Background

From 1998 to 2004, OVC supported the development of the VVAA through its VS2000 Grant, a demonstration project focusing on developing a strategy to support communities in implementing comprehensive, collaborative services for all crime victims. The mission and goals of the VS2000 Project guided assessing, planning, implementing, and evaluating the VVAA Project.

The mission of the VS2000 Project was to join with victims, survivors, and those who interact with victims to implement, sustain, and support a system of services across Vermont that is victim centered, comprehensive, and just. Five goals were identified:

• Goal 1: To support a strong and active network of victims and survivors of crime.



• Goal 2: To support increased accessibility for all Vermonters to crime victim and criminal justice services.



• Goal 3: To support a strong victim services network, strengthening links among diverse advocates.



• Goal 4: To support stronger cooperative relationships across systems.



• Goal 5: To support greater accountability to victims and survivors of crime.

Because the victim assistance movement has grown significantly in the past 25 years and victim assistance programs have become part of the Nation's criminal, tribal, military, and juvenile justice infrastructure, victim service providers, advocates, and allied professionals with practical experience, training, and education can be found working in a variety of settings. These include:

• District or State's Attorneys' Offices



• U.S. Attorneys' Offices



• Attorneys General Offices



• Police stations



• Correctional institutions



• College campuses



• Child protection offices



• Grassroots victim services programs such as battered women's shelters and rape crisis centers

The VS2000 initiative presented Vermont with a unique opportunity to strengthen existing collaborative relationships among these diverse advocates, forge new partnerships, and focus shared attention on meeting the needs of victims of crime.

The VS2000 Project began with a thorough needs assessment to gain a better understanding of the range and accessibility of victim services in Vermont, highlight gaps in services, identify underserved populations of crime victims, and develop a preliminary plan. Assessment tools included interviews and focus groups held around the state, surveys of victim service providers and survivors of crime, documents and reports of victim assistance programs, and an analysis of the infrastructure of the current victim service network.

As the first year of the Vermont VS2000 Project's needs assessment and planning drew to a close, one goal began to emerge with unmistakable clarity: To better serve a larger number of victims/survivors of crime, Vermont needed to develop and implement a statewide structure capable of supporting sustainable, innovative training on victim/survivor issues for all those who work with survivors of crime. Vermont committed to exploring the possibility of creating its own SVAA to meet this goal.