The field of corrections addressed in this bulletin includes the adult and juvenile justice agencies responsible for the incarceration, detention, supervision, and surveillance of those accused or convicted of committing crimes. August 1998; Free (NCJ 172816); OVC.
www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/new/directions/pdftxt/bulletins/bltn6.pdf

This document offers an overview of correctional practices and planning strategies for responding to victims of crime. It contains a wealth of ideas to establish and enhance corrections-based victim services, particularly improving treatment of crime victims in the postsentencing phase of their cases. The needs of crime victims—to be notified of the offender’s status or case disposition, to complete victim impact statements, to be protected, and to receive restitution—should be recognized throughout the correctional and judicial processes. Programs are highlighted as models for replication in local, state, and federal jurisdictions. July 1999; Free (NCJ 166605); OVC.
www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/publications/infores/victims/victserv.pdf

With more than two-thirds of the offender population in the United States under some form of community supervision, community corrections agencies and practitioners are facing incredible challenges, including decisions on how to implement effective practices and strategies for serving victims of crime. Significant strides have been made by probation and parole over the past two decades in addressing victims’ rights and needs; however, the quest to instill victims’ rights and services as commonplace and routine practices is a goal that has yet to be realized. This document describes how increasingly more community corrections agencies are responding to crime victims by implementing promising victim-related practices within their jurisdictions. July 1999; Free (NCJ 166606); OVC.
www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/publications/infores/probparole/welcome.html

This 17-minute video shares with the viewer the perspectives of victims and parole board members about the value of victim participation in the parole decisionmaking process. It features examples from California, Massachusetts, and South Carolina, where special efforts have been made to increase victim participation. It demonstrates that the inmate is not the only person affected by the decisions of the parole board and depicts an actual parole board hearing. The video suggests that, at a minimum, victims should be notified in advance of an inmate’s eligibility for release to address safety concerns and prepare themselves psychologically. The video also addresses a concern expressed by many parole board members—how to remain objective and strike a balance between the victim’s input and desires—and other available and relevant information. October 2000; Free (NCJ 180108); OVC. The video includes the Victim Issues for Parole Boards User’s Guide (NCJ 180109).