Spiritual Needs Task Force

The spiritual needs task force should include leaders from the interfaith community who can recruit and train other spiritual providers. A state or local council of churches or another nondenominational faith-based group can serve as an initial contact to recruit skilled providers.

Ideally, those chosen to work on a trial project should have experience working with victims of crime and trauma. When recruiting faith-based professionals, ensure that they have an understanding of and commitment to using a victim service model (information, support, and referral) in providing services. It may be difficult to find enough qualified individuals in the interfaith community to meet the needs of a long trial. Therefore, the task force should be prepared to offer faith-based professionals more extensive training in the basics of trauma and victimization before they begin working with victims.

Spiritual providers should commit to providing a nondenominational approach when working with victims during a trial. It should be clearly articulated to victims that professionals from numerous faiths are available for consultation and support, but it is each victim's choice to speak with someone. These restrictions may present a spiritual and professional challenge to some providers, so they should be offered opportunities to debrief and support one another.