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Technical
Assistance for This OVC brochure describes briefly the origins and locations of SVAAs and how TTAC can help start one in your state.
THE STATE VICTIM ASSISTANCE ACADEMY CONCEPT To fulfill its long-term goal of encouraging victim assistance courses of study across the country, the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) of the U.S. Department of Justice introduced the State Victim Assistance Academy (SVAA) Initiative in Fiscal Year 1998. A State Victim Assistance Academy is a week-long, intensive foundation course of study in victimology and victims' rights and services. SVAAs are operated in partnership with an academic institution and are designed to meet the entry-level training needs of a broad range of victim service providers and allied professionals. CURRENT STATE VICTIM ASSISTANCE ACADEMY LOCATIONS The Office for Victims of Crime co-funded the first State Victim Assistance Academy in Michigan in Fiscal Year 1998. In addition to funding support, OVC provided Michigan with technical assistance and resources from OVC's National Victim Assistance Academy. Using the Michigan model as a foundation, OVC formalized the SVAA Initiative by soliciting applications from other states to create similar academies. In FY 2003, OVC provided first-year funding to develop three more academies in the states of Georgia, Illinois, and New York, and in FY 2004, OVC provided first-year funding to develop four more academies in California, Minnesota, South Carolina, and Tennessee. More on OVC-funded SVAAs. STARTING AN SVAA IN YOUR STATE While the availability of discretionary funding for SVAAs is dependent on OVC's annual program planning, OVC supports the development of state academies in two important ways: First, OVC has encouraged state Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) Administrators to help fund academies using their VOCA administrative funds. VOCA Administrators will play a key role in helping to develop academies in their states. To inquire about SVAA implementation in your state, contact your VOCA Administrator. Second, OVC has begun a technical assistance initiative through its Training and Technical Assistance Center (OVC TTAC) to assist states interested in developing their own academies. Through this initiative, states can access the resources and expertise of consultants who are experienced in National and State Victim Assistance Academy training planning, implementation, and delivery. However, funds to implement SVAAs are not available through OVC TTAC. Technical assistance resources provided through OVC TTAC are available to both prospective and established SVAAs to support the full range of tasks involved in designing, developing, and delivering high- quality academy training. OVC TTAC's assistance ranges from expert instructional design assistance in support of the SVAA curriculum to providing consultants to present any portion of the curriculum that your state develops. More specifically, these technical assistance resources provided through OVC TTAC and its consultants fall into three areas: Planning
Implementation
Delivery
Evaluation
Resource materials developed through the pioneering efforts of Colorado, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Utah will soon be available online. Examples of resource materials that will be available include evaluation forms and reports, general forms, brochures, pamphlets and presentations developed by these SVAAs. REQUESTING TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE To request technical assistance, complete the Training and Technical Assistance Request Form. Send the completed Request Form to OVC TTAC by one of the following means:
If you need assistance with the Request Form, you may contact a TA Coordinator at OVC TTAC by calling, toll free, 866–682–8822 (TTY: 866–682–8880) between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time. A PDF version (637 kb) of this brochure
is available for download.
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