National Crime Victims Helpline

The purpose of this award, funded under the OVC FY 2019 Advancing the Use of Technology to Assist Victims of Crime, is to support organizations that demonstrate innovative strategies to create, expand, or enhance the use of technology initiatives on a national scale or that can be replicated nationally to improve response, services, and access for victims of crime.

The National Center for Victims of Crime (NCVC) will use this $2,000,000 award to support the maintenance, service provision, and enhancement of the technology foundation of the VictimConnect Resource Center (VictimConnect). VictimConnect is a centralized center for accessing local and national resources via telephone, SMS, and chat interactions. Since its launch in 2015, VictimConnect has fielded more than 31,772 interactions with visitors, including almost 29,240 traditional telephone-based calls and over 2,532 chat- and text-based responses. The majority of the calls to VictimConnect have included topics such as assault, harassment, homicide, financial crimes,
stalking, and domestic and intimate partner violence. VictimConnect receives contacts from all 50 states. NCVC proposes an overarching goal-to maximize the use of technology and improve access to services for all victims of crime and the following targeted goals: 1) ensure that VictimConnect has the support and infrastructure to operate and meet the needs of the thousands of victims across the nation who are expected to reach out in the coming year; 2) leverage the procurement of a new cloud-based platform (slated for fall 2019) to enhance and expand VictimConnect's services and position NCVC to aid smaller victim-serving helplines; 3) make certain that service provision is sustainable, safe, and aligns with OVC Model Standards; and 4) align data collection and reporting with OVC requirements.

CA/NCF