2015 2015 SVAA TTA

The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) State Victim Assistance Academy (SVAA) Initiative addresses the demand for more coordinated and multidisciplinary approaches to training victim service providers and allied professionals. Its aim is to provide state level victim assistance academies that deliver a blend of education and skills-based training for professionals that routinely deal with victims. The training provided through SVAAs is a critical step to ensuring that all crime victims receive the culturally competent, trauma-informed services they need to support their healing from properly trained victim service providers and allied professionals. The increasingly complex needs of crime victims have resulted in a demand for more coordinated and multidisciplinary training approaches for the field. Recommendations from OVC’s Vision 21: Transforming Victim Services Final Report, released in 2013, to “build and institutionalize capacity through an infusion of technology, training, and innovation to ensure the field is equipped to meet the needs of the 21st century,” acknowledge the integral role SVAAs play in meeting the field’s training needs and reaffirm OVC’s commitment to support this important effort. For this reason, OVC issued the FY 2015 SVAA Technical Assistance solicitation to competitively select a training and technical assistance (TTA) provider to develop tools and resources to replicate, evaluate, support, and sustain SVAAs.

The National Center for Victims of Crime (NCVC) will use this $1,000,000 award to provide dedicated TTA to the network of SVAAs across the country. During the 36-month project period, NCVC will collaborate with Organization Resilience International, LLC, a global consulting firm specializing in crisis management and the human impacts of crime and disasters, to: (1) Provide comprehensive TTA to SVAAs, including curriculum design, instructor training and operational assistance; (2) Nurture the development of a three-level community of practice at the national, state, and operating SVAA level; (3) Facilitate peer-to-peer information sharing by developing a private, online social network for SVAAs and other stakeholders; (4) Create relevant tools and resources, including a SVAA Director’s Handbook, a Train-the-Trainers module and resources focusing on evaluation, succession planning, and financial management; (5) Invite SVAAs to a special track at NCVC's annual training institute, and present at other national forums; and (6) Provide a cadre of subject matter expertise to meet the needs of SVAAs at all levels of implementation.

ca/ncf