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Building Victim Assistance Networks With Faith Communities: Lessons Learned by the Vermont Victim Services 2000 Project
About This E-PublicationAcknowledgmentsMessage From the DirectorAbout the AuthorsRelated Links
The Need for Collaboration
Victim Needs From a Faith-Based Perspective
Elements of Collaboration
Lessons Learned
Program Startup, Relationship Building, and Sustainability
Cross Training
Lay Ministries

Enhanced Seminary Curricula

Faith Community Involvement in Task Forces and Community Initiatives
Public Education Opportunities
Interdisciplinary Approach
Issues Unique to Faith-Based Victim Assistance
Supplementary Materials
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Faith Based Victim Assistance Organizations

Lessons Learned

Faith Community Involvement in Task Forces and Community Initiatives

Clergy can play an important role as members of an interagency council or task force, and protocols should be provided to faith leaders so they will know a community's procedures for assisting victims. Few clergy who responded to the VS 2000 survey knew of the existence of such protocols. In communities that are establishing new task forces, clergy should be invited to participate in the initial planning of these groups.

Faith communities can participate in community initiatives in many ways. In Vermont, for example, faith communities are working with community justice centers, volunteering to serve on reparative boards, and working with the Burlington First Response Team to help victims of vandalism and property crime. Faith leaders can also play a valuable role in organizing and maintaining community crisis response teams, and can provide resources such as meeting spaces at their houses of worship, clothes collections for sexual assault or domestic violence victims, transportation to court or medical appointments, and help with completing victim assistance or compensation paperwork. When resource directories, such as the VS 2000 Victim Services Resource Directory, are created, religious institutions should be included in the distribution plan so they can make informed referrals to other services.


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