Frequently Asked Questions

Contact an OVC TTAC Technical Assistance Coordinator at 866–682–8822 (TTY: 866–682–8880) or [email protected] to check on the status of your training or technical assistance request.

An extensive range of services and resources is available to help crime victims obtain justice and heal. Review What You Can Do If You Are a Victim of Crime, the Help for Victims section of our site, and the Victim Rights and Services section of our website for information.

Guidelines on how to write a victim impact statement are available in the OVC report, Promising Victim-Related Practices in Probation and Parole - A Compendium of Promising Practices. See Chapter 2: Impact, Notification, and Informational Services for information related to victim impact statements and Appendix B for a sample form. 

The most recent tally of Americans killed as a result of terrorist attacks can be found in the U.S. Department of State annual Country Reports on Terrorism.

The format for the 2020 National Crime Victims’ Service Awards Ceremony has been changed to a virtual event for award recipients only. During the event, OVC will recognize individuals and organizations that demonstrate outstanding service in supporting crime victims and victim assistance programs.

Sign up for News From OVC to receive more information about 2020 National Crime Victims’ Service Awards recipients when they have been announced.

Visit the OVC Gallery to view information and watch videos about award recipients from previous years.

Nominations for the 2021 National Crime Victims' Service Awards are now closed. For more information about the awards, visit the National Crime Victims' Service Awards site.

National Crime Victims' Rights Week will be commemorated on April 18–24, 2021.  The 2021 theme—Support Victims. Build Trust. Engage Communities.—emphasizes the importance of leveraging community support to help victims of crime.

Sign up for the National Crime Victims' Rights Week Subscription List to receive to receive information about future National Crime Victims' Rights Week commemorations and information about the National Crime Victims' Service Awards.

To learn more, visit the National Crime Victims’ Rights Week section of our website.

Visit the Report a Crime section of the U.S. Department of Justice website to learn how you can report child pornography or cases involving the sexual exploitation of children.

You can also report suspicion of child sexual exploitation to your local police, your ICAC Task Force or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's CyberTipline (www.cybertipline.com or 1–800–843–5678).

Through the OVC Training and Technical Assistance Center, OVC offers practical skill-building sessions through its Trainings Catalog and National Victim Assistance Academy (NVAA), an education and training classroom experience for professionals and volunteers who assist victims and survivors of crime. Continuing education units (CEUs) will be offered for full participation and completion of all requirements for select trainings and the NVAA.

Through the OVC Training and Technical Assistance Center, OVC offers the following curricula for instructors to download.

The Sexual Assault Advocate/Counselor Training teaches advocates how to provide competent, effective crisis intervention services to victims and survivors of sexual assault.

Victim Impact: Listen and Learn helps facilitators in their efforts to make offenders more aware of the impact that crime has on victims, to take responsibility for their actions, and begin to make amends.

Ethics in Victim Services provides information and skills related to ethical standards in victim services and ethical decisionmaking.

The NVAA Foundation-Level Training Curriculum is basic training for victim service providers and allied professionals to download for their own use.