NCJ Number
184916
Date Published
August 1998
Length
2 pages
Annotation
The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) provides funding directly to American Indian tribes to assist in establishing reservation-based victim assistance programs in remote areas of Indian Country where there are limited or non-existent services for crime victims.
Abstract
Since its inception in 1988, the Victim Assistance in Indian Country (VAIC) Discretionary Grant Program has touched the lives of many American Indians requiring victim assistance services and has stimulated the growth of a responsive victim assistance network for American Indians. The primary goal of the VAIC program is to create permanent, accessible, and responsive victim assistance services on Indian reservations with federally recognized tribes governed by Federal criminal justice jurisdiction. Approximately 120 tribes qualify for VAIC funding. Under the VAIC program, victim assistance may fund a number of direct services, including crisis intervention, emergency shelter, 24-hour crisis lines, mental health counseling, victim advocates, emergency transportation of victims, court advocacy and accompaniment, and bilingual counseling services. The VAIC program is supported by the Crime Victims Fund. To date, about 28 percent of OVC funding for the VAIC has been used to support child abuse services, 35 percent to support domestic violence services, 7 percent to support sexual assault services, and 30 percent to support services for victims of other crimes. The National Indian Justice Center determines training and technical assistance needs of tribes receiving VAIC funding.