This final report presents a detailed analysis of the findings from the LEV Mapping Survey, which aimed to provide information about the landscape of law enforcement-based victim services around the United States, and based on the survey results, make educated recommendations for program sustainability.
This document presents the final report on the mapping survey for the Law Enforcement-Based Victim Services (LEV) Program, which had the goals of filling an information gap regarding the landscape of law enforcement-based victim services across the country, and of complementing the data collected by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) under the National Census of Victim Service Providers. Survey data were supplemented by information gathered through interviews with a set of survey respondents. Survey results illuminate the current state of LEV services and identify needs for technical assistance and future research directions, as well as help identify common practices in the field and support program development and sustainability. The survey, conducted in two phases, produced the following findings: information about respondents about law enforcement agency types and sizes as well as the services they provided; victim services program development among respondents; funding sources and usage for victim services programs; victim service program staffing; limitations of victim services provision; agency policies and procedures; partnerships; training programs; benefits to victim services programs for those agencies; challenges; and webpage information. Based on the survey results, this document makes several recommendations regarding the sustainability of law enforcement-based victim services programs through long-term funding, strategic growth, agency integration of victim services personnel, data collection and evaluation, and training and technical assistance.