Frequently Asked Questions

The mission of OVC is to enhance the Nation's capacity to assist crime victims and to provide leadership in changing attitudes, policies, and practices to promote justice and healing for all victims of crime. OVC accomplishes its mission in many ways, including—

• administering the Crime Victims Fund,
• funding and supporting programs that provide direct services to crime victims,
• providing training and technical assistance to the field,
• sponsoring demonstration projects, and
• producing publications and products on promising practices in victim services.

For more information, visit the About OVC section of our website.

If you are experiencing problems with a State Victim Notification Everyday (VINE) system, please contact the State organization responsible for the system. To locate the appropriate contact, visit the VINELink site and select your state from the map.

If at any time you witness or believe a child is in immediate danger, we strongly urge you to call your local police department’s emergency number (911).

Each state also designates specific agencies to receive and investigate reports of suspected child abuse and neglect. Typically, this responsibility is carried out by Child Protective Services. For information or assistance with reporting, please call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 800–4–A–CHILD (800–422–4453) or contact your local Child Protective Services agency.

Additional state contact information is available from the Child Welfare Information Gateway website.

Ribbons for NCVRW are not available to order from OVC. Please visit the NCVRW section of our website to view the theme colors. These color codes may be helpful when ordering ribbons from an arts and crafts distributor.

The 2021 National Crime Victims' Rights Week (NCVRW) Resource Guide has not been released yet. Visit the NCVRW section of our website to view this year's theme poster and color guide.

To view publications and other resources related to the treatment of children who have been exposed to violence, visit the Office of Justice Programs’ Children Exposed to Violence Special Feature. This online resource also provides information on the prevalence of childhood exposure to violence, along with information on prevention.

Also visit the National Institute of Justice’s CrimeSolutions.gov website. CrimeSolutions.gov provides evaluations of justice-related programs and practices, including programs aimed at working with children exposed to violence.

Visit our U.S Citizens Victimized Abroad page to learn about programs that provide funding and assistance to victims in the aftermath of a terrorism event outside the United States.

Data on family violence are available in the following Bureau of Justice Statistics resources—

• the Intimate Partner Violence publication series,
• the National Crime Victimization Survey Victimization Analysis Tool, and
• Family Violence Statistics: Including Statistics on Strangers and Acquaintances.

Data on women sexually assaulted on campuses can be found on the Sexual Assault on Campus: Measuring Frequency section of the National Institute of Justice website and in the Bureau of Justice Statistics report, Rape and Sexual Assault Among College-age Females, 1995-2013.

Also visit the Office of Postsecondary Education Campus Security Campus Safety and Security Data Analysis Cutting Tool website and the Student Activism section of the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network site.

For additional information on this topic, view our Campus Crime and Sexual Assault pages.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics' National Crime Victimization Survey Victimization Analysis Tool provides data on the number of sexual assaults that occur annually in the United States. The annual Crime in the United States report, published by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, provides data on rape reported to the police.

For additional information about sexual assault, visit the Sexual Assault section of our website.