• Victim Advocacy and Public Awareness
• Support for Grassroots Organizations
• Advancing Victim Services
• Information for Victims
• OVC Grants and Funding Initiatives

Victim Advocacy and Public Awareness

National Crime Victims' Rights Week 2008 Resource Guide (January 2008)
This guide (NCJ 220102) was developed to help communities and victim assistance providers promote awareness of crime victim issues and help commemorate National Crime Victims' Rights Week (NCVRW), held each year in April. The guide features tips for working with the media, customizable public awareness materials, a theme DVD, and more.

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Support for Grassroots Organizations

Building Victim Assistance Networks With Faith Communities (April 2007)
This e-publication (NCJ 215201) describes the Vermont Victim Services 2000 Faith Community Initiative rural demonstration project, which was spurred by the need to provide clergy, who frequently worked with crime victims, with better tools and training for effectively assisting victims. The publication describes how the program was established, the lessons learned, and other promising practices. It also recommends actions for other victim service organizations that are interested in partnering with the faith community.

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Advancing Victim Services

DNA: Critical Issues for Those Who Work with Victims (April 2007)
This 24-minute DVD (NCJ 211970), produced as part of the President's DNA Initiative, is intended to raise the awareness of victim advocates, criminal justice practitioners, and others who work with crime victims regarding about the issues involved when cases include DNA evidence. The DVD focuses on the collection and preservation of evidence, what the victim can expect as the case moves forward, victim notification during the process, victim involvement and participation in the process, and cold case investigations.

Victims with Disabilities: The Forensic Interview (April 2007)
This 57-minute DVD (NCJ 212894) provides a specific set of guidelines for practitioners (law enforcement officers, prosecutors, victim advocates, forensic interviewers, and others) to follow when interviewing adults and children with communication and/or cognitive disabilities. A companion discussion guide including a transcript of the DVD and a glossary of terms and concepts used in the film accompanies this video.

Two-in-One DVD—Serving Crime Victims With Disabilities (April 2007)
This DVD (NCJ 213366) presents two popular award-winning videos, "Meet Us Where We Are" and "The Time Is Now," originally produced in December 2002 and no longer available in VHS form. "The Time Is Now" helps crime victim service providers reach out and serve people with disabilities. "Meet Us Where We Are" presents first person accounts of how crime affects people with disabilities and educates disability service providers and people with disabilities about crime victims' rights and resources.

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Information for Victims

Cómo Recuperarse de sus Lesiones Relacionadas con el Delito (English version—Recovering From Your Crime-Related Injuries) (April 2007)
A component of A Multimedia Program for Physically Injured Crime Victims, this 12-minute DVD (NCJ 213709) is designed to help seriously injured crime victims cope with the negative emotions that often accompany victimization by providing general information about the criminal justice system. This English-language DVD includes Spanish subtitles.

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OVC Grants and Funding Initiatives

Antiterrorism Emergency Assistance Program (July 2007)
This updated brochure (BC 000744) describes the OVC Antiterrorism and Emergency Assistance Program, which provides federal funds to support crisis response, consequence management, criminal justice support, crime victim compensation, and training and technical assistance during crisis aftermath. PDF (341 kb)

Helping Outreach Programs to Expand (April 2007)
This OVC brochure (BC 000742) describes the Helping Outreach Programs to Expand grant program developed to help grassroots, nonprofit, community- and faith-based organizations and coalitions that are not linked to mainstream victim service programs to expand and enhance their crime victim services and outreach efforts. Funds may be used to develop programs, aid networking, build coalitions, and deliver services. Printed copies of this brochure will be available later in May. (PDF 335 kb)

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Some of these documents may be ordered online through the Publications/ Products menu of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service. Download Adobe Acrobat Reader to read all PDF documents. Foreign Language Translator (Babel Fish)