The following information resources may offer victim assistance information, research findings, educational materials, or strategies for program and policy development specific to this topic. A general listing of all OVC publications is also available.

I'm Going to Federal Court with Mark & Julie (1997)
This OVC activity book (PDF only) includes pages to color, games, puzzles, and information to teach child witnesses about the court experience they face. The book is a companion piece to the video Inside Federal Court (September 1995; NCJ 157156), which also instructs children and their families about the court process to build confidence and reduce anxiety about testifying. PDF (10.35 mb)

Learning All About Court With "B.J.": An Activity Book for Children Going to Federal or Tribal Court (September 1997)
This OVC activity book (NCJ 167252) contains games, puzzles, and information designed to instruct children on the jobs performed by tribal and federal court personnel. The activity book uses the same characters as and is designed to accompany the video B.J. Learns About Federal and Tribal Court (NCJ 139730). PDF (12 mb)

New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights and Services for the 21st Century: Judiciary (1998)
This OVC bulletin (NCJ 172815) is a reprint of chapter 4, which offers 14 recommendations on how judges and court personnel can provide victim services and ensure victims’ rights.

New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights and Services for the 21st Century: Legal Community (1998)
This OVC bulletin (NCJ 172820) is a reprint of chapter 9, which offers recommendations to improve the legal community’s response to crime victims.

New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights and Services for the 21st Century: Prosecution (1998)
This OVC bulletin (NCJ 172814) is a reprint of chapter 3, which discusses the role of prosecutors in ensuring victims’ rights and offers 14 recommendations on how to improve such services.

New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights and Services for the 21st Century, Strategies for Implementation Tools for Action Guide (February 2000)
This OVC action guide (NCJ 179558) provides valuable resources for implementing the recommendations, ideas, and promising practices contained in New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights and Services for the 21st Century.
HTML, ASCII (287 kb), or PDF (1.8 mb; also available in 28 smaller PDF files)

OVC Legal Series Bulletins
OVC Legal Series bulletins are designed to inform victim advocates and other professionals who work with victims of crime about various legal issues relating to crime victims. They highlight existing legislation, important court decisions in cases in which courts have addressed the issues, and current trends or "hot topics" relating to each legal issue.

The Crime Victim's Right To Be Present (January 2002)
This OVC bulletin (NCJ 189187) provides an overview of state laws addressing the rights of victims to attend criminal justice proceedings, particularly trials, and how their presence might affect the rights of defendants.
HTML or PDF (194 kb)

Enforcement of Protective Orders (January 2002)
This OVC bulletin (NCJ 189190) provides an overview of state laws and issues related to the enforcement of protective orders.
HTML or PDF (117 kb)

Ordering Restitution to the Crime Victim (November 2002)
This OVC bulletin (NCJ 189189) provides an overview of state laws addressing the rights of victims to receive court-ordered restitution from offenders in criminal cases.
HTML or PDF (137 kb)

Privacy of Victims’ Counseling Communications (November 2002)
This OVC bulletin (NCJ 192264) provides an overview of state laws and issues related to the privacy of communications between victims and their counselors.
HTML or PDF (137 kb)

Reporting School Violence (January 2002)
This OVC bulletin (NCJ 189191) provides an overview of state laws enacted in recent years to address violence in U.S. schools.
HTML or PDF (192 kb)

Restitution: Making It Work (November 2002)
This OVC bulletin (NCJ 189193) provides an overview of state legislation and issues related to the collection of court-ordered restitution to crime victims.
HTML or PDF (129 kb)

State Legislative Approaches to Funding for Victims’ Services (December 2003)
This OVC bulletin (NCJ 199477) provides an overview of state legislative approaches to raising funds for victim compensation and assistance programs.
HTML or PDF (415 kb)

Strengthening Antistalking Statutes (January 2002)
This OVC bulletin (NCJ 189192) provides an overview of state legislation and issues related to stalking.
HTML or PDF (117 kb)

Victim Input Into Plea Agreements (November 2002)
This OVC bulletin (NCJ 189188) provides an overview of state laws addressing the rights of victims to be involved during plea negotiations in criminal cases.
HTML or PDF (155 kb)

The Restorative Justice and Mediation Collection: The Collection (April 2000)
This collection of OVC documents describes the field of restorative justice and discusses the practice of victim-offender mediation as a restorative programmatic approach for crime victims.

Directory of Victim-Offender Mediation Programs in the United States (April 2000)
This OVC directory (NCJ 176349) provides addresses, telephone numbers, and contact and other basic information about domestic victim-offender mediation programs.
HTML, ASCII (143 kb), or PDF (570 kb)

Family Group Conferencing: Implications for Crime Victims (April 2000)
This OVC report (NCJ 176347) discusses the implications of family group conferencing for crime victims based on its use in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the United States.
HTML, ASCII (34 kb), or PDF (469 kb)

Guidelines for Victim-Sensitive Victim-Offender Mediation: Restorative Justice Through Dialogue (April 2000)
This OVC report (NCJ 176346) examines victim-offender mediation, a major program intervention that fully embraces the concepts of restorative justice.
HTML, ASCII (86 kb), or PDF (578 kb)

Multicultural Implications of Restorative Justice: Potential Pitfalls and Dangers (April 2000)
This OVC report (NCJ 176348) aims to inform practitioners about multicultural concerns associated with the implementation of restorative justice approaches.
HTML, ASCII (58 kb), or PDF (507 kb)

National Survey of Victim-Offender Mediation Programs in the United States (April 2000)
This OVC survey report (NCJ 176350) contains information on the characteristics of various victim-offender mediation programs operating throughout the United States and major issues they face in the course of their daily operations.
HTML, ASCII (53 kb), or PDF (508 kb)

The Restorative Justice and Mediation Collection: Executive Summary (July 2000)
This OVC bulletin (NCJ 180301) summarizes the five documents in the Restorative Justice and Mediation Collection, which provides guidance on establishing victim-sensitive restorative justice programs and is a valuable resource for probation and parole agencies, judicial agencies, religious groups, victim service organizations, community-based organizations, and those interested in a restorative conflict resolution process.
HTML, ASCII (53 kb), or PDF (950 kb)

Victims, Judges, and Juvenile Court Reform Through Restorative Justice (October 2000)
This OVC bulletin (NCJ 179383) documents the views expressed by victims of juvenile offenders and juvenile court judges who were engaged in a structured dialogue about the problems in juvenile court and their potential solutions.
HTML, ASCII (61 kb), or PDF (1.1 mb)