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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
Issues Unique to Faith-Based Victim Assistance
Supplementary Materials
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Faith Based Victim Assistance Organizations

Message From the Director

Many victims of crime have physical, financial, emotional, and spiritual needs that cannot be fully met by the victim services field alone. It is necessary for victim service providers to have a network of resources in the community that can serve as a partner in supporting victims and addressing their various needs. Communities of faith can be valuable partners in the victim assistance movement not only by providing spiritual guidance to victims, but also by helping to mobilize resources to assist them. This publication, Building Victim Assistance Networks With Faith Communities: Lessons Learned by the Vermont Victim Services 2000 Project, highlights an Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) grant-funded initiative that addressed the need for the victim services field to collaborate with faith communities to better serve crime victims.

From 1998 to 2004, OVC funded the Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services to implement the Victim Services 2000 (VS 2000) demonstration project in a rural area. VS 2000 supported the development of a model resource network for providing innovative, comprehensive, and integrated services for crime victims. Representatives from victim service agencies across Vermont participated in Vermont VS 2000 and began their work by conducting a needs assessment that revealed that clergy frequently worked with crime victims but often lacked the tools and training needed to effectively assist them. Vermont VS 2000 addressed this issue by developing the VS 2000 Faith Community Initiative, which engaged the faith community in victim issues in a variety of ways, such as regional trainings for clergy on victim issues.

Vermont VS 2000 developed Building Victim Assistance Networks With Faith Communities to provide technical assistance to victim service professionals interested in collaborating with the faith community; however, the information provided will undoubtedly be of interest to those representing the faith community. This publication describes the VS 2000 Faith Community Initiative, the lessons learned, and other promising practices. It also addresses issues related to providing victim assistance and recommends actions for other victim service organizations that are interested in partnering with the faith community.

Signature of OVC Director John W. Gillis.


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