Title: Report to Congress Series: Reports to Congress Author: Office for Victims of Crime Published: December 1999 Subject: Victim--general, Victims' Rights, Victim Services 163 pages 353,000 bytes ---------------------------- Figures, charts, forms, and tables are not included in this ASCII plain-text file. To view this document in its entirety, download the Adobe Acrobat graphic file available from this Web site or order a print copy from Office for Victims of Crime Resource Center at 800-627-6872. ---------------------------- Report To Congress December 1999 NCJ 178933 ---------------------------- U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs 810 Seventh Street NW. Washington, DC 20531 Janet Reno Attorney General Daniel Marcus Acting Associate Attorney General Laurie Robinson Assistant Attorney General Noel Brennan Deputy Assistant Attorney General Kathryn M. Turman Director, Office for Victims of Crime Office of Justice Programs World Wide Web Home Page www.ojp.usdoj.gov Office for Victims of Crime World Wide Web Home Page www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc For grant and funding information contact U.S. Department of Justice Response Center 1-800-421-6770 OVC Resource Center 1-800-627-6872 OVC Resource Center Home Page www.ncjrs.gov The Office for Victims of Crime is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. ---------------------------- Victims of Crime Act of 1984, as amended: A Report to the President and the Congress Office for Victims of Crime Office of Justice Programs U.S. Department of Justice This report covers activities undertaken by the Office for Victims of Crime and its grantees with Crime Victims Fund revenues during Fiscal Years 1997-1998 ---------------------------- Acknowledgments The Office for Victims of Crime gratefully acknowledges the work of writer Jennifer Elcano who spent many hours in the development of this Report to Congress. We also appreciate the contributions made by writer/editors Grace Coleman and Theodosia Craig, who were instrumental during the various stages of finalizing the Report. ---------------------------- Contents Message From the Director Chapter 1. Introduction--OVC Advocating for Victims' Rights and Services Chapter 2. Programs and Services for Crime Victims Chapter 3. Advocating for Crime Victims' Rights Chapter 4. Forming Partnerships To Enhance Victim Services Chapter 5. Improving Services to Victims of Crime Chapter 6. Promising Practices and Demonstration Programs Chapter 7. Providing International Leadership and Responding to Victims of Terrorism Chapter 8. Supporting Direct Services for Crime Victims Chapter 9. Looking to the Future Appendixes ---------------------------- Message From the Director The journey of the Office for Victims of Crime over the past 2 fiscal years-- 1997 and 1998--really began in June 1996. President Clinton issued a memorandum to the U.S. Attorney General asking for a renewed commitment to crime victims, affirming his support for a constitutional amendment for crime victims, and outlining four steps for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to improve the treatment of victims in the Federal, State, military, and juvenile criminal justice systems (see sidebar). Responding to the President's Directives During FYs 1997-1998, OVC has done much to implement the President's directive to encourage and facilitate victims' participation in the criminal justice process. With support of the President and U.S. Attorney General, OVC provided the impetus to make victims' rights and services a priority for Federal criminal justice professionals. OVC held Federal agencies accountable for their victim/witness responsibilities and created partnerships and shared management responsibility for the Federal victim/witness program. OVC remains vigilant in its effort to institutionalize programs for victims in the Federal system by requiring the continuation of program efforts as a condition of funding. As a Federal agency, OVC is unique in that it has direct service responsibilities for victims of Federal crimes. OVC's three divisions fund a variety of formula and discretionary grant programs throughout the country, many of which address the President's third and fourth directives. OVC's State Compensation and Assistance Division (SCAD) awards formula grants to States and territories and ensures that the funds are spent for legislated purposes. The Federal Crime Victims Division (FCVD) trains Federal personnel and develops programs to assist victims whose cases are handled within the Federal and Tribal criminal justice systems. The Special Projects Division (SPD), like FCVD, designs discretionary grant programs to provide comprehensive, high-quality training for victim assistance providers throughout the country. In addition, OVC provides a national clearinghouse of crime victim resources and operates a Training and Technical Assistance Center (TTAC) for dissemination of training and grantee products. Through its formula grants to States for victim assistance and compensation, OVC accomplished the following in FYs 1997-1998: --Integrated victim services within the criminal justice system, in correlation with the passage of victims' rights legislation at the State level. --Stabilized victim services at the State level through increased funding. --Provided greater access to victim services for access-challenged populations. --Coordinated efforts among State, local advocates, Federal officials, and Indian Tribes. --Provided training, raised public awareness, and conducted outreach to victims to determine new rights and service priorities. --Assisted victims of nonviolent crime by creating and instituting innovative policy that addresses their needs. --Effected sharing of information among different victim service programs and groups through facilitating an effective peer support structure, focus groups, and regional conferences and meetings. --Supported use of technology to process victim claims for financial compensation. --Heightened sensitivity among victim service providers, allied professionals, and the public regarding the mental health needs of crime victims. OVC's formula and discretionary dollars have helped to improve the quality of crime victim programs, policies, and procedures while victim assistance and compensation grants to States and territories provide services to more than 21 million crime victims during the biennium. Over the last 2 fiscal years, when the large influx of funds became available to States for victim services as a result of the Daiwa Bank fine deposit into the Crime Victims Fund, the VOCA victim assistance program flourished--and the result for crime victims is better treatment, wider range of services, and more effective assistance programs. A permanent change, though, is needed to support a fundamental funding base that will sustain the stability and growth of existing programs and promote opportunities for funding new programs. Along with grant-driven efforts, OVC also has undertaken numerous activities designed to advance crime victims' rights and to focus public attention on crime victims' needs. (This important leadership component is described in chapters 3, 4, 5, and 7.) During the last biennium, OVC continued to work in close partnership with victim services providers and others in the field to help ensure justice and healing for victims and promoted fulfillment of both the "letter" and the "spirit" of the law with respect to victims' rights and needs. ---------------------------- [begin sidebar] THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON June 27, 1996 MEMORANDUM FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL SUBJECT: Renewing our Commitment to Crime Victims "I am directing you to take a number of important steps that will improve the treatment of victims in the Federal, State, military, and juvenile criminal justice systems. First, I am directing you to undertake a systemwide review and to take all necessary steps to provide for full victim participation in Federal criminal hearings. "Second, I would like you to work with other Federal agencies whose missions involve them with crime victims in order to ensure that a common and comprehensive baseline of participation for victims can be achieved. "Third, I want you to review existing Federal statutes to see what further changes should be made. For example, I would like you to consider legislation that would prohibit employers from dismissing or disciplining employees who are victims of crime and whose participation as victims in criminal proceedings requires them to take time away from their employment. "Finally, I want you to work with State officials--governors, attorneys general, legislators, district attorneys, and judges--and victims' rights advocates to identify the needs, challenges, best practices, and resources necessary to help achieve a uniform national baseline of protections for victims. "The U.S. Department of Justice should provide technical assistance to State and local law enforcement, as well as other Federal agencies, and serve as a national clearinghouse for information about the most effective approaches to realizing fully the rights of victims of violent crime." [end sidebar] ---------------------------- Highlights from FYs 1997-1998 This Report to Congress, as prescribed by statute, describes many of OVC's accomplishments made possible by funding authorized in the Victims of Crime Act of 1984, as amended. Activities begun in FYs 1997-1998 are covered in this Report as well as some important initiatives that extend into FY 1999. Some significant achievements from this biennium include the following: OVC facilitated and funded unmet needs for Federal crime victims. OVC provided resources where none existed and funded innovative projects such as the following: --Supported the development of telemedicine and other technologies to meet the needs of crime victims in remote areas. --Helped to create a national automated victim information system, which will provide timely notice to victims about their offenders' status within the Federal criminal justice system--this in direct response to the President's directive. --Addressed fraud victims' needs through a new series of grant programs and publications designed to inform, protect, and otherwise recognize the unique needs of this previously neglected group of crime victims. --Joined other Justice components to combat terrorism, foreign and domestic, through new partnerships, protocols, policies, and procedures; --established model programs with other agencies; and funded training on terrorism issues. --Provided financial support directly to more than 50 federally recognized Tribes to deliver direct services and provided training and technical assistance in Indian Country in accordance with President Clinton's 1994 Directive to deal with Tribes on a government-to-government basis. OVC developed long-term funding strategies with States. Of major importance during FY 1997 was the unprecedented funding provided for local crime victims' programs, made possible by a record year of deposits into the Crime Victims Fund (CVF)--$529 million, up from a previous record of $363 million deposited in FY 1996. OVC took a strong, visionary approach with the States, launching several policy and strategic planning initiatives to encourage and assist development of long-term funding strategies and prepare States to effectively use these moneys--which they did. The increase in funding, together with OVC leadership, provided the crime victims field with the resources needed to expand services across the country into many unserved and underserved areas such as rural America. OVC responded to the field. With unprecedented resources, OVC amplified its program development and policymaking responsibilities to the field by-- --Establishing the Technical Training and Assistance Center to provide the field with a central access point for a range of crime victim resources, including a mentoring program to further the skills, knowledge, and abilities of VOCA administrators and their staff through peer consultation. --Overseeing revision of the Attorney General's Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance (AG Guidelines) to clarify roles and responsibilities for investigators, prosecutors, and corrections officials; providing funding support to other agencies with Federal victim/witness responsibilities; and staffing the Deputy Attorney General's working group on victims of crime. --Helping States develop integrated crisis response plans and enhance their current response protocols to provide long-term services to communities experiencing multiple-victim crimes. OVC developed more partnerships and technologies. OVC developed many more partnerships in the last biennium to enhance delivery of services. One example includes implementation of an innovative Victim Services 2000 (VS 2000) demonstration program, which creates victim-centered practices and environments within communities and helps them to develop comprehensive, accessible services for crime victims. OVC also funded the development of technology both internally and externally to enhance the provision of victim services. On the international front, OVC continued to coordinate with other Justice components, the State Department, the United Nations, and international organizations to improve assistance to victims abroad, responding to such issues as tourist victimization, crime victim compensation, international terrorism, and missing and exploited women and children. OVC increased public awareness of crime victim issues. OVC's mission is to enhance the Nation's capacity to assist crime victims by working to change attitudes, policies, and practices to secure justice and healing for all victims of crime. In this regard, OVC continued to serve a leadership role in advancing crime victims' rights and empowering communities through support for community-based initiatives, community capacity-building, and local decisionmaking. OVC continued to support Federal and State legislation aimed at promoting fundamental rights for crime victims and to raise public awareness through issuance of a national blueprint for victims' rights and services for the next millennium in the form of New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights and Services for the 21st Century (New Directions). Written by and for the victim assistance field with OVC support, this publication will continue to guide funding priorities for victim assistance services. What the Future Holds for Crime Victims The landscape of America is changing: immigrant and elderly populations continue to grow, while persons with disabilities and others needing access to crime victim services continue to emerge. In response, OVC is strengthening its efforts to reach these unserved and underserved victim populations. Traditional victim services in areas such as domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse, broke ground for a victims' movement now even more far-reaching. The field now encompasses victims of hate and bias, terrorism, political torture, financial fraud, and victims within vulnerable populations such as the elderly and those with disabilities. Crime victims, once useful only as "evidence," now have a legitimate role in criminal justice proceedings. OVC's formula grants to States and discretionary programs have greatly reinforced this legitimacy and improved partnering throughout the system. People are beginning to see that crime victims have needs and the system is responding to them. With New Directions as OVC's compass, OVC will partner with other government and private nonprofit agencies and allied professionals in the victim services field to develop crime victim initiatives and further improve the response to crime victims. OVC will continue to identify new victim service areas, develop programs to address needs and deficiencies, encourage communities to reach out to unserved and underserved populations, find new entry points to provide access to victim services, and replicate promising practices. OVC will do this through support of applicable training and the development of protocols that incorporate crime victim issues at all levels of justice and social service systems. OVC will also emphasize the New Directions agenda in the curricula of its national victim assistance academies and its soon-to-be-established State victim assistance academies. In sum, OVC will continue to bring about systemic change to effect better treatment of crime victims and improved victim services. Toward this end, the anticipated collection of more than $800 million for the Crime Victims Fund by the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division[1] will greatly assist in providing the means to carry out the broader vision of OVC as advocated in New Directions. These funds will also allow OVC to address more emerging issues, do more for victims of terrorism and mass violence at home and abroad, play an even greater role in providing direct services to victims of violent and white collar crime, create a fellowship within OVC, and pursue other goals that continue to serve all victims of crime. Much work is left to do to ensure full inclusion and participation of all crime victims both within and outside of the criminal justice system. Although most State laws call for victims to be treated with dignity and compassion, to be informed of case status and notified of hearings and trial dates, to be able to deliver victim impact statements, and to receive restitution from convicted offenders, rights of victims still vary significantly nationwide. While 31 States (as of close of FY 1998) have enacted a State victims' rights amendment, many still lack adequate resources to implement programs to address rights afforded to victims and hence still cannot enforce compliance with their provisions. Please note that data for formula grants during FY 1998 are incomplete because the grant cycle for that year does not end until September 30, 2000. Kathryn M. Turman Director Office for Victims of Crime ---------------------------- Footnote: 1. This sizable deposit to the CVF will include the highest criminal fine imposed to date: F. Hoffmann-LaRoche, Ltd., a Swiss pharmaceutical giant, agreed in May 1999 to plead guilty and pay a $500 million criminal fine for leading a worldwide conspiracy to raise and fix prices and allocate market shares for certain vitamins sold in the United States and elsewhere. A former director of the firm's chemicals division agreed to pay a $100,000 fine. A German firm, BASF Aktiengesellschaft, will pay $225 million fine for its role in the conspiracy. The three cases are the result of an investigation conducted by the Antitrust Division's Dallas Field Office and the FBI in Dallas. ---------------------------- Chapter 1 Introduction--OVC Advocating for Victims' Rights and Services OVC's Origins and Mission The Crime Victims Fund: How Criminals Pay for Victim Services --Deposits Into the Fund --National Fine Center Returns $21 Million to the Crime Victims Fund --Managing the Fund and Creating a Reserve Fund --Programs Authorized by the Victims of Crime Act OVC's Nongrant-Related Functions --OVC's Leadership Initiatives in Behalf of Victims' Rights and Services Monitoring and Compliance --Best Efforts and Other Federal Statutory Requirements --Joint Performance Report --Onsite and Desk Monitoring of VOCA Grants Guideline Development --Modifications to the VOCA Victim Assistance Program --Modifications to the VOCA Crime Victim Compensation Program Overview of the Report to Congress OVC's Origins and Mission The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) is an agency located within the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that Congress formally established in 1988 through an amendment to the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) of 1984. VOCA, the outcome of the 1982 President's Task Force on Victims of Crime, not only established the Crime Victims Fund (CVF) and OVC, but also established full separate program initiatives to address the rights and needs of crime victims. VOCA authorizes OVC to fund States to operate crime victim compensation programs and to administer crime victim assistance services for Federal crime victims, national scope training and technical assistance, and demonstration initiatives. An amendment to VOCA also allows OVC to fund improved investigation and prosecution of child abuse under the Children's Justice Act (CJA). Crime victims receive support from OVC through formula and discretionary grants for programs and projects designed to enhance victims' rights and services. OVC also serves an advocacy and leadership role in developing policy and raising awareness for crime victims' rights and provides an array of training and other targeted resources for the many professionals who work with victims. Just as the 1982 President's Task Force on Victims of Crime was the impetus for government actions on behalf of crime victims, OVC's work with scores of advocates in the victims' rights field led to the first comprehensive assessment of the victims' movement since 1982 with the creation of New Directions from the Field: Victims Rights' and Services for the 21st Century, completed in 1998. In the course of compiling the hundreds of recommendations from the field and listening to the voices of victims, their advocates, and allied professionals who work with crime victims throughout the Nation, certain key recommendations emerged from this comprehensive report. The following five global challenges for responding to victims of crime in the 21st century form the core of the hundreds of ideas and recommendations presented in this report: --To enact and enforce consistent, fundamental rights for crime victims in Federal, State, juvenile, military, and Tribal justice systems, and administrative proceedings. --To provide crime victims with access to comprehensive, quality services, regardless of the nature of their victimization, age, race, religion, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, capability, or geographic location. --To integrate crime victims' issues into all levels of the Nation's educational system to ensure that justice and allied professionals and other service providers receive comprehensive training on victims' issues as part of their academic education and continuing training in the field. --To support, improve, and replicate promising practices in victims' rights and services built upon sound research, advanced technology, and multidisciplinary partnerships. --To ensure that the voices of crime victims play a central role in the Nation's response to violence and those victimized by crime. OVC embraces these challenges and has incorporated them into its mission and goals for the next millennium. Hence, these five global challenges represent the driving force behind the projects that OVC now funds and the policies it supports as OVC continues to advocate for victims everywhere. ---------------------------- OVC's Mission The mission of OVC is to enhance the Nation's capacity to assist crime victims and to provide leadership in changing attitudes, developing policies and practices that promote justice and healing for all victims of crimes. OVC accomplishes its mission by-- --Administering the Crime Victims Fund. --Funding direct services to crime victims. --Providing training programs that reach diverse professionals nationally and Internationally. --Sponsoring demonstration projects and programs that have national impact. --Publishing and disseminating materials that highlight promising practices for the effective treatment of crime victims that can be replicated. --Offering technical assistance to governments, private sector programs, and others. --Developing policy and establishing public awareness initiatives. ---------------------------- The Crime Victims Fund: How Criminals Pay for Victim Services A primary OVC responsibility is to administer the Crime Victims Fund (CVF). The CVF contains money derived not from tax dollars, but from fines and penalties that Federal criminal offenders must pay as part of their sentences. The largest source of deposits in the CVF comes from criminal fines. In FY 1997, the CVF held $529 million in deposits--most of which was distributed for direct victim assistance services in communities. This amount surpassed the preceding record-breaking year by approximately $166 million. A major contributor to the Fund was Daiwa Bank, which was ordered to pay a record single fine of $340 million, in settlement of its illegal trading fraud case. Deposits Into the Fund In FYs 1996 and 1997, approximately $892 million ($529 million from 1996 and $363 million from 1997) was collected from Federal criminal offenders to serve crime victims, surpassing the recent biennial high by about $129 million. In FY 1998, $324 million was deposited for distribution in FY 1999 (see Figure 1). These impressive collections reflect heightened efforts by U.S. Attorneys and the Antitrust Division within DOJ, at the behest of the U.S. Attorney General, to aggressively pursue fines from convicted offenders. National Fine Center Returns $21 Million to the Crime Victims Fund In the first session of the 105th Congress, the House of Representatives repealed funding authority contained in VOCA that required the transfer of CVF dollars to the Administrative Office of the United States Courts to fund operation of the National Fine Center (NFC). This resulted in $21 million in unexpended NFC moneys being returned to the CVF and made available to OVC to improve services to crime victims in the Federal criminal justice system. Congress authorized these dollars for hiring victim/witness coordinators in U.S. Attorney's offices; establishing an automated victim information and notification system for Federal cases; and collecting, enforcing, and processing restitution orders. Managing the Fund and Creating a Reserve Fund To guard against any future dramatic decreases in CVF deposits, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (the Crime Act) gave OVC authority to set aside deposits in years of increased deposits--up to $20 million- -into a Reserve Fund which OVC did in early FY 1995. The Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act authorized OVC to increase the amount in "reserve" up to $50 million. A portion of the Reserve Fund supplemented funding to States and provided funding to U.S. prosecutor response to victims of terrorism and mass violence. OVC accessed the Reserve Fund in FYs 1997-1998 to support services for Oklahoma City bombing victims and for victims of the U.S. Embassy bombings in East Africa. ---------------------------- Each year, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno hosts an annual Crime Victims Fund Award Ceremony to honor DOJ employees for outstanding contributions to the enforcement and collection of Federal criminal debts, the proceeds of which fund thousands of victim services programs throughout the country. (See Appendix 1 for a description of some of the innovative efforts undertaken by Federal employees to hold offenders accountable and secure funds for crime victim services.) ---------------------------- Programs Authorized by the Victims of Crime Act Each year, OVC distributes approximately 90 percent of the money collected to States and U.S. territories to help fund their victim assistance and victim compensation programs. Remaining funds are used for training and technical assistance, national demonstration programs showcasing promising practices in the delivery of victim rights and services, and improving the investigation and prosecution of child abuse cases. The increase in CVF deposits resulted in a 61 percent increase in programs funded with VOCA victim assistance funds dollars. More than 4,000 local victim services programs, such as domestic violence shelters, children's advocacy centers, and sexual assault programs, received Federal funding from the CVF over the FYs 1997-1998 grant periods. Compensation funds totaling $514 million reimbursed victims for out-of-pocket expenses resulting from crime, including the cost of medical and mental health counseling, lost wages, funeral and burial expenses, and loss of support. Together, VOCA victim assistance and victim compensation programs are a lifeline to victims during their recovery process. OVC's Nongrant-Related Functions In addition to the many efforts funded through its formula and discretionary grant programs (see chapter 2), OVC also undertakes numerous nongrant activities to advance crime victims' rights. OVC raises public awareness of victims' issues through its Resource Center, Web site, Training and Technical Assistance Center, and National Crime Victims' Rights Week Activities. OVC also hosts focus groups and other meetings with its victim advocacy constituency and develops informational materials to educate and focus public attention on crime victims' rights and needs. It promotes victims' rights and services around the world, for example, by targeting and participating in solutions for terrorism and international victim issues. Finally, collaborative, coordinated efforts in the form of internal DOJ working groups, interagency task forces, and other cooperative efforts are a principal means by which OVC advances victims' issues and works to improve victims' rights, recognition, and services. Financial fraud including health care fraud, family violence, mental health, and domestic preparedness are subjects of several DOJ working groups in which OVC participates, along with an interagency task force on child abuse. This chapter summarizes how OVC provides leadership, conducts monitoring and compliance, develops policy, and comments on victim-related legislation to ensure victims' rights and services, also nongrant-related functions. OVC's Leadership Initiatives in Behalf of Victims' Rights and Services As mentioned previously, a major OVC-led initiative in FYs 1997-1998 was the creation and distribution of New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights and Services for the 21st Century, a comprehensive report and set of recommendations on victims' rights and services from and concerning virtually every community involved with crime victims across the Nation. It also describes "promising practices" used around the country to implement victims' rights and services. Reflecting the views of more than 1,000 victim service and allied professionals, New Directions proposes 250 recommendations to improve crime victim treatment, and they serve as a guide to providing comprehensive victim services well into the next century. OVC has made progress and will continue working toward meeting the five global challenges which emerged from the New Directions recommendations. These global challenges amplify OVC's mission to promote justice and healing for all victims of crime. Monitoring and Compliance OVC plays a key role in monitoring and facilitating Federal and State agency compliance with statutory mandates affecting victims. OVC's monitoring of State programs and Federal efforts is one way to ensure proper use of VOCA funding and compliance with Federal regulations governing victims' rights and services. Monitoring and compliance reviews represent an important function of the office's mission and goals established on behalf of the Nation's nearly 32 million crime victims. Examples of these efforts are described below. Best Efforts and Other Federal Statutory Requirements Congress assigned OVC responsibility for monitoring DOJ compliance with Federal victims' rights laws, which it does through the annual Best Efforts Report, submitted each fiscal year to the U.S. Attorney General. OVC receives input from each Justice component with crime victim responsibilities, then compiles and analyzes all responses and sends a finalized report containing recommendations to the U.S. Attorney General for improving compliance with Federal victim statutes and the AG Guidelines. This report also identifies emerging issues and unmet needs of victims in the Federal justice system. Over the last biennium, OVC notes a steady improvement by DOJ in the provision of rights and services to victims. Joint Performance Report Responding to calls from the field for reduced duplicative reporting requirements, an effort was made to consolidate grant performance report requirements. OVC initiated an interdepartmental effort to design a joint performance report form covering four Federal grants. The goal was two-fold: (1) to help service providers spend less time completing forms that track overlapping services, and (2) to gather more accurate information about the number of victims and services funded by Federal grants. OVC continues to work toward this goal, together with the Violence Against Women Office, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Administration on Children and Families. Onsite and Desk Monitoring of VOCA Grants OVC conducts periodic site visits and ongoing monitoring of State implementation of VOCA victim assistance and compensation funding to ensure the spirit and intent of these programs established by Congress are met and to foster partnerships with State officials committed to crime victims' rights. Guideline Development An important function of OVC is the development of rules and guidelines on the expenditure of VOCA funding. This effort allows OVC to ensure that the intent of Congress is carried out by funding recipients, to guide and direct the development of programs and services for crime victims, and to ensure that feedback from the field is incorporated into policy development. In FY 1997, OVC prepared and published revised final program guidelines for VOCA Victim Assistance and Compensation programs. The program guidelines provide information on administering and implementing VOCA grant programs as well as supporting victims' rights and services. Changes for the two programs are described below. Modifications to the VOCA Victim Assistance Program As a result of comments from the field, amendments to VOCA, and modifications of applicable Federal regulations, the Victim Assistance Program Guidelines were expanded to allow coverage of additional victims and crimes in VOCA-funded programs. Key changes to the Guidelines described below reflect input from crime victims, victim advocates, and other interested professionals: --Expanded the definition of crime victim to include financial harm and allowed for counseling, criminal justice advocacy, and other services to victims of financial exploitation, fraud, and other economic crimes. --Expanded the administrative cost provision to include training of adult protective services providers that promote the development of services in response to elder abuse and abuse of adults with physical, mental, and developmental disabilities. --Allowed training funds to be used for non-VOCA funded personnel when VOCA-funded personnel are also being trained. This change acknowledges that victim services programs are funded from multiple sources and that access to training for all staff benefits crime victims. --Expanded the definition of underserved victims to include victims of varying demographic characteristics, such as victims who do not speak English, have disabilities, or are members of racial or ethnic minorities. --Expanded guidelines to allow for the purchase of items that assist victims with disabilities in accessing and using services. --Allowed States that had passed new constitutional amendments and statutes creating rights for crime victims to use VOCA funds to implement these mandates. --Expanded guidelines to include coverage of emergency legal assistance for victims of domestic/family violence. --Clarified the definition of elder abuse, adding as an allowable expense funding for short-term nursing home shelter when no other safe, short-term care is available for an abused elder. --Expanded guidelines to allow for restitution advocacy for crime victims. Modifications to the VOCA Crime Victim Compensation Program As with the victim assistance guidelines, OVC revised the Victim Compensation Program Guidelines in response to amendments to VOCA and modifications of applicable Federal regulations. The two key changes that were made reflect input from crime victims, victim advocates, the National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards (NACVCB), and other interested parties: --Permitted States to use administrative funds to cover indirect costs and coordination with other organizations working with crime victims. Costs could result from victim outreach, training, materials, and administration, as well as development of protocols, policies, and procedures to promote coordination between victim assistance and victim compensation programs. --Provided States with the option to accept a report made to an appropriate governmental agency, such as a child or adult protective services agency, as evidence of cooperation with law enforcement, which is required for each compensation claimant. Overview of the Report to Congress OVC supports victims' rights and needs in many ways. The following chapters contain discussions of OVC's grant structure which forms the underpinnings for funding victim services programs (chapter 2). Besides funding programs, OVC also supports victims rights and needs by advocating legislation and educating the public about the underserved or unserved needs of victims (chapter 3). OVC believes in forming partnerships governmentwide starting with the U.S. Department of Justice and Office of Justice Programs and expanding to include community-based and public organizations such as the Administration on Developmental Disabilities and Mothers Against Drunk Driving and allied professionals such as the medical community, clergy, dentists, and educators. Through such partnerships even more will be accomplished in behalf of victims (chapter 4). OVC also values the voices of the victims themselves and the victim advocates in the field and so supports various conferences, focus groups, and symposia to facilitate the dialogue that initiates the development of services to crime victims (chapter 5). This report details model victim services programs that have resulted from discretionary grants and can be replicated across the country (chapter 6). As countries and citizens become more linked through travel, the Internet, and international trade, OVC recognizes a growing need to address the victim needs that are emerging from this international activity (chapter 7). This Report to Congress also provides a description of OVC's direct services for crime victims that result from OVC's funding of State compensation and assistance programs (chapter 8). Perhaps of equal importance is OVC's vision for victims' rights and services and how OVC can assist our Nation in making the vision a reality (chapter 9). OVC is committed to the delivery of crime victims' rights and services and looks to the Nation to join in this important task. ---------------------------- Chapter 2 Programs and Services for Crime Victims Formula Grants--State Compensation and Assistance Division Funding Direct Services Discretionary Grants Program --Federal Crime Victims Division (FCVD)--Helping Federal Crime Victims --Special Projects Division (SPD)--Training and Technical Assistance/Demonstration Programs Grants to Indian Country Conclusion When Congress passed the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) in 1984, it created two methods for funding crime victim programs: (1) formula grants for States and territories to establish and operate crime victim assistance and compensation programs, and (2) discretionary grants for training and technical assistance. Later, VOCA was amended to give OVC authority to fund demonstration projects and evaluation efforts. Figure 2 shows Crime Victims Fund distribution for FYs 1997-1998 based on deposits from the immediately preceding years. Formula Grants--State Compensation and Assistance Division Funding Direct Services The VOCA victim assistance and victim compensation programs are administered by OVC's State Compensation and Assistance Division--the division responsible for the full range of grant monitoring activities, along with technical assistance and program and policy development. In FYs 1997 and 1998, unprecedented funds were made available to support victim assistance and compensation programs--more than 31/2 times over the record-setting collections of the previous biennium. Understanding the impact of this increase on States, OVC undertook several initiatives to prepare them to effectively manage these funds and expand and enhance services for crime victims. OVC's leadership included a recommendation, acted upon by Congress, that States be given an additional year to expend victim assistance funds, starting with grants awarded in FY 1997. An earlier legislative change, precipitated by OVC leadership, allowed for a 5-percent administrative cost allowance. States took full advantage of this change in FY 1997; for the first time, many States hired grant coordinators and monitors, conducted needs assessments, and planned for effective use of funds over several years to stabilize programs. VOCA victim assistance administrators also used these funds to train and provide technical assistance to victim services providers, and many administrators automated their operations to facilitate grants management. OVC consistently urged States to develop long-range funding strategies to sustain and continue development of services for crime victims--and the States followed through. In FYs 1997-1998, OVC distributed more than $524 million to States through VOCA victim assistance grants (see Appendix 2, "Year-of-Award Allocations for VOCA Victim Assistance Grants, FYs 1997 and 1998"). States used these funds to continue basic services, expand services to additional crime victim populations and geographic areas, and stabilize programs by planning for multiple-year funding. Funds subgranted to nonprofit and public organizations supported direct services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, drunk driving, robbery, physical assault, elder abuse, and other crimes of violence (see Figure 3). As Figure 3 shows, over the last 2 biennia, law enforcement and prosecutors' offices received increasing numbers of VOCA subgrants, with dramatic increases in prosecutor-based programs. The majority of nonprofit and government subgrantees were rape crisis center and domestic violence shelter programs (see chapter 8 for a discussion of victim assistance trends). All 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands operate crime victim compensation programs. During FYs 1997-1998, many States added coverage for expenses such as crime scene cleanup, relocation of domestic violence victims, child care, sexual assault evidence collection, and catastrophic expenses. In FYs 1997-1998, States spent more than $356 million of their own money on crime victim compensation. During those same years, VOCA compensation contributed some $158 million to those programs. Under VOCA, victim compensation programs may receive an allocation of 40 percent of the State funds expended in the prior year (see Appendix 3, "Year-of-Award Allocations for VOCA Victim Compensation Grants, FYs 1997 and 1998"). Figure 4 depicts the amount of funds available to State crime victim compensation programs from State and Federal sources and the average amount awarded to victims per claim in FY 1997-1998. The average payout during the biennium increased by approximately $90 per claim over the previous biennium. The number of claims paid increased by nearly 3 percent from 1997 to 1998, although at the same time crime decreased nationally. OVC believes that this increase in claims paid reflects State compensation program efforts to aggressively reach out to previously unserved victim populations. (See chapter 8 for a discussion of VOCA victim compensation trends.) Discretionary Grants Program Although OVC distributes funds to support victim services, mainly by formula grants to the States, it awards a small fraction of CVF discretionary dollars to public and private nonprofit organizations. These organizations, in turn, support the delivery of services to Federal crime victims, improve national-scope training and technical assistance projects, and support demonstration projects, as prescribed by VOCA. Discretionary grant programs are administered by two divisions within OVC: the Federal Crime Victims Division (FCVD) and the Special Projects Division (SPD). OVC, through its FCVD, also administers grants directly to Indian Country through its Victim Assistance in Indian Country (VAIC) and Children's Justice Act (CJA) Partnerships for Indian Communities discretionary grant programs. Both programs foster systemic change, initiate victim assistance programs, and make services available to abused children within American Indian communities. Federal Crime Victims Division (FCVD)--Helping Federal Crime Victims Since the Presidential Directive of 1996 that set the path toward improving compliance with Federal statutes governing the provision of services and rights to crime victims, the Federal criminal justice system is being held to a higher standard than ever before. OVC was the power behind this push, while the FCVD provided the "spark" to make it happen in the Federal community by ensuring greater participation in the justice system by crime victims, facilitating and funding unmet needs, and reaching out to remote populations. Several efforts in FYs 1997-1998 strengthened this momentum, particularly those designed to help Federal agencies comply with their victim/witness responsibilities. Congress authorized $21 million in unexpended National Fine Center moneys to be returned to the CVF and made available to OVC to improve services to crime victims in the Federal criminal justice system by hiring victim/witness coordinators in U.S. Attorney's offices; establishing an automated victim information and notification system for Federal cases; and collecting, enforcing, and processing restitution orders. In FYs 1997-1998, OVC continued to use training and technical assistance dollars to educate and train Federal system professionals to enhance their capabilities, professionalize the field, and improve the response of all those who work with crime victims in the Federal criminal justice system. Outreach efforts have improved DOJ's capacity to expand to Federal communities outside of law enforcement, reaching all Federal agencies with victim/witness responsibilities. OVC is continuing to expand the vision of Federal agencies, some of which did not recognize the extent to which they come into contact with victims of Federal crime. OVC, through the work of FCVD, continued to reach out to remote populations, especially Indian Country, where it enhanced and expanded programs, improved services, and implemented victims' rights initiatives. FCVD also funded unique demonstration programs to develop and help replicate promising practices in other service delivery areas, including military environments. In FYs 1997-1998, OVC continued to target unmet needs for Federal crime victims, providing resources (i.e., through emergency assistance funds) where none were available or where funding and support were inadequate. Special Projects Division (SPD)--Training and Technical Assistance/Demonstration Programs The mission of SPD centers on providing training and technical assistance for the victims field, promoting public awareness of victims' issues, and disseminating information to assist crime victims and the allied professionals who serve them. SPD also sponsors demonstration projects and special initiatives that address related emerging issues and unmet needs. A major OVC emphasis over the past 2 fiscal years that will continue into the future is identifying underserved populations, such as victims with disabilities, elder victims, fraud victims, and other victim populations traditionally overlooked by mainstream victim services programs and criminal justice serving professionals. SPD is committed to identifying the various points of entry where victims may obtain access to help and to improving the information provided to them at these critical points. By modeling best services at demonstration sites, such as through its VS 2000 program, OVC is helping to expand points of entry and integrate access to systems for crime victims. Other FYs 1997-1998 focus areas for OVC through SPD included victims of juvenile offenders and gang violence, sexual assault, and stalking; needs culturally diverse victim population; and victims of child abuse and domestic violence. OVC-sponsored training and technical assistance projects are available to victim advocates, health and mental health professionals, law enforcement, judges, probation/parole officers, and prosecutors nationwide. In FYs 1997-1998, training on such topics as community crisis response, victim- centered mediation, and traumatic grief helped victim services providers formulate effective responses to the rights and needs of crime victims. OVC continues to invite the field to generate new ideas and to elicit the involvement of new groups of professionals to establish services for crime victims within their respective disciplines. Grants to Indian Country Disclosure of extensive child sexual abuse in reservation boarding schools and several multiple-victim child molestation cases on Indian reservations resulted in an amendment to VOCA in 1986 authorizing OVC to use a portion of the funds allocated from the CVF for programs to improve the investigation and prosecution of child sexual abuse in Indian Country, under the Children's Justice Act (CJA). CJA funds are awarded to federally recognized Tribes through a competitive grant process. OVC commits funding support for 3 years, contingent upon the grantee's satisfactory performance and the availability of funds. Since its inception in 1989, the CJA program has provided over $8 million to support Tribes and Tribal organizations (see Table 1). See Appendix 4 for a list of the FY 90 through FY 98 CJA grantees. Table 1 shows total dollars awarded to Tribes, from FY 1990 through FY 1998, under the Children's Justice and Assistance Act Discretionary Grant Program for American Indians. In FY 1998, OVC changed the name of its CJA program to "Partnerships for Indian Communities," reflecting its intent to form a partnership with American Indian communities in Indian Country to identify issues and needs of child victims and to solve problems in the investigation and prosecution of child abuse cases and in the delivery of services to child victims and their families. OVC created the Victim Assistance in Indian Country (VAIC) program to establish permanent, accessible, and responsive victim assistance services on reservations governed by Federal criminal jurisdiction. OVC's VAIC program fills a critical gap--the lack of victim assistance programs "on reservation" and in remote parts of Indian Country, where violence is higher than in any other ethnic group (BJS 1999). OVC provides funding directly to Indian Tribes to help them establish reservation-based victim assistance programs in Indian Country. From 1988 until 1996, OVC awarded VAIC grants to State agencies for subgranting to Indian Tribes or Tribal organizations. In FY 1997, OVC modified the program so that Tribes received funding directly from OVC in the amount of $740,000. In FY 1997, OVC also announced its first competitive grants award process for VAIC, applying an additional $260,000 for a total of $1 million in Federal funding for VAIC in FY 1998. As part of its continuing push to improve Tribal commitment issues, beginning with FY 1998, discretionary grants required that the grantee provide an in-kind match to enhance the Tribe's ability to institutionalize the program from the beginning of the grant award process. OVC continues to encourage State VOCA victim assistance administrators to fund services for crime victims in Indian Country with formula grant funding received from the CVF. OVC also works closely with State crime victim compensation programs and the National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Programs (NACVCP) to ensure that American Indian crime victims have access to financial assistance for out-of-pocket expenses related to their victimization. Since its inception in 1988, the VAIC program has provided more than $8.4 million to establish 52 new programs with Tribes and Tribal organizations and has supported training to assist the Tribes with program development and implementation (see Table 2). See Appendix 5 for a list of FYs 1997 and 1998 VAIC grantees. Conclusion The programs, authorized by VOCA and developed or benefitted from the growth of the Crime Victims Fund, have led to a wide variety of Federal efforts that assist our Nation's crime victims. There is a direct correlation between the efforts on behalf of crime victims at the Federal level prompted by Congress and the many advances recognized for victims at the Tribal, State, and local levels. The passage of 31 State constitutional amendments for victims' rights, the creation of State crime victims funding mechanisms, and the formation of statewide victim coalitions are three examples of how Federal national efforts have positively influenced efforts to improve the status of crime victims. Bipartisan support for victims' issues in Congress, a strong national victim advocacy coalition, and the determined voices of crime victims for equal treatment and services will ensure that victims' rights issues will remain an important issue for legislators, policymakers, communities, and victim advocates well into the next millennium. ---------------------------- Chapter 3 Advocating for Crime Victims' Rights Promoting Victims' Rights --Supporting the Implementation of Legislation at the Federal Level --Supporting the Implementation of Legislation at the State Level --Survey To Determine Crime Victims' Needs Raising Public Awareness --OVC Resource Center --OVC Web Site --Training and Technical Assistance Center --National Crime Victims' Rights Week Defining the Needs of Crime Victims in the Next Millennium Conclusion OVC undertakes many efforts and activities that while labor intensive are strategic to OVC's mission, and, most importantly, bring about systemic change. OVC's numerous activities to focus public attention on crime victims' needs and rights seek to encourage victim cooperation and participation with the criminal justice system. OVC's goals guide its leadership role and the efforts it undertakes to further victims' rights and services at all levels of government-- Federal, State, Tribal, and local. Promoting Victims' Rights In FYs 1997-1998, OVC continued to actively support the enactment and enforcement of consistent, fundamental rights for crime victims in Federal, State, juvenile, military, and Tribal justice systems. It supported the concept of a constitutional amendment to ensure fundamental rights for victims of crime and stronger legislation to improve victim participation in all phases of the criminal justice process. It also worked closely with State governments to help them address victim rights and services in a more comprehensive manner. Supporting the Implementation of Legislation at the Federal Level While the scope of rights extended to crime victims has expanded considerably, victims are still being denied their right to participate in the justice system. OVC recognizes Congress' strong advocacy for crime victims and witnesses-- reflected in legislation passed and mandates issued on their behalf--and has continued to support congressional legislation aimed at securing further protections for victims. While victims' rights have been enacted in States and at the Federal level, rights for crime victims remain inconsistent nationwide. Furthermore, most legislatively established rights for crime victims lack enforcement mechanisms, leaving crime victims without adequate legal remedies once they have been violated. In fact, the first recommendation contained in New Directions (see text box below) supports a Federal constitutional amendment as vital to (1) establishing a consistent "floor of rights" for crime victims in every State and at the Federal level, (2) ensuring that courts engage in a careful and conscientious balancing of the rights of victims and defendants, (3) guaranteeing crime victims the opportunity to participate in proceedings related to crimes against them, and (4) enhancing the participation of victims in the criminal justice process.[2] ---------------------------- Footnote: 2. New Directions, Chapter 1: Victims' Rights Recommendation from the Field. U.S. GPO. 1998. P.9. ---------------------------- "It doesn't take long before you begin to feel as an outsider during the legal process and you're not sure if information or concern you've given to an investigating officer or prosecutor is being passed on to others involved in the case. W.I.N.D.O.W. can represent the victim with their thoughts and concerns and everyone benefits with more knowledge and understanding. I believe the way to fight crime more effectively is by giving the victim more power and rights and W.I.N.D.O.W. is a good place to start." --A victim who received services from VOCA-funded program in Minnesota ---------------------------- Victims' Rights Recommendation from the Field #1 The U.S. Constitution should be amended to guarantee fundamental rights for victims of crime. Constitutionally protected rights should include the right to notice of public court proceedings and to attend them; to make a statement to the court about bail, sentencing,a dn accepting a plea; to be told about, to attend, and to speck at the parole hearings; to notice when the defendant or convict escapes, is released, or dies; to an order of restitution from the convicted offender; to a disposition free from unreasonable delay; to consideration for the safety of the victim in determining any release from custody; to notice of these tights; and to standing to enforce them. ---------------------------- Supporting the Implementation of Legislation at the State Level Although 31 States passed constitutional amendments by the close of FY 1998, States recognize the need to go beyond passing legislation and ensure compliance with legislative provisions in order to protect crime victims. States have begun to do this by creating programs that oversee the implementation of victims' rights. OVC funded the National Criminal Justice Association (NCJA) to conduct an analysis of victims' rights compliance programs varying in structure and scope in three States--Colorado, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. NCJA convened a focus group of victims' rights compliance program administrators from these three States, as well as from Arizona and South Carolina, to start creating a compliance program development guide. With funding from OVC, NCJA is developing a curriculum to train State policymakers on creating and implementing victims' rights compliance programs. In addition, OVC amended its VOCA victim assistance guidelines to allow States to use Federal CVF to support the implementation of rights afforded to crime victims under State constitutional amendments. Survey To Determine Crime Victims' Needs Providing leadership support to State level efforts, OVC guided and supported the Council of State Governments (the Council) in FYs 1997-1998 by providing technical assistance to help convene regional meetings of State legislators, crime victims and their advocates, and criminal justice representatives. The Council engaged in an effort to assess public attitudes about the criminal justice system and the implementation of victims' rights statutes. In November 1997, key criminal justice officials representing States in the Council's Eastern Region agreed that a survey of the public and of victims in their States would help clarify perspectives on the current state of the criminal justice system. In June 1998, OVC assisted the Council in arranging a meeting with victim advocates, VOCA administrators, and criminal justice professionals to determine the survey's approach. In November 1998, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) provided funds to support the formation of the survey instrument and to have the survey data analyzed. OVC arranged for Council representatives to present the methodology used for this public opinion poll at the 1998 National Organization of Victim Assistance Conference to receive input on the methodology from the field and to see the response polled by the survey. The survey findings were presented at the 1999 NOVA conference. OVC believes the Council's approach of bringing together victims, victim advocates, legislators, and criminal policymakers has the potential to catalyze important collaborative work in the 10 States represented in the Eastern Regional Conference, serving as a model for replication in the Council's other regional conferences. Already a number of States in the Eastern Regional Conference have established task forces and developed legislative packages to address victims needs and expectations identified in the survey. ---------------------------- New year chimes in with expanded victim rights "With the stroke of midnight, not only did Marylanders ring in the last year of the 20th Century, they also rang in something that the Stephanie Roper Committee has been fighting for since its founding in 1982...expanded victims' rights. "As of January1, Senate Bill 241, Parole hearings Oral testimony by Victims, became law, expanding the categories to which victims have a say in parole hearings.... "Roper explained that conspiracy to commit murder, assault, and child abuse were not considered crimes of violence and her committee made changing that consideration a high priority for the 1998 legislative session." --Excerpt from an article by Dave Crozier in The Calvert Independent, January 6, 1999 ---------------------------- Raising Public Awareness Part of OVC's mission is to raise awareness of crime victims' rights and services. This responsibility includes informing the public of what those rights are and providing information about training and technical assistance to victim advocates and allied professionals. OVC, through its work with national criminal justice and victim services organizations as well as other national and international bodies, continually identifies a variety of critical topics that expands the perception of victimization. As a result of this work, victimization issues have emerged that include the elderly and people with disabilities, terrorism both at home and abroad, financial fraud, and trafficking of women and children for sexual or commercial purposes. OVC generates materials such as brochures, informational bulletins, promising practices compendia, and information packets on victim-related issues that help to raise public awareness about the plight of crime victims and the public's responsibilities to them. OVC consistently makes these publications, books, and products available at conferences and other forums. In addition, OVC encourages partnerships with disciplines and agencies outside the traditional victim assistance field, an action which upholds New Directions recommendations to form partnerships (see chapter 4, "Forming Partnerships To Enhance Victim Services"). OVC also produces public service announcements and training videos to raise public awareness of crime victims' issues and rights. As part of the outreach efforts to victim service professionals and the general public, OVC maintains a Resource Center, a Web site, and a Training and Technical Assistance Center, and produces resource materials for National Crime Victims' Rights Week--a week designated each year that is devoted to raising public awareness of victims' rights and needs. OVC Resource Center Established in 1983 by OVC and DOJ, the OVC Resource Center (OVCRC) is a preeminent source for crime victim information. As a component of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS), OVCRC provides direct access to the most comprehensive criminal justice library in the world-- the NCJRS Research and Information Center. OVCRC continually targets and strives to reach new and unserved populations as well as nontraditional audiences through aggressive outreach by using mass mailings to inform the public about available resources and by providing access to information at conference exhibits. OVCRC responds to a vast network of agencies, organizations, and individuals that have an interest in and concern for crime victim issues. In FYs 1997-1998, OVC provided more than $1.1 million to support OVCRC activities. Requests for information in these years came primarily from State and local criminal justice professionals and private organizations (see Table 3 for breakdown of requesters). Information technology enhances OVCRC's ability to provide support to the field through the Internet and use of fax technologies, which makes information available from OVCRC 24 hours a day. OVC discretionary grantees produce many video and print products to help those in the field better serve victims of crime (see Appendix 6 for "OVC Publications and Products, FYs 1997 and 1998"). Printed products are available through OVCRC in numerous formats, including brochures, fact sheets, bulletins, newsletters, training guides, resource directories, and monographs. In FY 1998, OVC funded the development of videos and companion guidebooks to help victims of juvenile crime participate in the criminal justice process, and demonstrate to criminal justice professionals the importance of victim involvement. Fact sheets distributed to Indian Country included lists of model programs, information on grant writing and Victim Assistance in Indian Country (VAIC) grant requirements, among other issues. OVC Web Site Another useful way that OVC makes its resources available to the field is through its Web site, located at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/. The OVC Web site is accessed by crime victims, victim advocates, VOCA administrators and VOCA subrecipients, discretionary grantees, educators, policymakers, and the general public. In FYs 1997-1998, the OVC Web site averaged 1,233 hits a day. For FY 1998, there were 30,455 hits to OVC publications on the Justice Information Center Web site at http://www.ncjrs.gov. The most popular pages during the biennium were the OVC home page, "What's New at OVC," "Help for Crime Victims," and "Information Resources," which was added when the OVC Web page was redesigned in April 1998. The most popular documents downloaded during this period were: 1998 National Crime Victims' Rights Week Kit, 2,801 times; 1998 Discretionary Program Application Kit, 2,585 times; and 1997 Program Directory (Compensation), 1,334 times. Results of an "ASK OVC" Web survey, conducted in FY 1998 to assess the usefulness of OVC Web and e-mail functions elicited most responses (50 percent) from crime victims themselves. Most of the time, users sought information about national, State, and local victim assistance resources; legal rights; and grants. Others were looking for counseling, advocacy, or help information, or were in search of OVC publications or training and victim compensation information. User recommendations about the Web site included adding more links to other Federal agencies; where legal assistance is available from States; information on juvenile crime, stalking, and other States' crime victim programs; and publications for homicide survivors. OVC always updates and expands its Web site to respond to the specific needs of its constituency. Training and Technical Assistance Center In April 1998 as an expansion of its Trainers Bureau, OVC established the Training and Technical Assistance Center (TTAC). TTAC serves as a centralized point of contact for requesting information about OVC's training and technical assistance resources and for funneling needed resources to local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies to strengthen their capacity to serve victims. The transition from a Trainer's Bureau--essentially a speaker's bureau--to TTAC meant moving beyond a public awareness function to providing victim advocates with technical assistance on strategies that strengthen their program and with training that improves the delivery of victim services. With TTAC, OVC can now help to mobilize efforts in a community, using the expertise of OVC's discretionary and formula grantees and other highly skilled consultants to tailor programs to meet a jurisdiction's specific victim needs. TTAC's activities focused on the following four areas: --Consultant Pool: Establish and maintain a pool of experts capable of supporting OVC's initiative to provide effective onsite technical assistance to address significant operational problems and needs. --Training: Provide training on a wide variety of topics to agencies and organizations across the country. In addition, TTAC identifies key training needs in the field with a goal of establishing a training calendar for ongoing regional training. The regional training programs are a way to ensure that materials, developed by discretionary grantees in partnership with OVC, are continuously available to the victims service field. --Technical Assistance: Provide expert, focused support and mentoring in areas such as program development, management, evaluation, and policy and procedure development to facilitate long-term, systemic change that will improve services to crime victims. --Speaker's Bureau: Support State and local jurisdictions by identifying speakers for conferences, focus groups, and other meetings. During the period that OVC managed the Trainers Bureau (9/96-3/98), there were 94 requests for assistance from the field (see Table 4). These requests included providing speakers for workshops and conferences, supporting State VOCA programs through mentor visits (assistance provided to install automated claims processing systems; review State legislation, policy, and procedures governing compensation programs; and more), and deploying crisis response teams to assist State and local jurisdictions in responding to incidents of multiple victimization, such as the Oklahoma City bombing. The number of requests received by TTAC for technical assistance during its first year of operation exceeded all expectations. A further resource TTAC has made available to requesters is the products, program implementation assistance, and continued training developed from grants. Figure 5 reflects the numbers of requests broken out by type of service (training, technical assistance, meetings/conference support) and organization between May 1998 and April 1999. Through TTAC, OVC will continue to fill its legislative mandate to provide national-scope training and technical assistance. During its first year, TTAC received requests for technical assistance from all but eight U.S. States. In addition, TTAC provided support to Guam, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. See Appendix 7 for a summary of the number of TTAC-supported technical assistance events by State. OVC also provides services to communities that have suffered mass victimization through its Community Crisis Response (CCR) component within TTAC. OVC's CCR program was established to improve services to victims of violent crime in communities experiencing multiple victimizations and communitywide trauma. In FYs 1997-1998, OVC deployed 10 crisis response teams to assist victims in the aftermath of several violent community incidents. These teams responded to student shootings at four schools, the kidnaping and murder of three young girls, abortion clinic bombings, and gang-related killings of young children (see Appendix 8, "Summary of FYs 1997 and 1998 Crisis Response Deployments"). In all cases, a National Organization of Victim Assistance team was sent to spend from 2 to 5 days in each community, debriefing various groups, including law enforcement, clergy, school officials, hospital officials, housing officials, parents, teachers, victim advocates, first responders, and the community. All cases involved multiple witnesses--many of whom were children or parents--who required mental health services. Any response to victims and surviving family members should include emergency crisis counseling and intervention as well as long-term mental health services. OVC recognizes that it can strengthen the response to mass violence in communities by increasing a community's own capacity to respond more effectively to mass victimization. To promote a community's capacity to respond to crisis, OVC requires participants in CCR training to demonstrate their willingness to establish and maintain their own community response team as a condition of receiving training. Historically, OVC has provided short-term technical assistance to these communities, consisting mainly of training for local service providers and deployment of crisis response teams. Besides providing immediate crisis response services to address the trauma of victimization in communities, OVC is working to increase local capacity through training offered to a variety of public and private State and local groups including law enforcement officials, victim services providers, and local community organizers to help them form and support their own community crisis response teams. VOCA-funded victim assistance programs often offer crisis counseling services for victims as well. OVC's training and technical assistance to Indian Country has the same effect--enhancing the ability of American Indian communities to expand local capacity to respond to victims by sharing effective strategies with other Tribes. OVC is encouraging States and communities to develop and improve their current response protocols, while still providing supplemental Federal funds to help mobilize local teams. OVC took this approach recently in Yosemite and Eureka, California, following the disappearance of two teenage girls and their mother while on vacation, and in the communities of Springfield, Oregon, and Littleton, Colorado, after the tragic school shootings there. An effective, coordinated response to mass crisis in communities is only achieved through preplanning and preparedness. OVC is encouraging States and communities to have specially defined roles and responsibilities and a "grassroots" commitment to ownership for these plans. Given the variations in infrastructure and resources of each community, no one model or "blueprint" will work for all communities. In the future, OVC will continue to assist States and communities in establishing policies, procedures, and protocols for handling a mass crisis response. National Crime Victims' Rights Week National Crime Victims' Rights Week (NCVRW) is the annual observance of the plight of crime victims and the work of victim advocates. Observed nationally each April since 1982, it is a week in which communities across the Nation host rallies, vigils, and public education campaigns in support of victims. To support community activities, OVC funds the development of an NCVRW resource kit, distributed to almost 10,000 local and Tribal victim assistance programs, national victim organizations, U.S. Attorney's offices, governors, State attorneys general, and others. The kit includes sample speeches and quotes for reaching the community on crime victim issues, tools for enhancing awareness through the media, tips for conducting community outreach, and camera-ready artwork and posters to promote activities. As part of NCVRW, OVC organizes an annual ceremony on behalf of the President and the U.S. Attorney General to honor recipients of the Crime Victim Service Award, the highest Federal honor for victim advocacy. In 1997, the U.S. Attorney General honored 10 individuals and 3 organizations with this award. She also presented a Special Courage Award to the father of a victim of a gang slaying and the grandfather of the offender. The two now work together to educate youth on the impact of violence. In 1998, the U.S. Attorney General honored six individuals and three organizations with the Crime Victim Service Award and two individuals with a Special Heroism Award. In addition, the U.S. Attorney General presented special awards to seven programs for their work in assisting victims in the aftermath of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing in Oklahoma City. All recipients of the Crime Victim Service Award for FYs 1997-1998 are listed in Appendix 9. ---------------------------- "I thank all of you for the tireless work you do each and every day for so many. You touch lives. You make a difference. You bring light to a time of darkness for victims and survivors of crime." --U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno National Crime Victims' Rights Week April 18, 1997 ---------------------------- Defining the Needs of Crime Victims in the Next Millennium OVC is continually working to keep the public informed of neglected victim populations. A major public awareness initiative by OVC in FYs 1997-1998 called attention to elderly victims of crime, particularly telemarketing scams targeted at senior citizens. In addition to focus groups and programs targeting this underserved population, OVC distributed more than 3,000 copies of Assisting Elderly Crime Victims and sponsored 11 workshops on elder abuse. Another important area for OVC during the past 2 fiscal years was the promotion of financial fraud victims' rights. OVC launched a campaign to encourage other Federal criminal justice system professionals to treat victims of financial fraud and economic crime like other crime victims. The unique work of Federal victim advocates and the ongoing collaboration between the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA) and OVC has raised awareness of this neglected victim population. OVC worked with a variety of Federal Government representatives within and outside DOJ, along with nonprofit organizations, to create resources, sponsor national conferences, and hold focus and working groups to help the field expand its programs and provide more comprehensive services for victims of financial fraud. Conclusion Advocating for crime victims' rights and improving victim services at the Federal, Tribal, State, and local levels is a critically important function of the Office for Victims of Crime. VOCA and the Crime Victims Fund provides the necessary means for OVC to engage in a wide range of activities that furthered the efforts of the victims field. OVC focus groups, participation in the development of New Directions, meetings with victim advocates and crime victims, responding to victim inquiries sent to the President, First Lady, and U.S. Attorney General, and participation on inter- and intra-agency working groups has provided OVC firsthand knowledge of the continuing plight of crime victims. OVC is the only government agency established to address crime victims' issues. It advocates for victims' rights within every segment of society in several ways. For example, OVC raises public awareness and educates the public regarding victims' rights and needs. It promotes the improvement of victim services. OVC also encourages the development of policies and practices that are sensitive to crime victims through collaborative efforts with Congress and State legislators, criminal justice practitioners, national victim advocacy organizations, and others responsible for protecting victims' rights and delivering services to our Nation's nearly 32 million crime victims each year. ---------------------------- Chapter 4 Forming Partnerships To Enhance Victim Services Working Within the U.S. Department of Justice and Office of Justice Programs Forming Governmentwide Partnerships Reinforcing Partnerships Through Training and Technical Assistance Promoting Victims' Rights Through Community-Based Partnerships Forming Allied Professional Partnerships Conclusion OVC works in close coordination and cooperation with other U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) agencies, other Federal agencies, and the private sector to strengthen existing efforts and develop new initiatives to benefit crime victims. Through collaboration with other Office of Justice Programs (OJP), OVC attempts to identify areas for action and leverage financial resources to benefit crime victims. Participation in task forces, working groups, and planning groups are a major means by which OVC identifies issues important to crime victims and then develops or enhances programs to meet those needs. For instance, OVC works closely with the DOJ Office of Tribal Justice and the American Indian and Alaska Native Affairs Desk to strengthen its enduring partnership with American Indian Tribes on reservations governed by Federal criminal jurisdiction by ensuring that DOJ Tribal justice initiatives contain a victims' component and by providing funding and expertise to ensure the rights and needs of crime victims in Indian Country. OVC continues to develop partnerships between all levels of government and with community-based programs designed to improve services to crime victims, including partnerships between American Indian Tribes and States.[3] ---------------------------- Footnote: 3. Many of the partnerships entered into by OVC result in the development of memorandums of understanding and/or interagency protocols. ---------------------------- Working Within the U.S. Department of Justice and Office of Justice Programs OVC puts much of its time and resources into working with other DOJ agencies to advance victims' rights, especially those within OJP. It does this by participating in various working groups to increase the effectiveness of the Federal effort and broaden the scope of its response to crime victims. Various OVC-led working groups within DOJ have helped to increase compliance with Attorney General Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance, for Federal agencies serving crime victims, to raise awareness for underserved victim groups, and to ensure better coordination of DOJ-OJP victim programs. Other OVC cooperative efforts within DOJ include signing interagency agreements to expand collective resources and working closely with other agencies, namely the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), to develop program evaluation tools. OVC's partnerships with DOJ and OJP agencies improve services to victims by leveraging resources more effectively through collaboration on related projects. Several of these efforts are described below. --Deputy Attorney General's Working Group for Victims' Rights. OVC continued its efforts to further DOJ-wide compliance with the 1996 Presidential Directive on Victims' Rights and the Attorney General Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance by staffing and participating in the Deputy Attorney General's Victims' Rights Working Group. The Working Group's first meeting in May 1997 hosted representatives from every Justice agency with an interest in and responsibility to crime victims. OVC played a key role in developing the first draft of the modified AG Guidelines, which now has a new format with separate sections for investigators' offices, prosecutors' offices, and corrections agencies. This format is intended to clarify everyone's roles and make it easier for users to find the applicable guidelines. A 1999 distribution is planned for the final revised AG Guidelines. --Working Group on Mental Health and Crime. DOJ's interest in mental health and its relationship to crime is wide-ranging, and OVC recognizes the importance of tending to the mental health needs of all people victimized by violence. This includes helping children who have been abused or exposed to violence and reducing the possibility of acting out violently themselves. DOJ is also concerned with addressing the mental health of crime victims, including victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and terrorism. To further this understanding, the Assistant Attorney General for OJP in July 1998 established a Working Group on Mental Health and Crime. OVC is a member of this collaborative, along with all of the OJP bureaus and program offices. The working group is examining the impact of mental illness and mental health on victims, witnesses, and offenders and how the criminal justice system should respond. --OJP Rural Task Force. OVC staff participate in the OJP Rural Task Force, begun in FY 1998. Task force achievements include authoring a report on criminal justice in rural America and organizing and hosting a symposium on rural justice to recommend program directions for OJP to better assist rural jurisdictions.[4] Participants worked to identify the critical resource needs of rural communities; develop Federal, State, and local solutions to address those needs; and formulate recommendations on how OJP can enhance its partnership with rural jurisdictions. One necessary resource identified by the task force included using technology to solve crime victims' needs. For example, battered women or stalking victims can use cellular telephones to report to police when they are in danger. Also, by providing basic and satellite downlinks at community colleges and police agencies, advanced training can be provided for victim service providers. --Family Violence Working Group (FVWG). OVC representatives participate in FVWG, whose mission is to focus more DOJ-OJP attention on violent crime within the family. As a result of improved intra-agency and interagency information exchange, coordinated planning to avoid duplicative projects, better collaboration, and informed feedback on many of the grant products, victims of family violence are offered better services. --Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). OVC strives to ensure that all victims receive fundamental justice and needed serv-ices. For instance, OVC also helped create a train-the-trainers video, which received three national awards including the Gold Award at WorldFest Flagstaff. The video, entitled "A Balance to Maintain," informs INS employees about the new INS Victim/Witness Assistance Program under development and highlights victims' rights and shows how to obtain assistance for immigrants who need help. The video, which also was a finalist at the 1999 WorldFest Houston and The New York Festivals, was produced in August 1998 by Executive Producer Robin Smith, Producer/Director Heidi Zecher, and Associate Producer Jennifer Crescenzo. --Responding to Victims With Disabilities. OVC funded several projects in FYs 1997-1998 that focused on the needs and issues of victims with disabilities. OVC also worked to sensitize and educate practitioners and policymakers on the need to include disability issues in their services and policies, and to form partnerships with disability advocates at every level. ---------------------------- Footnote: 4. A summary of victim issues identified at the symposium is included in the conference proceedings available from OJP. ---------------------------- "Project DOVE (Domestic Violence Eliminated) serves Malheur County in far eastern Oregon. Our region is predominately rural and agricultural; poverty is an ever present issue in this area. The extensive rurality of our area and the geographic isolation of many families can make it difficult to seek help for family violence. The VOCA funds we receive make it possible to provide outreach to the community, as well as the supportive services that are offered at the shelter. While we have always worked with other agencies, the recent realization by state agencies such as AFS (welfare program), SCF (child services), and SDSD (senior and disabled services) that domestic violence is a very real problem from many of their clients has enabled us to strengthen our relationships with them." --Project DOVE, Ontario, Oregon ---------------------------- Forming Governmentwide Partnerships OVC's commitment to ensuring that victims of crime have access to the best services available has prompted the formation of governmentwide partnerships to expand and improve service delivery to victims. OVC works cooperatively with other Federal agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), the State Department, and the U.S. Department of Education (DoEd), with all the bureaus inside OJP, and with other DOJ agencies to further its crime victims agenda. This commitment includes using technology to improve the response to victims by their advocates and to ensure that victims are informed of their rights and the services available to them. Several OVC partnerships with government agencies are discussed below. --U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) Victim and Witness Council. The DOD Victim and Witness Assistance Council meets quarterly, and members include the victim and witness assistance program coordinators for each Military Service, the Coast Guard, and officials serving in law enforcement, legal, and corrections fields who are responsible for victim and witness assistance programs and policies. The OVC representative acts as a liaison to the DOD, attends all council meetings and is responsible for assisting DOD and the military services to improve their capacity to provide services to victims of crime on military installations worldwide. For instance, OVC briefs members on DOJ developments, Federal crime victims issues, legislation, and initiatives. OVC encouraged DOD to provide the services and military installations with copies of the Attorney General Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance. Moreover, without OVC's presence, the Council would not have known about the Guidelines. OVC's participation in the Council has fortified the ties among OVC, DOD, all the military services (Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines), the Coast Guard, and Council members. This allows OVC to provide Council members with leadership in a regular forum for the interchange of information, the review of issues related to the rights of victims in the military justice system, and the exchange of ideas on improving services provided to victims. OVC highlighted several training opportunities and encouraged DOD, the military services, Coast Guard, and Council personnel to attend. OVC provided extensive resources to the Council which enabled DOD, the military services, and the Coast Guard to receive funding through reimbursable agreements that supported victim and witness assistance programs, projects, and training events. Examples include a sexual assault survivors video, a DOD specific Web site with online resource manual, and the Armed Forces Center for Child Protection. OVC has and will continue to be a catalyst for DOD, the military services, and the Coast Guard who now attend OVC-directed working task force and advisory group meetings and training events. --U.S. Department of Education (DoEd)--School Violence. Over the past 2 fiscal years OVC has worked closely with the DoEd to address the issue of school violence. In doing so, OVC jointly funded a grant with the DoEd on Community Crisis Response in Schools. This grant brought together school administrators from States around the country to develop a crisis response program in the event of school violence. In addition, OVC has collaborated with the DoEd in responding to various acts of school violence in recent years, including Springfield, Oregon, West Paducah, Kentucky, and Littleton, Colorado. Finally, OVC played an integral part in developing Project SERV, a program intended to create a nationwide crisis response initiative in situations involving school violence. OVC, FEMA, OJJDP, and HHS also worked with DoEd to develop the program and propose necessary legislation to implement it. --U.S. Department of State (DOS). Consistent with VOCA mandates, OVC continues to collaborate with the U.S. Department of State, the United Nations, and other organizations to improve governmental response to Americans victimized abroad and to help other countries develop more effective and sensitive responses to victims worldwide. This includes programs to assist international visitors victimized in the United States, as well as U.S. citizens victimized abroad. OVC's FYs 1997-1998 action plans call for continued collaboration to develop training that will expand crime victim assistance programs in foreign countries and to integrate crime victim issues into international discussions of crime (see chapter 7, "Providing International Leadership and Responding to Victims of Terrorism"). In addition, OVC entered into several interagency agreements with DOS to provide services and assistance to victims of the embassy bombings in Africa and of Pan Am Flight 103. OVC resources were made available to the State Department to host meetings with victims and to cover expenses incurred by victims when no other resources were available. Funding was also used by the State Department to fund a victim/witness advocate position and fund training on victims' rights and services for consulate office staff worldwide. Reinforcing Partnerships Through Training and Technical Assistance During the last biennium, OVC continued to support partnerships formed to further victims' rights and to develop new ones. Training provided to specific groups reinforced OVC's partnerships with military professionals and law enforcement personnel. Since 1989, OVC has provided comprehensive, skills-building training and technical assistance uniquely tailored to the needs of American Indian/Alaska Native communities which have received funds from OVC's VAIC and CJA grant programs. OVC's program has been well received by the Tribes, and OVC's support is essential to ensuring that victim services programs receive the technical assistance needed to provide quality services to crime victims in Indian Country. These partnership initiatives are described below. --Federal Law Enforcement Training. Since 1986, OVC has provided funding to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) to provide victim/witness training to Federal law enforcement officers from more than 70 agencies at its campuses in Georgia, South Carolina, and New Mexico. During FYs 1997-1998, approximately 13,800 law enforcement received training on such topics as interviewing techniques, financial fraud, and white-collar crime. OVC also provided intense technical assistance and funding to the FBI to enhance services to victims of Federal crime; OVC funded a number of skills development training programs for FBI victim/witness coordinators and 1,745 FBI staff were trained during this period. Additionally, about 3,000 DEA special agents and other staff received training on victim-related matters through OVC onsite training and assistance at three inservice training programs. --Training for Military Professionals. In FYs 1997-1998, OVC continued its longstanding and successful relationship with DOD. Funding through interagency agreements with the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps was used to provide needed worldwide training, technical assistance, and support to more than 1,100 DOD legal, law enforcement, corrections, clergy, and medical personnel who offer services to victims. These efforts enhanced the quality of services provided to victims of military crimes worldwide. OVC has approved funding for several innovative DOD projects that hold great potential to further improve the quality of victim assistance, such as the creation of a DOD victim assistance Web site, under development in FY 1999. This site will provide essential, timely information about victim assistance laws and regulations, procedures, and programs to military and civilian personnel assisting victims throughout the world. --Training for Advocates in Indian Country. In FYs 1997-1998, OVC received 88 requests for training and technical assistance from Tribal victim assistance programs in Indian Country. A total of 30 regional training seminars were provided, and 173 persons were trained in cross-cultural issues. A total of 320 Tribal personnel were trained on victim issues. The need for training personnel is ongoing, given the high turnover rate of victim assistance program staff. Training took place at the program level as well as the regional level. OVC also initiated postawards conferences for VAIC and CJA programs, training more than 125 VAIC program staff in financial and programmatic aspects of the grant and eligible activities, and affording opportunities to share concerns unique to programs in Indian Country. --Regional Training in Indian Country. Regional training events are advantageous to Indian Country programs because they provide opportunities for networking and forming relationships. For FYs 1997-1998, OVC coordinated 22 regional and/or onsite program training sessions focusing on specific CJA and/or VAIC victim issues. All the CJA programs in a targeted training area, such as Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona, were brought together for a 2 to 3 day event to examine CJA program concerns as well as other substantive issues specific to each program. A similar training format was used for VAIC programs, with an emphasis on developing permanent on-reservation services for victims of crime in Indian Country. Training issues examined such areas as developing and maintaining volunteer programs, helping victims complete compensation forms, and defining the role of Tribal advocates in the Tribal court system. To get effective agency participation without duplicating efforts, some training sessions targeted both CJA and VAIC programs. Promoting Victims' Rights Through Community-Based Partnerships OVC's training and technical assistance initiatives promote victims' rights in several ways. One technique OVC used to promote victims' rights was to award promising practices grants to public and private nonprofit organizations. These grants inform victim services of successful practices and approaches that will assist crime victims and the allied professionals who serve them. Current OVC-funded initiatives reflect the diversity of victims with disabilities and the training and technical assistance needs of practitioners who serve them. OVC works to sensitize and educate victim services practitioners and allied professionals. OVC projects promote culturally appropriate and linguistically accessible services for Deaf and Deaf-Blind victims of sexual assault and domestic violence; support development of a training curriculum for law enforcement, advocacy, and protection workers who assist crime victims with disabilities; and support an innovative partnership between the largest developmental disability advocacy--the ARC of the U.S.--and the largest victim assistance organization--NOVA--in the Nation to train their members on how to better identify and serve victims. The following are some of the activities that exemplify OVC's dedication to these issues. --Administration on Developmental Disabilities (ADD). A collaborative relationship was established with the Administration on Developmental Disabilities (ADD) which enables OVC and ADD grantees to develop collaborative strategies that will serve crime victims. OVC has joined with a working group of national developmental disability advocacy organizations to enhance the criminal justice and victim assistance response to victims with developmental disabilities. --Abused Deaf Women's Advocacy Service (ADWAS). OVC awarded funding to ADWAS in Seattle, Washington, to produce, with the National Association for the Deaf and Deaf Women United, the first-ever video for the Deaf community on the dynamics of domestic violence. The open-captioned video features Deaf actors using Sign Language. OVC promotes inclusive practices in the victim assistance field to ensure all victims, including those with disabilities, receive needed services. OVC is funding a video for the victim assistance field, expected to be available in FY 2000, that will illustrate the issues and challenges involved in identifying and responding to crime victims with disabilities, as well as highlight unique programs and promising practices for serving such victims. OVC's TTAC supported several Speaker's Bureau requests concerning disability issues, which included funding four speakers at a 1998 conference of the California Criminal Justice Task Force for People with Developmental Disabilities. Finally, OVC expanded the National Victim Assistance Academy (NVAA) text to include comprehensive information on serving crime victims with disabilities in the formative training of victim assistants nationwide. In addition, OVC encourages other community-based partnerships to improve victim services. The following are a few examples of such partnerships. --Children's Advocacy Centers (CAC). Through an interagency agreement with OJJDP, the National Network of Children's Advocacy Center, Inc. received a grant to allow it to continue to provide training and technical assistance to improve the response of local communities to child abuse through special projects. This funding has allowed the network to-- (1) Offer training and technical assistance to the Safe Kids/Safe Streets grantees. This is a comprehensive program to address child abuse and neglect in five grant locations through system reform and accountability, continuum of services for children and families, data collection, and prevention education. (2) Support a demonstration project that establishes a regional network of sexual assault forensic examination units using video camera technology. (3) Produce a training videotape featuring the co-existence and connection between child abuse and domestic violence. Another interagency agreement between OVC and OJJDP is assisting Indian Tribes in establishing Children's Advocacy Centers on reservations. The Tulalip Tribe was selected as a demonstration site to develop a coordinated strategy for meeting the needs of American Indian child victims and the criminal justice system. --Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). With OVC funding support, MADD developed four death notification training manuals targeting the professions of law enforcement, mental health counselors and victim advocates, medical personnel, and clergy and funeral directors. Each manual outlines procedures to follow when notifying someone of the death of a loved one and includes information on debriefing those who must perform this task and sample resource materials to use. Forming Allied Professional Partnerships In FYs 1997-1998, OVC's many training and technical assistance projects aligned with several OVC goals. These included promoting victims' rights through projects designed to serve all victims, including victims of fraud. OVC's district-specific and other training projects targeted groups, such as law enforcement, other Justice agencies, and the mental health community to improve victim services. Other OVC training and technical assistance initiatives helped local communities to respond to their own victims' needs. Initiatives such as Community Crisis Response, victim-offender mediation, and training and technical assistance for Indian Country helped to produce infrastructure change within communities and to make them more self-sustaining. OVC's many training and technical assistance projects, described below, are changing the way crime victimization and the treatment of crime victims is handled in this country--from identifying new groups to receive victim services to raising awareness for their needs to designing better services to meet those needs, OVC remains at the center of this paradigm shift. --American Bar Association (ABA) Studies on Statutory Rape. OVC funded an ABA project to survey all States regarding statutory rape legislation. This survey led to the formation of a handbook to help legislators and policymakers identify issues they should consider to amend their statutory rape laws or develop new laws. This same grant also produced a training guide which contains practical suggestions to increase the reporting of this crime, to improve investigations and prosecutions of the offenders, to improve treatment of the victims and offenders, and to develop sound sentencing practices to guide judges in these cases. --University of Minnesota School of Dentistry. OVC provided funding to the School of Dentistry, University of Minnesota, in FY 1997 to develop a comprehensive education model for dentists and dental auxiliaries regarding family violence. The project produced a training videotape on appropriate interventions with victims of family violence who are seen in the dental setting; developed a curriculum for a 6-hour seminar designed to train dental professionals to recognize family violence and to implement appropriate intervention; and designed a comprehensive training packet which enables the dental team to easily apply the intervention model to their own office setting. In the next phase of the project, the grantee will develop a videotape to train dental staff to identify the clinical signs of family violence in the patients they examine. In addition, the grantee will conduct several regional training programs using these materials. --Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape (PCAR). OVC recognizes that emotional and psychological trauma suffered as a result of crime is unique, and that mental health professionals are not always trained to respond effectively to crime victims who seek their services. In FY 1997, OVC continued to sponsor a project exemplifying the need for collaborative partnerships with other fields to truly meet the needs of crime victims. The project, Bridging the Systems-- with the Mental Health Community, is designed to empower victims, to promote effective response to crime victim needs by mental health professionals, and to bridge a professional gap between them and victim providers. This OVC grant produced a curriculum used at three pilot training sessions, which generated more requests for training, including requests from the U.S. Navy. --National Sheriffs' Association. TRIAD--A Three-Way Effort, is a joint OVC-BJA program seeking to improve the response to elderly victims of crime that has resulted in the formation of 585 TRIAD programs nationwide vs. 155 programs in early 1994 when the training program began. A TRIAD consists of a three-way effort involving (1) a sheriff, (2) the police chiefs in the county, and (3) American Association of Retired Persons or older/retired leadership in the area. These three components have agreed to work together to reduce victimization of older citizens and to enhance delivery of law enforcement services to them. Conclusion One of OVC's goals in serving victims more effectively is to encourage partnerships throughout the government and in the communities themselves so that victim services are in place to meet those needs. OVC urges everyone who interacts with victims, from police officers to prosecutors, from judges to corrections officials, from members of the clergy to business leaders, to join in the dialogue and implement the programs and reforms that make sense for their own communities. As part of those efforts to improve services to victims of crime, OVC gathers together people who have an interest in victim issues to discuss and develop guidelines to create programs in response to victim needs. ---------------------------- Chapter 5 Improving Services to Victims of Crime Conferences, Focus Groups, and Symposia Evaluating Programs To Improve Delivery of Victim Services Improving Systems and Access to Victim Services and OVC Resources --National Victim Assistance Academy --State Victim Assistance Academy Conclusion In FYs 1997-1998, OVC supported local efforts and responded to the needs voiced from the field for improved and enhanced crime victim services and for training and technical assistance resources. OVC devoted substantial resources to the delivery of rights and services to crime victims by convening conferences and focus groups, evaluating programs to improve delivery of victim services, improving access to OVC resources, and keeping victim service providers current with changes in the field. Conferences, Focus Groups, and Symposia Conferences, focus groups, and symposia are among the many ways in which OVC serves a leadership role to facilitate information sharing for those in the field. OVC learns of victim issues that need to be addressed through focus groups and uses conferences to share innovative practices or highlight the need for victim services in a particular area. In addition, OVC hosts national symposia and forums that are designed to reach many people in the most efficient manner. Participants take the information learned and apply these new concepts within their own agencies, organizations, universities, and communities. Information gleaned from focus groups and workgroups helps OVC identify unmet needs and develop policies, protocols, and guidelines that respond to those needs. Demonstration projects generate training, technical assistance, curricula, and models for use in standardizing and replicating promising approaches and products that advance victims' rights and services across the country. Several of the conferences and focus groups led to the development of new projects and programs, the formation of partnerships between government agencies and the private sector, and the implementation of new policies or protocols. Some initiatives sponsored by OVC that developed from focus group recommendations in FYs 1997-1998 are listed below. --Victims of Gang Violence. Because of a lack of information available on gang violence and victimization and because the needs of victims of gang violence are an important priority for OVC, a focus group of victim advocates, criminal justice policymakers, and crime victims was convened to discuss the unique needs of victims of gang violence and assess available services. As a result of this meeting, OVC competitively awarded a grant to Victim Services, Inc., to design training for law enforcement, victim advocates, hospitals, schools, and funeral directors. The grantee is using a direct services model developed by Orange County, California's Gang Victim Services. OVC plans to pilot test these materials at appropriate VS 2000 and demonstration sites affiliated with OJJDP's Comprehensive Gang Prevention, Intervention, and Suppression program. --VOCA Regional Meetings. OVC conducted six regional meetings in January 1997 for State victim assistance administrators to exchange ideas, funding strategies, and action plans for supporting victim service programs in response to the substantial funding increase in the CVF as a result of the Daiwa Bank fraud conviction. This extreme fluctuation in the CVF gave these sessions added importance because they alerted States to the implications of managing the new funds and to the unpredictability of ongoing levels of funding. As a result of this OVC-facilitated opportunity to exchange ideas, States developed long-range funding strategies that would sustain and enhance services for crime victims. --NACVCB Training Conferences. In FYs 1997-1998, OVC continued its support of the annual training conferences organized by the National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards (NACVCB) and the National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA). Held in Atlanta, Georgia, the September 1997 conference for State VOCA compensation and assistance administrators, called "A Continuum of Care," promoted coordination between compensation and assistance programs and provided workshops to assist States in increasing their capacity to administer these programs. In September 1998, State compensation administrators met in Seattle, Washington, to explore ways to control costs, increase restitution, upgrade automated systems, and offer victim assistance within compensation programs. State VOCA administrators were scheduled to come together again for training and technical assistance in September 22-26, 1999, in Chicago, Illinois, with OVC funding support. The theme for the 1999 meeting was "Shaping the 21st Century: New Directions for Victim Compensation and Assistance Programs." --Indian Nations Conferences. Every other year, OVC sponsors Strengthening Indian Nations: Justice for Victims of Crime Conferences. These conferences bring together the largest collection of Tribal victim advocates, Tribal victims, Tribal justice professionals, and Tribal leadership in the Nation to discuss crime and victimization issues in Indian Country, train on best practices, and exchange information. The conferences offer skills-building training to victim services providers, prosecutors, law enforcement officials, judicial personnel, and health and mental health professionals from the Tribal, Federal, and State levels who deal with victims of crime in Indian Country. The Seventh National Indian Nations Justice for Victims of Crime Conference was held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, September 28-30, 1999, and was expanded to include participation by all OJP offices and bureaus. --Federal Symposium. In FYs 1997 and 1999, OVC sponsored the National Symposium on Victims of Federal Crime. More than 750 victim/witness coordinators from dozens of different Federal agencies convened to discuss strategies for responding to the President's June 1996 Directive to "hold the Federal system to a higher standard of victims' rights than ever before. . . ." Since then training and technical assistance for Federal victim/witness coordinators and heightened interagency collaboration have driven the development of interagency agreements and memoranda of understanding, and request for line-item budget approvals for victim/witness personnel. --Restorative Justice Focus Group. Restorative justice is a victim-centered response to crime that provides opportunities for active involvement by the victim and the community. In June 1998, OVC sponsored a Victims and Restorative Justice focus group at OJP, attended by representatives from national victim organizations and renowned experts in the restorative justice field. Participants discussed ways for OVC to provide leadership to the victims' field in this area. They encouraged OVC's role as facilitator of dialogue on topics relevant to restorative justice rather than as a policymaker. A series of regional Restorative Justice Symposia explored how restorative justice practices could be incorporated into criminal justice practices and promoted within communities. To further educate the Nation about restorative justice, NIJ added a link to its Web site that contains materials from the Restorative Justice Regional Symposia participant notebooks and followup technical assistance to host sites and pilot seminars. --Symposium on Working With Victims of Crime With Disabilities. In January 1998, leaders in the disability advocacy, victim assistance, and research fields were brought together to address issues of justice and access to services for victims with disabilities. This was one of the first national-scope forums to focus exclusively on individuals with disabilities within the criminal justice system--as victims and not offenders. In response to one of the many recommendations made by symposium participants, OVC awarded a grant to the National Organization of Victim Assistance (NOVA), enabling NOVA to partner with Arc of the U.S., the largest advocacy group in the Nation for people with mental retardation. This partnership is to develop and enhance the capacity of victim and disability advocates to identify and serve victims with disabilities. NOVA and Arc will develop training and resource materials that will serve as the basis for training tracks at their national conferences. --National Symposium on Child Sexual Abuse. In FY 1998, OVC sponsored the participation of dozens of multidisciplinary professional teams from Indian Country to attend the National Symposium on Child Sexual Abuse. Team members included assistant U.S. attorneys, victim/witness coordinators, FBI special agents, and Tribal prosecutors, judges, law enforcement officers, and social service staff. The purpose of the symposium was to provide training to Federal criminal justice professionals to improve their skills in responding to victims of child sexual abuse and to promote coordination among these professionals. The symposium workshops featured the most current techniques used in State and local jurisdictions to investigate and prosecute child physical and sexual abuse cases. --Technology Symposium. On February 27-28, 1998, OVC sponsored a symposium titled Promising Strategies and Practices in Using Technology To Benefit Victims of Crime, which convened approximately 35 participants from the victim services and criminal justice fields and technology companies to discuss a range of technically oriented topics. Organized by the National Center for Victims of Crime (NCVC), the symposium followed a survey of victim service and criminal justice professionals conducted by NCVC to identify victim-oriented technologies. The survey identified 45 technologies used to assist victims, including those dealing with victim-specific case management, case tracking, notification, protection, management of legal and financial obligations, interactive training, and information support via the Internet. Symposium recommendations for the victim services field included creating a technical assistance package for developing victim-related Web sites. --Focus Group on Stalking Victims. In October 1998, OVC conducted a focus group on "Addressing the Needs of Stalking Victims." The meeting brought together stalking victims, victim advocates, prosecutors, and law enforcement officers who have worked with stalking victims to explore how acts of stalking affect victims and how communities can better address the needs of those who are stalked. Stalking victims described the destructive effects that stalkers' terrorist tactics had on their lives, while other participants shared information gleaned from their experiences in assisting victims. Participants identified gaps in services and barriers to accessing available services. OVC will disseminate the findings from this focus group as an OVC bulletin to inform victim assistance providers and justice system responders on the local, State, and Federal levels. ---------------------------- "It was helpful to see how other agencies worked their victim/witness programs. It gave me a better overall understanding of what victim advocates are trying to achieve through government and law enforcement." --Federal Symposium Participant ---------------------------- Evaluating Programs To Improve Delivery of Victim Services Evaluation of VOCA-funded grant programs administered by OVC improves the delivery of victim services. During the last biennium, OVC provided funding to NIJ to contract for evaluation support for several of its major programs, some of which are described below: --National Study of Victim Needs and Assistance. This project, contracted to Victim Services, Inc., with VERA Institute and WESTAT as subcontractors, has two primary objectives: to uncover the emotional, behavioral, and financial impact of the crime and the resulting needs of the victim and family, and to examine whether victim assistance was sought and, if so, from whom or from which organizations (e.g., family, friends, clergy, hospital, 911, law enforcement, domestic violence program, or a comprehensive victim services agency). The results of this study will be used to increase the capacity of criminal justice, victim services, and other systems so they may respond more appropriately to victims of crime. --Evaluation of VOCA State Compensation and Assistance Programs. OVC partnered with the National Institute of Justice to fund a multiyear project that evaluates the effectiveness of VOCA-funded compensation and assistance programs. The Urban Institute is the contractor developing the study. Phase I will examine, indepth, the provision of rights and services to victims in five to six States. Victims will be surveyed about the impact of crime upon them, the services offered to them, and whether the services met their needs. Phase II will examine a representative sample of VOCA-funded programs and determine if VOCA compensation and assistance programs deliver a coordinated, comprehensive set of services that lowers the cost and consequences of crime for the victim. The final report is due spring 2001. Upon receipt of the final reports from these two studies, OVC will host a forum, scheduled for late fall 2001, for policymakers and victim advocates to review the results of the study and to formulate recommendations for VOCA design, administration, and operation. Improving Systems and Access to Victim Services and OVC Resources OVC has led the way in raising awareness for the complex needs of crime victims and answering to the demand for more coordinated, multidisciplinary responses. OVC has undertaken multiple and varied outreach efforts to increase the availability of victim assistance resources for victim services providers, victim advocates, criminal justice personnel, and allied professionals. Its delivery of training, publications, and other resources through centralized access points stands to greatly enhance multidisciplinary intervention efforts. OVC "instruments" for increasing its outreach ability include TTAC, OVC's Resource Center and OVC's Web site (see chapter 3). OVC also supported the National and State Victim Assistance Academies to professionalize the field. Both of these efforts are described below. National Victim Assistance Academy Recognizing the need for a comprehensive victim assistance curriculum, OVC funded the first National Victim Assistance Academy (NVAA) in 1995 to, among other things, encourage professionalization of the field through nationwide, academic-based courses of study in victim assistance at colleges and universities. NVAA has become the centerpiece of OVC's efforts to train crime victim advocates and allied professionals. The 1997 and 1998 Academies, both conducted on four university campuses in different States, used current distance-learning technology to join students and faculty at all four campuses. The 45-hour rigorous curriculum emphasizes victims' rights fundamentals and new developments in the victim assistance field. For example, the fourth annual NVAA held July 1998 included presentations on victims with disabilities, victims in remote areas, and financial fraud victims. In FY 1999, OVC funded the complete update and reformatting of the Academy text. The sites for this year's Academy were California State University in Fresno, California; Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas; American University College of Law in Washington, D.C.; the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, South Carolina; and Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno cited OVC's establishment of the National Victim Assistance Academy as one of its primary successes in protecting and supporting crime victims by bringing the most up-to-date training to victim service providers across the country. Through NVAA, OVC ensures that services will be met by a competent victim services field. Since 1995, nearly 700 students representing all 50 states, 1 American territory, and 6 foreign countries have completed the Academy. OVC looks to the Academy to educate victim advocates and victim services providers about emerging issues concerning unserved victims and new developments on specific issues. The NVAA becomes an important tool for OVC to improve victim services both in this country and around the world. State Victim Assistance Academy When it received a request in FY 1998 from Michigan State University to establish a State Victim Assistance Academy (SVAA), OVC provided funding supplemented with university and State VOCA funding, and the first OVC-sponsored State Academy was born. Michigan State University, in partnership with the Michigan victim assistance community, intends to continue to sponsor a State Academy annually. OVC's new SVAA grant initiative is intended to encourage similar initiatives in other States, with the ultimate goal of establishing a 50-State network of State Academies (see chapter 9, "Looking to the Future," for more detailed information about the SVAA grant program). Although no direct funding was provided, the New Mexico VOCA victim assistance administrator has used the NVAA Academy text to host its own version of a State Victim Assistance training institute. OVC has uploaded the Academy text and updates to the text onto its Web site to provide similar access to other States and communities looking for quality training aides for their victim training initiatives. Marquette University in Wisconsin also plans to incorporate the Academy text within its undergraduate courses on victimology. Conclusion As the crime victims' movement matures the emphasis is shifting from merely establishing rights and programs for crime victims to enhancing the quality of services to victims of crime. OVC has relied extensively upon input from the field during this delicate transition period. Training and technical assistance efforts and conferences and symposia have been fashioned to respond not only to the demands of crime victims, but also victim advocates and allied professionals who are committed to making victim services a profession on equal footing with other human service and justice system disciplines. OVC-sponsored efforts have received tremendous acceptance by the field, supported national trends in the response to crime and victimization, and helped to integrate victim-sensitive practices in nontraditional settings. Amendments to VOCA authorizing OVC to fund demonstration projects have provided an opportunity for OVC to create community-based laboratories where promising practices can be identified, evaluated, and eventually replicated in other jurisdictions, and as a result the quality of services to crime victims is improved. ---------------------------- Chapter 6 Promising Practices and Demonstration Programs Demonstration/Model Programs --Comprehensive Programs --Technology --Crime Victims and Juveniles --Financial Fraud and Economic Crime --Violence Against Women --Prosecution --American Indians Conclusion OVC funds the development of program and training materials for projects that can be replicated across the country. Discretionary moneys are used to help develop national goals and strategies for meeting victims' needs. OVC discretionary grants also support training for victim services professionals and pay for projects designed to identify and fill gaps in services in States and local communities. Another important area of emphasis is improving the response of Federal officials to the rights and needs of Federal crime victims. OVC uses its annual Discretionary Grant Program Plan and Grant Application Kit to solicit applications for training, technical assistance, and demonstration grant programs that target State and local criminal justice agencies, victim services providers, and allied professionals. Many of OVC's programs such as the Victim Services 2000 initiative have influenced communities and changed whole systems. In FYs 1997-1998, OVC provided a variety of training and assistance that contributed toward strengthening the overall response to victims of crime. In addition, OVC organizational systems, such