—Paolo Freire
"None of us is as smart as all of us."
—Unknown
Message From the Director
Many victims of crime have a complex set of needs best met by a multidisciplinary response. This publication, "Building a State Victim Assistance Academy—Vermont's Experience," highlights an Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) grant-funded initiative that focused on developing a strategy to support communities in implementing comprehensive, collaborative services for all crime victims. The initiative provided a unique opportunity to strengthen existing collaborative efforts among advocates, forge new partnerships, and focus attention on meeting the needs of crime victims.
From 1998 to 2004, OVC provided funding to the Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services to implement the Victim Services 2000 (VS2000) demonstration project in Vermont. The project supported the development of a unique victim service model tailored to the needs of the community. One of the most successful initiatives of Vermont VS2000 was the development of the Vermont Victim Assistance Academy, a statewide structure that supports training on victim/survivor issues for victim assistance providers and allied professionals. The victim assistance academy provides comprehensive, basic-level training on victimology, victims' rights, and victim services that reflect the laws and practices of the state.
Vermont VS2000 developed "Building a State Victim Assistance Academy—Vermont's Experience" to provide technical assistance to states interested in establishing a victim assistance academy. This publication describes the development of the Vermont Victim Assistance Academy and provides information about the collaborative-building strategies that strengthened the design and implementation of the academy. OVC envisions that one day there will be a victim assistance academy in every state and victim assistance courses offered at colleges and universities across the country.
