Clinical Services for Young Crime Victims Exposed to the Opioid Epidemic

OVC’s mission is to enhance the Nation’s capacity to assist crime victims and provide leadership in changing attitudes, policies, and practices to promote justice and healing for all victims of crime. OVC achieves this mission, in part, by administering discretionary award programs supported by the federal Crime Victims Fund to develop innovative training and technical assistance, and to provide direct services to improve the overall quality of victim assistance. The purpose of the FY 2018 Enhancing Community Responses to the Opioid Crisis: Serving Our Youngest Crime Victims is to address an urgent gap in crime victim services related to the opioid epidemic and to expand upon existing or establish new programs to provide services to children and youth who are victimized as a result of the opioid crisis. The overarching goal of this program is to support children and youth who are crime victims as a result of the opioid crisis by providing direct services and support to these young victims at a community or jurisdictional level.

With this award, Chestnut Health Systems will implement a program that will provide services to youth exposed to their parent or caretaker’s opioid abuse. The goal of the project will be to provide direct services to these crime victims in order to help them overcome their exposure to the adverse experiences related to their parent’s opioid abuse. This project will serve child crime victims, aged 8–16, who are in recovery from trauma inflicted by their parents’/caregivers’ opioid abuse. The program’s services will consist of individual counseling, group counseling, family therapy, and education regarding the signs and dangers of addiction, drug abuse, and positive coping mechanisms. These services will be provided onsite at Chestnut Health Systems’ locations in the region and offsite at schools in two counties.

CA/NCF