Crime victim services

Practitioner and Parent/Caregiver Guides

These materials were specifically designed to appeal to children ages 12–18.

The goal of these materials is to provide effective, trauma-informed, developmentally appropriate information and support to children in a way that they can more easily understand, so they can feel informed, supported, and empowered.

Learn more and view the guides below.
 

A Guide for Practitioners

This guide, designed for practitioners...

A Guide for Practitioners

These materials were designed for youth aged 12−18 who have experienced sex and labor trafficking, to help inform and empower them as they navigate through the justice system.

Funded by the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), these materials were created with the input of those with similar lived experiences, and expert practitioners working in the anti-trafficking field.

While the materials...

A Guide for Parents and Caregivers

These materials were designed for youth aged 12−18 who have experienced sex and labor trafficking, to help inform and empower them as they navigate through the justice system.

They were created with the input of those with similar lived experiences, and expert practitioners working in the anti-trafficking field.

While the materials are intended to be relatable to the broadest...

Tribal Communities

American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) suffer from one of the highest rates of victimization in the country. Cultural differences, remote locations, and challenging jurisdictional issues make providing victim services in tribal communities complex. In its work with tribes, OVC pays particular attention to government-to-government relationships with our tribal government grantees and to supporting tribes in providing culturally appropriate services for victims.

Tribal...

Training and Technical Assistance

OVC encourages service providers and allied professionals to strengthen their knowledge, skills, and abilities so that they can provide the best possible services to crime victims throughout the Nation. The OVC Training and Technical Assistance Center (OVC TTAC) leads the agency’s efforts to provide such expertise- and capacity-building activities by offering a variety of instructor-led trainings, both in person and online...

Research and Evaluation

Data on Crime Victimization

In FYs 2019 and 2020, OVC funded two partner agencies—the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)—in their endeavors to generate, collect, and analyze quantitative and qualitative data on victimization, victim services, and related topics critical to the field.

OVC continued an interagency agreement with NIJ to support research for the field, including...

Innovative Practices

According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, only 8 percent of victims of violent crimes received help from a victim service agency in 2019—a decline of 11 percent from 2018. To improve this reality, the victim services field must diversify and expand existing strategies for providing victim assistance and create vital links to other fields that come into contact with victims of crime...

Serving Victims Everywhere

OVC believes that crime victims should have access to the evidence-based services and support they need to begin their physical, emotional, and financial recovery. However, OVC recognizes that there are serious challenges to achieving this goal. Strengthening connections across allied fields to expand the availability and quality of services that impact a victim’s healing are among these challenges.

Center for Victim Research...