them in a crime's aftermath. OVC is committed to reaching even more survivors and to better meeting the needs of all victims of crime.

To help address this, End Violence Against Women International, with funding from OVC, is expanding and enhancing services to victims of sexual assault.

Seek Then Speak is a multichannel platform available as a mobile app, a website, and by phone and text, which helps survivors of sexual assault gather information, make decisions, and take the action that is right for them.

Services are available in 30 different languages, and users can remain anonymous while they explore their options.

OVC is also supporting Victim Link, which operates in partnership with Seek Then Speak. If a victim decides to request advocacy services or wants to report a sexual assault to law enforcement, the Seek Then Speak tool will alert the appropriate agencies and organizations through Victim Link.

A limited number of one-year subscriptions are available for eligible law enforcement agencies and victim advocacy organizations. Learn more and apply for a Victim Link subscription.

(Posted April 23, 2018)

Expanding the Circle to Reach Young Victims of Crime

Our Nation's children and youth experience crime and victimization at alarming rates. The OVC-funded Vision 21: Linking Systems of Care for Children and Youth demonstration project brings statewide systems together to coordinate efforts that ensure a timely and seamless response for children and their families.

One of the grantees in this project, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, recently released a series of articles to commemorate 2018 National Crime Victims' Rights Week and this year's theme–Expand the Circle: Reach All Victims.

These articles, authored by Linking Systems of Care Steering Committee members, discuss how their field seeks to "expand the circle" and "reach all victims" in vulnerable populations and how this work ties into the goals of the project.

Visit the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges site to read the articles, including several that were authored by OVC fellows:

• National Crime Victims' Rights Week, by Chris Newlin, National Children's Advocacy Center


• Healing and Trauma of Vietnamese Refugee Women, by Tuyet Duong, OVC Fellow


• Listening To A Child's Needs - Maybe They Know More Than We Do, by Deanee' Johnson, Ph.D., OVC Fellow


• Expanding the Circle of Those Being Heard and Being Healed: Most Harmed, Least Helped - Young Men of Color, by Aswad Thomas, MSW, Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice


• Expanding the Circle to Include Males: Moving Beyond Shame, by Peter Pollard, OVC Fellow


• Well-Being as a Common Frame for Practice and Policy for Young People Who Have Experienced Crime and Victimization, by Lyman Legters, Casey Family Programs, and Clare Anderson, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago

(Posted April 23, 2018)

Evaluating Elder/Adult Abuse Fatality Review Teams

The American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging is inventorying elder/adult abuse fatality review teams (EAFRTs) across the United States. This is a crucial step for a new project funded by OVC and conducted in collaboration with the University of Texas Health Science Center.

The new project builds upon the Commission's earlier work, also funded by OVC, which provided seed funding to some of the earliest EAFRTs and produced an elder abuse fatality review team replication manual.

The goals of this project are to update and expand the initial capacity-building work and evaluate the impact of EAFRTs in identifying system gaps and improving victim services. The Commission on Law and Aging is seeking information about multidisciplinary teams that review deaths that were or might have been related to elder abuse, domestic violence in later life, or abuse of adults with disabilities.

Learn more about the fatality review team survey.

(Posted March 21, 2018)

Reaching and Supporting Male Survivors of Violence

The Vision 21: Supporting Male Survivors of Violence initiative seeks to improve the field's capacity to provide culturally appropriate and trauma-informed services for boys and men harmed by violence. It also seeks to expand services that help normalize their lives and promote their healing.

This initiative is a collaboration between OVC, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

With OVC's support, the Healing Justice Alliance provides training and technical assistance to 12 demonstration sites implementing the program.

The Healing Justice Alliance recently released the first in a series of briefs on Reaching out to Male Survivors of Violence. Based on the work of experts in the field, this brief offers best practices for reaching and serving male victims of crime.

Read Reaching out to Male Survivors of Violence to learn how you may be able to apply these lessons in your community.

(Posted February 23, 2018)

Strengthening Law Enforcement Response to Domestic and Sexual Violence

With support from OVC, and in collaboration with the National Crime Victim Law Institute, the International Association of Chiefs of Police recently announced funding for six law enforcement agencies to identify, address, and prevent gender bias.

Part of a national demonstration site initiative, these agencies will receive support to strengthen their response to victims and improve their investigations of sexual assault, domestic/intimate partner violence, and stalking. Agencies receiving funds are the—

City of Shawnee, Oklahoma, Police Department, Clark County, Ohio, Sheriff's Office, Denton, Texas, Police Department, Iowa City, Iowa, Police Department, Nampa, Idaho, Police Department, and Vancouver, Washington, Police Department. Learn more on the International Association of Chiefs of Police website. (Posted February 6, 2018)

View the Gender Bias Initiative Infographic

National Identity Theft Victims Assistance Network

The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), a nationally recognized non-profit organization established to support victims of identity theft, recently announced six awards to lead identity theft coalitions. Each grantee will use this funding support to help expand and improve services to identity theft and cybercrime victims in their respective state or region.

These awards were made under the National Identity Theft Victims Assistance Network Expansion (NITVAN II) project, which receives its funding from OVC.

This year's grantees are:

• Attorney General, Massachusetts
• Minnesota Alliance on Crime
• Iowa Organization for Victim Assistance
• Elder Law of Michigan, Inc.
• The National Cybersecurity Society
• Cybercrime Support Network

In addition, a partnership was established between the ITRC and the National Center for Victims of Crime to aid ITRC in supporting the coalition-building efforts.

Learn more about this project on the Identity Theft Resource Center website.

(Posted November 13, 2017)

Funding Opportunity: Integrity, Action, and Justice: Strengthening Law Enforcement Response to Domestic and Sexual Violence

The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), with funding support from OVC, is seeking applications from law enforcement agencies to be part of a demonstration initiative, Integrity, Action, and Justice: Strengthening Law Enforcement Response to Domestic and Sexual Violence. Through this funding opportunity, IACP seeks to improve community trust through response to, and investigation of, domestic/intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and stalking.

Successful applicants will work closely with project staff and community partners to assess current practices and build agency-wide capacity to implement trauma-informed, victim-focused policies and procedures.

IACP expects to make up to four total awards not exceeding $225,000 per year for up to 3 years.

On September 25, 2017, at 2:00 p.m. e.t., join IACP for a webinar that will provide details and guidance for potential applicants.

Part I application submissions are due October 9, 2017.

Learn more and apply on the IACP website.

(Posted September 15, 2017)

Learn More About OVC's Vicarious Trauma Toolkit

OVC released the Vicarious Trauma Toolkit in April 2017 to address the negative effects of exposure to the traumatic experiences of other people.

The toolkit was created through an OVC grant to Northeastern University, and in an article from News @ Northeastern, Associate Professor Beth Molnar discusses the comprehensive efforts that were involved in developing this important resource.

The process of creating the toolkit included a national survey, calls for materials from the field, a systematic review of research literature and websites, expert summits, the development of 16 new tools, a pilot study of the website that included focus groups, and interviews in seven locations around the country.

In the article, Molnar says that “talking about the impact of trauma has been considered taboo—until now. We're changing that social norm so there's a positive, promotive, preventative set of responsibilities organizations can take on to make this kind of work healthy for people dealing with what we now call an occupational challenge, rather than a hazard or a negative part of the work."

(Posted July 31, 2017)

Roadmap to Assist Trafficking Survivors with Post-Conviction Legal Support

The U.S. Department of State notes that “authorities often fail to properly screen and identify victims of human trafficking when they detain or arrest criminal suspects. This can result in a second victimization when victims are punished for their engagement in the crimes their traffickers forced them to commit."

To address this issue, the American Bar Association, with funding support from OVC, published, Post-Conviction Advocacy for Survivors of Human Trafficking: A Guide for Attorneys (PDF 844 kb).

This guide serves as a roadmap for practitioners who represent trafficking survivors in post-conviction efforts to clear, vacate, expunge, or seal criminal records. It contains important filing considerations for motion practice, best practices for employing a trauma-informed approach to client interviewing and representation, and other best practices for advocates.

(Posted July 5, 2017)