News You Can Use

January 2011

February 2011

March 2011

January 2011

Vision 21: Transforming Victim Services

It's so fitting in a new year to provide you with information about the Office for Victims of Crime initiative, "Vision 21: Transforming Victim Services." This is a "MUST READ", as the outcomes of this important project will shape the entire future of our field. Please take time to visit http://ovc.ncjrs.gov/vision21/ to learn more about Vision 21.

Stalking Awareness Month

January 2011 is "Stalking Awareness Month," and NCJRS has a web page that's just FULL of great information about stalking prevention and victim assistance. Please visit http://www.ncjrs.gov/stalkingawareness/ for more information.

Prisoners in 2009

The Bureau of Justice Statistics has released "Prisoners in 2009," an annual report that presents data on prisoners under jurisdiction of federal or state correctional authorities on December 31, 2009, collected from the National Prisoner Statistics series. It compares changes in the prison population during 2009 to changes from yearend 2000 through yearend 2008, and explores factors leading to a decline in the state prison population. You can download this publication at: http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=2232 .

Probation and Parole in the US, 2009

Another great end of year resource : BJS has released "Probation and Parole in the US, 2009 that provides current information on offe nders who are under some form of community supervision. You can download this document at: http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=2233.

Substance Abuse and Delinquency Among Serious Juvenile Offenders

OJJDP has recently released a Bulletin, "Substance Abuse and Delinquency Among Serious Juvenile Offenders," which presents results from the Pathways to Desistance study. This bulletin focuses on understanding the connection between substance use and serious offending, including how these behaviors affect one another in adolescence and how they change in early adulthood, particularly when one behavior ceases. You can download this Bulletin at http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/232790.pdf.

From the National Organization of Victims of Juvenile Lifers

FROM THE NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF VICTIMS OF JUVENILE LIFERS: "Homicide survivors of teen killers have a new website: http://www.teenkillers.org. These murder victims families are hoping that you will take a few minutes to help us by posting a link to this website at your site and share it with all your victim and law enforcement networks. When the murderer is a teenager, there are so many more problems for the victims' families - more sympathy for the offender, fewer victims' rights, sentencing complications, etc. Those of us who have been struggling with the issue for years and decided to organize ourselves for mutual support and information sharing. But a new website takes a while to get noticed as a resource. Http://www.teenkillers .org is a great website, but we need YOUR help to get seen in the search engines and to the victim community that might need us. Would you please post a link to www.teenkillers.org at your websites? Would you please tell any appropriate associates about the website as well? THANKS!"

Peace Corps Worked to Keep Scandal Quiet

Please read about the amazing and inspiring survivors who were victimized while serving in our Nation's Peace Corps. Last Friday, ABC broadcast an excellent piece on this subject - "Peace Corps Worked to Keep Scandal Quiet" – which you can review at http://abcnews.go.com/2020. First Action Response, a group of returned Peace Corps volunteers that is addressing violence and victimization and victim assistance for Peace Corps volunteers, has a great website with more information about this critical issue. Take a moment to visit this site at: http://firstresponseaction.org/.

National Crime Victims' Rights Week

National Crime Victims' Rights Week
DATES: April 10 - 16, 2011
Theme: "Reshaping the Future, Honoring the Past."
Colors and CMYK Palette: Yellow (C=0, M=12, Y=100, K=10), Teal (C=100, M=8, Y=35, K=35) and Black (C=0, M=0, Y=0, K=100) Keynote: Judy Shepard (http://www.matthewshepard.org/site/PageServer)
National Observance and Candlelight Ceremony – April 7, 2011 in Washington, DC
National Crime Victims' Service Awards – April 8, 2011 in Washington, DC

FY 2011 SAVIN Program Competitive Grant

The National SAVIN Training and Technical Assistance Project, sponsored by the National Criminal Justice Association (NCJA), wants to make sure that all MMMers are aware of the FY 2011 SAVIN Program Competitive Grant that was just released by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. This initiative offers your states a great opportunity to initiate or enhance automated victim information and notification systems. The summary of the BJA Grant Announcement below contains an overview of t he solicitation, and URL links to both the BJA solicitation and the SAVIN Guidelines and Standards, along with information about whom to contact if you have questions or need further information.
FY 2011 SAVIN Program Competitive Grant Announcement Released by BJA The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) has just released the Statewide Automated Victim Inform ation and Notification (SAVIN) Program FY 2011 Competitive Grant Announcement (BJA-2011-2875). The full solicitation can be accessed at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/grant/11SAVINsol.pdf.

The application deadline is 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, March 24, 2011. Applicants (see page 1 of the solicitation for "eligibility") may request up to $1,000,000 in funding, and the project period may be up to 24 months. Registration with Grants.gov (http:// www.grants.gov) is required prior to application submission (see additional details on page 10 of the solicitation, "How to Apply"). If your agency is already registered in Grants.gov, you will simply need to input your "login name and password." If your agency is not yet registered, consider doing this immediately, as it "can take up to several weeks for first-time registrants to receive confirmation and a user password."
"In order to apply for SAVIN Program funding, applicant agencies must reference the state legislation designating authority to manage the SAVIN program for their state. If there is no authorizing legislation, a letter from the Governor or person expressly designated by the Governor, on behalf of the agency supporting the SAVIN program, must be attached as part of the application," designating the applicant as the approved SAVIN program manager on behalf of the state.
Please carefully review "Automated Victim Notification Systems" on page 5 of the solicitation to fully understand this year's funding requirements. It's also a good idea to review the Planning, Implementing, and Operating Effective SAVIN Programs: Guidelines and Standards, published by BJA in 2006, prior to beginning the application process (http://it.ojp.gov/documents/ijis_savin_guidelines_standards.pdf). AND for the first time, a match is not required for this solicitation, but is recommended to promote program sustainability and partnerships across the state (please see "Match [cash or in-kind] on page 7 of the solicitation). For technical assistance with submitting an application, you can contact the Grants.gov Customer Support Hotline toll-free at 800.518.4726, or via email at support@grants.gov (the hotline hours of operation are 24 hours a day, seven days a week, except federal holidays).
In addition, the National SAVIN Training and Technical Assistance Project, sponsored by the National Criminal Justice Association with support from BJA, will be hosting a webinar specific to the 2011 SAVIN Solicitation in February. Our Project will be sending you information about the webinar very soon, so you can prepare any questions you may have about the solicitation to submit in advance of the webinar.
We appreciate your consideration of this announcement. Again, please contact the Grants.gov Customer Support Hotline toll-free at 800.518.4726, or via email at support@grants.gov if you have a ny questions, or need further information about BJA's SAVIN Program FY 2011 Competitive Grant Announcement.

National Victim Assistance Academy

The Office for Victims of Crime is pleased to present the March 2011 National Victim Assistance Academy (NVAA), one of the most important training events available to victim service providers. Those who should attend are victim service providers and allied professionals, including those who work in Justice based programs, Community/nonprofit organization/faith-based programs, Law Enforcement, Mental health programs, Elder abuse programs, Hospitals and medical organizations. Trainings are delivered by teams of nationally recognized scholars, researchers, and practitioners with hands-on experience.
The NVAA will be held from March 14 to 18, 2001 at the Hotel Albuquerque in Alburquerque, NM.

The following trainings are being offered at the March 2011 NVAA:

§ Track 1: Foundation-Level Training – For those with less than 3 years of experience especially for those from states that do not yet have a State Victim Assistance Academy. 3.2 CEUs will be awarded for full participation and completion of all NVAA requirements.

§ Track 2: Professional Skill-Building Institute - For the March 2011 NVAA, Track 2 will focus on Supporting Children Living with Grief & Trauma: A Multidisciplinary Approach as well as Identifying and Responding to Elder Abuse. 3.4 CEU's will be awarded for full participation and completion of all NVAA requirements.

§ Track 3: Leadership Institute - Leadership in victim services, staff development and strategic planning. 3.3 CEU's will be awarded for full participation and completion of all NVAA requirements. Click on this link, as spaces are filling quickly!: https://www.ovcttac.gov/views/TrainingMaterials/dspNVAA.cfm

Web Forum

TOMORROW, January 26, from 2 pm to 3 pm EST, Travis Fritsch, Trudy Gregorie and Karin Ho will host a Webb Forum discussion sponsored by the Office for Victims of Crime. In conjunction with National Stalking Awareness Month, it will address assisting stalking victims using victim notification. You can visit http://ovc.ncjrs.gov/ovcproviderforum/ to learn how to participate AND to submit questions in advance of the Forum.

ALEC Resolution

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) have recently published a resolution in support of victim/offender mediation. Its summary reads: "Victim Offender Mediation is a face-to-face meeting, in the presence of a trained mediator, between the victim of a crime and the person who committed that crime. Used mostly in cases of low-level property offenses and first-time offenders, this method allows the victim and the offender to settle their case out of court, thus saving taxpayers' money on court costs, providing greater closure and restitution for the victim, and reducing recidivism by instilling in the offender a strong sense of the actual harm they caused to another individual. This Resolution encourages states to establish victim offender mediation policies or to promote the availability and utilization of such an option if it already exists." I know many MMMers are interested in VOM, so if you'd like more information about the ALEC resolution, please contact Courtney O'Brien at cobrien@alec.org.

Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force Strategy and e-Guide

OVC and the Bureau of Justice Assistance have just published the excellent "Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force Strategy and e-Guide," which offers great guidance and links to tools, trainings and other resources to create or strengthen anti-trafficking task forces. You can download this document at: https://www.ovcttac.gov/TaskForceGuide/.

"5th Annual Domestic Violence Counts" Survey

The National Network to End Domestic Violence, w hich just published its "5th Annual Domestic Violence Counts" survey findings, which found that in just one day, 1,746 local domestic violence programs:
Assisted 70,648 adults and child ren through shelter, transitional housing and advocacy.
Answered 22,292 hotline calls, over 16 calls every minute.
Trained 30,134 attendees at 1,240 community education sessions.

The survey also describes the thousands of requests for services that went unmet due to a lack of resources or funding. "Domestic Violence Counts" is one of the few (if not only) empirical source of information we have to demonstrate why funding for crime victim services, including raising the VOCA cap, is so very important, especially in these times of economic stress and budget cutbacks. You will want to download the full document at: http://nnedv.org/resources/census/2010-report.html .

New Funding Opportunity

NEW FUNDING OPPORTUNITY: The MetLife Foundation and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation are partnering for the 10th year to "recognize, sustain, and share the work of innovative partnerships between community groups and police to promote neighborhood safety and revitalization." Neighborhood Revitalization Awards include six awards of $15,000 and $25,000 each; and Special Strategy Awards include five awards of $15,000 each). You'll want to check out the RFP at http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/rfp/rfp_item.jhtml?id=323200013.

Free Internet Safety and Cyber-citizenship Program

The FBI has created an innovative, free Internet Safety and Cyber-citizenship Program for students in grades 3 to 8. The Safe Online Surfing (SOS) Internet Challenge is a great concept to incorporate into 2011 National Crime Victims' Rights Week and its theme of "shaping the future." You can check it out at: http://www.fbi-sos.org/default.cfm.

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February 2011

Very Important Action Alert

VERY IMPORTANT ACTION ALERT!: As part of its overall effort to reduce Federal spending, Congress may make significant cuts to funding for critical victim services. We need all survivors and victim advocates to contact their members of Congress NOW and ask them to keep current funding for VOCA, VAWA and FVPSA. For more information, go to http://www.nnedv.org/policy/takeaction.html. AND PLEASE "CUT AND PASTE" THIS ACTION ALERT, AND DISTRIBUTE WIDELY, MANY THANKS IN ADVANCE…………..

2011 SAVIN Program Competitive Grant Announcement Applicant Webinar

The U. S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), in partnership with the National Criminal Justice Association and Justice Solutions, is pleased to announce the: Fiscal Year 2011 SAVIN Program Competitive Grant Announcement Applicant Webinar. This webinar will provide a brief overview of the SAVIN Program and will focus on the recently released FY2011 solicitation. BJA staff will discuss program eligibility, the required application materials, and other important information and resources. The presenters are Alissa Huntoon, Policy Advisor, BJA and Tracey Willis, State Policy Advisor, BJA. The webinar will take place on February 17, 2011 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, EST.

Shaping Policy and Practice With Research

The National Institute of Justice is sponsoring its 2011 Conference, "Translational Criminology – Shaping Policy and Practice with Research" (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/events/nij_conference/). This is always an excellent conference, and NIJ is providing a limited number of needs-based scholarships, with "victim advocates" as one of the professions who can apply. The deadline to apply for scholarships is March 18, 2011, and information about how to apply can be found at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ nij/events/nij_conference/scholarships.htm.

Breaking Down the Bars

The Oprah Winfrey Network is producing "Breaking Down the Bars," a seven-episode docu-reality series that follows the dramatic transformation of eight female prisoners during their time at the Rockville Correctional Facility in Indiana. This is an important topic and I hear the series is pretty darn good! The first episode airs next Tuesday, February 15. For more information, please visit: http://press.discovery.com/us/own/programs/breaking-down-bars/.

Victim Assistance and Justice Funding Update

IMPORTANT VICTIM ASSISTANCE AND JUSTICE FUNDING UPDATE: On Friday evening, the House Appropriations Committee released its proposed continuing resolution for the remaining seven months of the FY 2011 fiscal year. It appears that VOCA, VAWA and FVPSA will remain funded at the FY 2010 level. Unfortunately, among some of the "hits" are the Byrne program -- (some of which is used to fund victims programs -- cut by $581 million or 1/3), COPS, and juvenile justice programs. The Weed and Seed program is zeroed out. This is just the beginning of the process: the full House still has to act on the bill (and there's no telling what the ardent spending cutters will still demand), which will probably begin on Tuesday and then go to the Senate. This process may not be completed before the current CR expires on March 4, so Congress may actually have to enact another short-term CR. In the meantime, the President will release his proposed FY 2012 budget Monday afternoon. Thanks to everyone for your continued support of critical funding for crime victim services.

Congressman Judge Ted Poe's Speech

Last Tuesday, U.S. Congressional Victims' Rights Caucus Co-Chair Congressman Judge Ted Poe gave a remarkable and inspiring speech on the House floor. This is a "must read"! You can read his floor speech at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2011-02-08/pdf/CREC-2011-02-08-pt1-PgH542.pdf.

MCVRC "Strengthening Partnerships and Building Identity Theft Coalitions and Advocate Network Project"

The Maryland Crime Victims' Resource Center (MCVRC), is engaged in a three-year project with support from the Office for Victims of Crime, US Department of Justice to support the "Strengthening Partnerships and Building Identity Theft Victim Coalitions and Advocate Network Project." This project will ultimately fund up to nine sub-grantees to create and serve the National Identity Theft Victims' Hub, a network of regional or statewide coalitions engaged to assist victims of identity theft by expanding or enhancing the outreach and capacity of victim service programs to better address the rights and needs of victims of identity theft. A SPECIAL REQUEST: Please take time to click on this link -- https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/idtheftvictims -- to complete a brief survey that will help the MCVRC design a project that supports the development of a network of coalitions to address the needs of identity theft victims. It should take no more than 10 minutes to complete, and we thank you in advance for your participation! If you have questions about the survey or project, you can contact Acting Project Director Merry O'Brien at merry@mdcrimevictims.org. And of course, MMM will keep you informed of this important Project's activities in the future……..

Reminder: SAVIN Program Competitive Grant Announcement Applicant Webinar

IMPORTANT REMINDER ABOUT THIS WEEK'S SAVIN WEBINAR: The U. S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), in partnership with the National Criminal Justice Association and Justice Solutions, is pleased to announce the: Fiscal Year 2011 SAVIN Program Competitive Grant Announcement Applicant Webinar. This webinar will provide a brief overview of the SAVIN Program and will focus on the recently released FY2011 solicitation. BJA staff will discuss program eligibility, the required application materials, and other important information and resources. The presenters are Alissa Huntoon, Policy Advisor, BJA and Tracey Willis, State Policy Advisor, BJA. The webinar will take place on February 17, 2011 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, EST.

2011 National Crime Victim's Rights Week Resource Guide

The 2011 National Crime Victims' Rights Week Resource Guide is now available online at http://ovc.ncjrs.gov/ncvrw2011/index.html . It's chock-full of great stuff to help you generate victim outreach and public awareness during 2011 NCVRW.

Inspiring Story

Please visit http://www.winnetkacurrent.com/Articles-c-2011-02-09-216867.114133-Northfield-couple-finds-love-amid-tragedy.html a truly heartwarming story about my dear friends Bill and Jennifer Jenkins, who found love after personal victimization tragedies.

Research to Practice

In an effort to bridge the gap between research and practice (and practice to research) in the field of victim services, the American Society of Victimology is proud to announce Research to Practice, a monthly email bringing you an easy-to-understand summary of a victimological study recently published in a peer-reviewed scholarly journal and a practitioner response to the study's findings. You can also access the Research to Practice blog at http://american-society-victimology.us/research/. The summaries will be created by scholars in the field of victim studies and the responses by practitioners in the field pertaining to the study under review. There will also be a discussion blog feature for those who wish to further discuss the summary and response. To subscribe at no charge for this monthly email, send the email address you would like subscribed to stephaniefrogge@sbcglobal.net. You may also subscribe to the blog's RSS feed if that is your preferred method.

Teen Dating Violence: " A Closer Look at Adolescent Romantic Relationships

The National Institute of Justice Journal recently published Teen Dating Violence: A Closer Look at Adolescent Romantic Relationships. It presents a great overview of the research; how teen relationships differ from adult ones; and a nice summary of "where do we go from here?" You can download this article at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/journals/261/teen-dating-violence.htm.

Peyton Tuthill Foundation Scholarships

The Peyton Tuthill Foundation, Inc. announces the availability of its annual Hearts of Hope Scholarships available to young people who have lost a loved one to a violent crime. $1000 annual scholarships are available to either high school students or undergraduate students whose family member was killed within 18 months of applying for the scholarship, and who has completed grief counseling. For more information about this scholarship opportunity, please visit the Foundation at http://www.peytontuthill.org/.

Science Daily Article

A brief article from Science Daily highlights the fact that adolescent girls who are bullied are at higher risk for depression and substance use, and can be downloaded at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110119120539.htm.

Hotel Recommendations for National Crime Victim Rights' Week

FINALLY, I have been asked for information about DC hotels from MMMers who are coming in for OVC's 2011 National Crime Victims' Rights Week Prelude Events on April 7 and 8. This is a liast of hotels where colleagues have stayed at before, and that are Metro accessible (in other words, these are not "recommendations" but, rather, a listing of hotels with good rates!). Since the week of April 4th is Cherry Blossom Season, it is highly recommended you book early if you are coming to town!
Hotel Harrington Downtown Washington DC Rates begin at $145 per night http://www.hotel-harrington.com/index.htm
Embassy Inn, Dupont Circle, Washington DC Rates begin at $179 per night http://www.embassy-inn.com/
Comfort Inn, Convention Center, Washington DC Rates begin at $183 per night http://www.comfortinn.com/hotel-washington-district_of_columbia-DC601
Hampton Inn, Convention Center, Washington DC Rates begin at $189.

MRVRC Project

The Maryland Crime Victims' Resource Center (MCVRC), is engaged in a three-year project with support from the Office for Victims of Crime, US Department of Justice to support the "Strengthening Partnerships and Building Identity Theft Victim Coalitions and Advocate Network Project." This project will ultimately fund up to nine sub-grantees to create and serve the National Identity Theft Victims' Hub, a network of regional or statewide coalitions engaged to assist victims of identity theft by expanding or enhancing the outreach and capacity of victim service programs to better address the rights and needs of victims of identity theft. THANKS to all who completed our survey, and if you did NOT complete the survey…. Please take time to click on this link - https://www.surveymonkey.com/idtheftvictims -- to complete it (we are leaving the survey open until this Friday, March 4 at 5 pm EST. It should take no more than 10 minutes to complete, and we thank you in advance for your participation!

BJA 2011 Program Solicitation

If you missed the excellent webinar last week about the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) 2011 Program Solicitation to support Statewide Automated Victim Information and Notification (SAVIN) programs, you can find out more information AND download the Powerpoint presentation at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/grant/savin.html.

SAMSHA Report

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) just released a report which found that over 700,000 adolescents age 12-14 in the U.S. drink alcohol and many get it from their parents or guardians…..a bit of a shocker you might want to read at http://www.samhsa.gov/newsroom/advisories/1102163049.aspx.

Family Violence Prevention Fund

The Family Violence Prevention Fund is sponsoring a really creative national public education campaign designed to prevent teen dating abuse. "That's Not Cool" uses digital examples of controlling behavior online and by cell phone, to encourage teens to draw their own line about what, or what is not, acceptable relationship behavior. For any people working with teens and/or on teen dating abuse issues, you'll definitely want to check this out at: http://www.thatsnotcool.com/.

Save The Date

And FINALLY, below is the "Save the Date" announcement for OVC's wonderful Prelude Events here in D.C. If any of you are planning to come, and/or live in or around the Metropolitan DC area, you can simply click on this, copy, and paste it to share with the masses (and we thank you in advance for helping to spread the word……………).

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