Frequently Asked Questions

The 2022 NCVRW Theme and Awareness Poster Kits are not yet are available to order.

We encourage you to update your preferences or sign up for the National Crime Victims’ Rights Week subscription list to receive important email updates, including the online release of the 2022 National Crime Victims’ Rights Week Resource Guide.

The 2022 National Crime Victims' Rights Week (NCVRW) Resource Guide has not been released yet. 

Sign up for the NCVRW Subscription List to receive to receive information about the online release of 2022 Resource Guide content and information about the National Crime Victims' Service Awards.

Visit the NCVRW section of our website to learn more about NCVRW.

If you or someone you know is in life-threatening danger, call 911.

If the danger is not immediate, but it is suspected that abuse has occurred or is occurring, call the non-emergency number for the local police department or see the Report Abuse or Find Help section of the Department of Justice's Elder Justice Initiative website for state-specific contacts and resources.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of elder fraud, contact the National Elder Fraud Hotline toll free at 833–372–8311. The hotline is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. eastern time. Services are available for speakers of English, Spanish, and other languages.

For additional information and resources, also see the National Center on Elder Abuse website.

The Federal Trade Commission's ReportFraud.ftc.gov website can help you report fraud and find resources to help you recover.

If you or someone you know is a victim of elder fraud, we encourage you to call the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 833–FRAUD–11 (833–372–8311).

The hotline is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. eastern time. Services are available for speakers of English, Spanish, and other languages.

Visit the Get Posted section of the OVC Directory of Crime Victim Services for information on how to add your program or organization to the Directory.

The Directory of Crime Victim Services is an Office for Victims of Crime resource that includes contact information for thousands of victim service providers. The Directory is designed to help service providers and individuals locate victim services in the United States and other countries.

Missing and exploited children statistics are available in resources from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Statistics section of the Office of Justice Program's Missing Children Special Feature.

For additional information, visit the Child and Youth Victimization section of our website and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children website.

If you have not yet contacted law enforcement officials to report your missing child, please do so immediately. Ask them about the issuance of an AMBER Alert. Through AMBER Alert, law enforcement agencies and broadcasters activate an urgent bulletin in the most serious child abduction cases. Request that law enforcement put out a Be On the Look Out (BOLO) bulletin. Ask them about involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the search for your child.

Additional helpful information for families about what to do when a child is missing is available in the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention report, When Your Child is Missing: A Family Survival Guide and the Missing and Exploited Children page. Also contact the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 800–843–5678 and view their Missing-Child, Emergency-Response, Quick-Reference Guide for Families.

Also visit the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) website. NamUs is a clearinghouse for missing persons and unidentified decedent records. This free online system can be searched by law enforcement officials, other allied professionals, and the general public to solve these cases. To enter a missing persons report into the NamUs database, visit the registration page.

Information on the phenomenon known as the "cycle of violence," in which a childhood history of physical abuse may lead the survivor to be more likely to commit violence in later years, is available in the National Institute of Justice resources:

• Pathways Between Child Maltreatment and Adult Criminal Involvement
• Effects of Child Maltreatment, Cumulative Victimization Experiences, and Proximal Life Stress on Adult Crime and Antisocial Behavior
• An Update on the Cycle of Violence
• Childhood Victimization: Early Adversity, Later Psychopathology

To learn more, visit the National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence, a series of publications funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Select OVC publications and products are available in hardcopy and can be ordered from the Office of Justice Programs. You can search for and order available OVC resources via the Office of Justice Programs Publication Listing page. While these resources are free, shipping and handling fees may apply. View the Shopping Cart Help for more information.