NCJ Number
250096
Date Published
January 2013
Length
44 pages
Annotation
The Office of Audit, Assessment, and Management (OAAM) of the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Justice Programs reports on its assessment of the Office for Victims of Crime's (OVC's) State Victim Assistance Academy (SVAA) grant program, which funds comprehensive, academically based, fundamental education and training for victim assistance providers, victim advocates, criminal justice personnel, and allied professionals who routinely interact with crime victims in some capacity.
Abstract
OVC's goals for the SVAA program are to have each State operate in partnership with an academic institution to develop a State-specific course of study to meet the entry-level educational needs of victim service providers, adapting a model National Victim Assistance Academy (NVAA) model tailored to each State's needs. This assessment found that the SVAA program has been largely successful in using seed money to establish SVAAs across the country. The majority of these academies are still operating, with many having maintained the original 51/2-day, 40-hour course format of the NVAA model. Other SVAAs have adapted their venue, course length, and other features to meet budget challenges and/or better meet their State's training needs for victim service providers. Although OAAM examined several descriptive characteristics and known sustainability factors for SVAAs, OAAM was not able to identify common characteristics among SVAAs that operated beyond the funding provided by OVC, except to note that sustained SVAAs were more likely to have a dedicated representative and/or an advisory board. These SVAAs also incorporate many of the factors recommended in the literature on sustainability, including maintaining a broad funding base. In addition, OAAM identified several steps that OVC should consider to improve the current grant program, as well as some issues that OVC should consider to improve the current grant program, as well as some issues that OVC should consider regarding the future of the grant program and the quality of the training provided by SVAAs already in place. The methodology used in this assessment is described. 8 tables and appended supplementary data