District of Columbia Strategic Planning Initiative for Victim Services

In May 2013, OVC released the Vision 21: Transforming Victim Services Final Report. The Vision 21 initiative examined the current framework of the victim assistance field in the United States. The initiative was the first comprehensive assessment of the field in nearly 15 years. The FY 2015 Vision 21 Innovation Grants: Enhancing and Transforming Services for Victims of Crime solicitation furthers the goals of Vision 21 through 8 purpose areas. Purpose area #1 (State Strategic Planning) focusses on developing, enhancing supporting, and/or institutionalizing a cross-cutting strategic planning process at the local, tribal, and state levels, involving all stakeholders, including crime victims.

Under this OVC-funded state strategic planning effort, the District of Columbia’s Office of Victim Services (OVS) along with its partner, the National Center for Victims of Crime, plans to implement a collaborative strategic planning process, including multiple stakeholders that will enhance and improve services to victims of crime and complete a strategic plan that reflects that process. OVS anticipates that its strategic plan will address the needs of specific subgroups (especially victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and campus-based crime, and children/youth), and build cultural competency among service providers. CA/NCF