Good Samaritans: Volunteers Helping Victims—Program Handbook and Training Guide (April 2009)
This online guide (NCJ 225703) is designed for prosecutors, law enforcement agencies, community groups, and faith-based organizations interested in using volunteers to expand their outreach to crime victims. A product of the Good Samaritans program in Mobile, Alabama, it provides guidance for replicating the program in other communities, as Mobile has done, and training volunteers to provide emergency services to victims including home repair, compassionate support, and referrals to other services.

Strengthening Sexual Assault Victims’ Right to Privacy (April 2009)
This online guide (NCJ 226501), developed by Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Services, Inc., provides recommendations to statewide sexual assault coalitions and rape crisis centers concerned with protecting sexual assault victims’ privacy. It addresses common challenges, discusses core concepts, and offers practical tips to maintain victim confidentiality to better serve victims.

Victim Services in Rural Law Enforcement (April 2009)
In the aftermath of crime, many victims in rural areas never receive the vital services necessary to begin recovery. Victim Services in Rural Law Enforcement (NCJ 226275) summarizes an OVC-sponsored project of the National Sheriffs’ Association and the Office of the Alabama Attorney General, which developed 17 models for establishing or enhancing rural victims’ assistance. This replication guide offers a blueprint for establishing local programs, outlining approaches, successes, and lessons learned.

Ethics in Victim Services (April 2009)
No issue is more complex—or important—than the ethical considerations related to serving victims of crime. Ethics in Victim Services, OVC’s newest online training curriculum, provides information related to values and responses to victims; ethics and standards in victim services; and ethical decision-making. Downloadable materials include Instructor and Participant Manuals, PowerPoint slides and vignettes, and a customizable agenda.

Terrorism and International Victim Assistance Services (April 2009)
This OVC brochure (BC 000753) was developed for crime victims and service providers as a comprehensive, accessible source of information about specific programs that support victims of domestic and international terrorism and mass violence, as well as victims of global crimes, such as child abduction and tourist-targeted victimization. The programs described in this brochure are the Antiterrorism and Emergency Assistance Program, the International Terrorism Victim Expense Reimbursement Program, the Crime Victim Assistance Emergency Fund, and the Victim Reunification Travel Program.

Victims with Disabilities: Collaborative, Multidisciplinary First Response (March 2009)
This training DVD and trainer’s guide (NCJ 223940) were developed under the guidance of a national advisory board to demonstrate effective techniques for first responders who have been called to the scene of a crime in which the victim has a disability. This educational multimedia package not only provides guidelines for interacting with adult and adolescent victims of crime who have communication and/or intellectual disabilities, but also helps law enforcement personnel gain a deeper understanding of the lives, personal attributes, and abilities of individuals with disabilities. (PDF, 870 kb)

Victim Impact: Listen and Learn Curriculum (February 2009)
This Office for Victims of Crime-funded curriculum (NCJ 224257) is geared toward helping offenders to become aware of the impact that crime has on victims and then to take responsibility and make amends for their actions. The online-only curriculum consists of 13 units, built around 10 core crime topics: property crime, assault, robbery, hate and bias, gang violence, sexual assault, child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, drunk and impaired driving, and homicide, plus chapters on implementing the program, the victim experience and making amends to victims. Victims and survivors speak about their experiences in the accompanying video clips.

National Crime Victims’ Rights Week Resource Guide (February 2009)
This guide (NCJ 224169) 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.

OVC Report to the Nation 2007: Rebuilding Lives, Restoring Hope (October 2008)
This biennial OVC report (NCJ 217686) outlines the activities and accomplishments of the Office for Victims of Crime during Fiscal Years 2005 and 2006. Each section summarizes victims’ needs in that area and relates how funding from OVC makes a crucial difference in the lives of crime victims. Topics include the Crime Victims Fund—a powerful resource for supporting services to victims; meeting the needs of priority victims; victim funding in Indian Country, funding and assistance for victims of international trafficking, terrorism and mass violence, identity theft, and domestic violence. The companion OVC Focus On Series provides an indepth look at specific grantee initiatives.

OVC Publishing Guidelines for Print and Multimedia (Second Edition, revised September 2008)
This OVC guide (NCJ 223646) describes the criteria grantees must follow when preparing products for publication. The guidelines, which were originally published in 2004, now include a section on producing OVC-funded videos (e.g., VHS tapes, DVDs) and an expanded copyright discussion. Other topics include requirements for writing Web-based publications, the types of OVC publications, the publication submission process, word processing and formatting guidelines, and legal and policy requirements. The guidelines are designed to help grantees work with OVC to produce a quality product that exceeds professional standards of excellence.

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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)