Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day (MMIP) is May 5, 2023
MMIP Awareness Day is a time to renew our commitment to ensuring resources are available to solve missing persons cases in Tribal and Native communities and providing services to victims and their families.
In his proclamation, President Biden states, "On Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day, we remember the many lives shattered or lost, and commit to working with Native communities to find justice, keep families safe, and help them heal."
Visit the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center’s website to participate in webinars about MMIP and for resources to help your organization raise public awareness.
In recognition of MMIP Awareness Day, OVC highlights our Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons page, which features resources to support survivors, victim service providers, and allied professionals. Discover publications, state resources, related links, and videos including—
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- Missing or Murdered Indigenous People: Bringing Loved Ones Home
Learn about the MMIP crisis in this video. Grassroots efforts on behalf of MMIP are working to increase national awareness and understanding of the issue.
- When a Loved One Goes Missing: Resources for Families of Missing American Indian and Alaska Native Adults
This guide provides information and practical resources to assist family members and friends with the search for a missing adult loved one.
- The Tribal Resource Tool
This OVC-funded online directory features contact information for service providers throughout the Nation that offer crime victim services to American Indian and Alaska Native survivors.
- Tribal Victim Services Set-Aside Program: Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons
Tribes and organizations that receive funding under the FY 2023 OVC Tribal Victim Services Set-Aside Program can use their funds to—- provide services to the family members of MMIP victims,
- generate awareness of MMIP among community members, in general, and for individual MMIP cases, and
- collaborate with Tribal, federal, and state and local officials to respond to MMIP cases.
- National Human Trafficking Hotline
This national, toll free hotline, operates 24/7. Contact the hotline to report a tip; connect with victim services in your area; or request training and technical assistance, general information or specific anti-trafficking resources. Contact the hotline by phone at 888-373-7888, by text at 233733, or live chat.
- StrongHearts Native Helpline
This helpline offers 24/7 culturally-appropriate support and advocacy to American Indians and Alaska Natives who are victims of domestic and sexual violence. Contact the helpline by phone or text at 844-7NATIVE (844-762-8483) or live chat.
- National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC)
NCMEC has a national, toll free hotline (800-843-5678) to report missing children. NCMEC case managers are available to work directly with families and Tribal law enforcement agencies investigating missing children’s cases. Learn about the work of Team Adam and view a NCMEC blog for more information about resources and technical assistance for Native American communities.
We also highlight our OVC FY 2023 Developing Future Victim Specialists to Serve American Indian/Alaska Native Victims of Crime funding opportunity. Through this program, OVC is seeking to develop a workforce of victim service providers to serve American Indian and Alaska Native victims in locations that are remote and where positions are hard to fill. This will be accomplished by engaging interested individuals, including but not limited to, college and university students, who are from, live, and/or attend school in these areas.
- Grants.gov Deadline: 11:59 p.m., eastern time on Monday, June 12, 2023
- Application JustGrants Deadline: 8:59 p.m., eastern time on Tuesday, June 20, 2023
Older Americans Month
President Biden states, “Older Americans should be able to live, work, and participate in their communities with dignity”, in his Older Americans Month proclamation.
During Older Americans Month, we highlight the National Elder Fraud Hotline, operated by OVC. Experienced hotline case managers are standing by to provide victims of financial fraud aged 60 or older with personalized support by assessing their needs and identifying relevant next steps. Call the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 833-FRAUD-11 (833-372-8311) from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. eastern time, Monday through Friday.
Apply for OVC FY 2023 funding opportunities to enhance services that support older victims of crime, including the following:
OVC FY 2023 Transforming America’s Response to Elder Abuse: Enhanced Multidisciplinary Teams (E-MDTs) for Older Victims of Abuse and Financial Exploitation and T&TA
OVC seeks to support the development or enhancement of multidisciplinary teams to better identify and respond to cases of abuse of older adults and more comprehensively serve and support older victims of financial exploitation and other forms of elder abuse. The program will also support a National Elder Abuse Training and Technical Assistance Center.
- Grants.gov Deadline: 11:59 p.m., eastern time on Wednesday, May 24, 2023
- Application JustGrants Deadline: 8:59 p.m., eastern time on Wednesday, May 31, 2023
View publications and multimedia products to help the field provide effective services to victims of elder abuse and financial exploitation. These materials, funded by OVC and hosted by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Elder Justice Initiative, include the following and more—
- Strategies and Training to Advance Greater Elder Safety: this curriculum educates teams of judicial, justice, and community professionals about financial exploitation and elder abuse.
- Elder Abuse Fatality Review Teams: A Replication Manual: this manual provides guidance to communities on establishing elder abuse fatality review teams that examine deaths caused by or related to elder abuse.
- Lifting Up the Voices of Older Survivors Videos: this collection of nine training videos and accompanying discussion guides features the voices of older survivors describing their experiences and insights regarding effective interventions.
Discover additional resources for organizations responding to elder abuse on the Elder Justice Initiative website and the Elder Fraud and Abuse section of the OVC website.
National Police Week
In 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed a proclamation which designated May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which that date falls as Police Week. This year, National Police Week is May 14–May 20, 2023. National Police Week is a time to support law enforcement communities and honor officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, Fraternal Order of Police/Fraternal Order of Police Auxiliary, and Concerns of Police Survivors annually lead the Nation in commemorating National Police Week.
Register to attend a Candlelight Vigil to honor fallen law enforcement officers on Saturday, May 13, 2023, at 8:00 p.m., eastern time on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. View the National Police Week webpage for a schedule of all events.
This month, we highlight the following resources for law enforcement.
Our partners at the Bureau of Justice Assistance administer the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program. This program provides death and education benefits to survivors of fallen law enforcement officers, firefighters, and other first responders, and disability benefits to officers catastrophically injured in the line of duty.
The OVC Support for Law Enforcement flier highlights OVC’s support for programs that help law enforcement personnel compassionately and effectively meet the needs of crime victims. Featured publications, multimedia, and other resources include—
- The Vicarious Trauma Toolkit can help law enforcement agencies strengthen their ability to address work-related exposure to trauma; and
- the Enhancing Law Enforcement Response to Victims (ELERV) Strategy, Second Edition introduces law enforcement leaders to the benefits and methods for adopting victim-centered, trauma-informed philosophies to enhance the response to crime victims.
Visit the Law Enforcement section of our site for additional resources.