Center for Victim Research

NOVA's 48th Annual Training Event
2022-08-01 - 2022-08-04
Join NOVA for our 48th Annual Training Event in Denver, Colorado on August 1 – 4, 2022. Meet the NOVA staff and other helping professionals from around the globe at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel. This conference will be 4 days of inspiring keynotes, engaging workshops and establishing connections with other passionate professionals in the field of victim services and crisis response. Earn up to 19 CEUs! Register Today!

NNEDV Safety Net's 10th Annual Virtual Tech Summit
2022-07-19 - 2022-07-21
The Safety Net Project at the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) invites you to join us for our 10th Annual Virtual Technology Summit.
When?
Tuesday, July 19 – Thursday, July 21, 2022. (All sessions in Eastern Time.)
Where?
Our Virtual Technology Summit will include 8 webinars over the course of 3 days, all presented over the Zoom platform. Each session will include Spanish interpretation, American Sign Language and closed captioning.
What?
The annual Tech Summit brings together critical and timely information to increase the knowledge and skills of those working with survivors to enhance our work responding to technology abuse, supporting survivors in their use of tech, and harnessing tech to improve services. Content will focus on an array of relevant and emerging issues at the intersection of technology, privacy, confidentiality, and innovation, as it relates to safety and abuse. We will explore some of the ways technology is still evolving, including in our own use as agencies, as well as other intersections of technology and intimate partner violence.
How Much?
Registration is $125 per person and includes all webinars and access to recorded sessions and materials for one-year via a password protected site.
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Third National Town Hall on Mass Violence
2022-07-14 15:00 - 16:30 (America/New_York)
This is the third town hall from the National Mass Violence Victimization Resource Center. These sessions are designed for victim service professionals to coordinate with their communities to prepare for a mass violence or terrorism incident (MVI). These Town Halls offer important “lessons learned” from experts who have extensive experience in preparing for and responding to MVIs.
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Addressing the Spectrum of Housing for Victim/Survivors of Domestic Violence, Sexual Violence, and Trafficking in Indigenous Communities
2022-06-28 - 2022-06-30
From the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center and Indigenous Safe Housing Center; more details to come.
Specialty Institute
June 28-30, 2022

Drivers of Repeat Fraud Victimization and Why We Need to Change the Narrative
2022-06-23 12:00 - 13:00
From the National Center for Victims of Crime:
Scams and fraud are ongoing and rapidly escalating problems. Researchers and advocates have sought to understand the dynamics of financial fraud victimization, however, the drivers behind chronic, repeated fraud victimization have remained a mystery. The FINRA Investor Education Foundation and the AARP Fraud Watch Network will discuss research examining the problem of chronic fraud victimization and identifying points of intervention that could serve to disrupt the fraud cycle. Also, hear about a movement on the need to change the way we talk about fraud victims — and how it could lead to meaningful change.
Speakers Rob Mascio, FINRA Investors Education Foundation
Kathy Stokes, AARP, Fraud Watch Network
Rachel Gibson, National Center for Victims of Crime
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Webinar: The Top 10 Priorities for Sexual Violence and Abuse Research
2022-06-22 08:00 - 09:30
Since 2019, a group of experts by experience and experts by profession have been working together to identify research priorities around the support and recovery needs of survivors.
This is an important initiative urgently needed due to the scarcity of sexual violence research. We hope this work will be a spring board for future investigations, service improvements and bespoke clinical guidelines. These findings have the power to very influential so we welcome researchers, funders and anybody who has a vested interested in this topic to come along.
Topics covered include: support and recovery outcomes valued by survivors, how to best support marginalised groups, tackling stigma in society and the impact of involvement with the criminal justice system.
Come along to this event to find out what key stakeholders identified as the top 10 priorities!
Speakers include:
Dr Filippo Varese
Rabiya Majeed-Ariss

Creating a Model Victims Compensation Policy Guidelines for Lawmakers to Advance New Safety Solutions
2022-06-21 15:00 - 16:00
From Alliance for Safety and Justice and Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice:
While victims’ compensation programs are designed to offer aid to crime victims to help them recover from the crime, there are systemic barriers in law, policy, and practice that limit the reach of these services. The Alliance for Safety and Justice and Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice have been working around the country with Republican and Democratic lawmakers to reform victims’ compensation systems by removing discriminatory barriers, cutting through red tape, and delivering relief within the timeframe that victims say makes all the difference in their recovery. Join us for the webinar on June 21st, 3 pm EST, to hear from crime survivor leaders, community-based victims service providers, and policymakers that have advanced reforms to the victims’ compensation system so that more victims can get the critical help they need, and what model guidelines to reform these systems looks like.
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Preventing Firearm Injury in the Greater Houston Area Through Purpose and Policy
2022-06-21
Across the country, firearm-related injuries and deaths are on the rise — especially among youth and young adults. The increasing number of adolescents experiencing mental health issues and the surge in homicides, unintentional shootings and school-based violence are among the factors contributing to the record number of deaths. This symposium will highlight local research efforts in firearm injury prevention, public health-based community interventions and innovative strategies to address firearm injury and violence in the greater Houston area and beyond. The event will culminate in a bipartisan panel discussion with local health leaders to inform policy and community-based solutions.
Please scroll down to register and see the day’s agenda. Information about the speakers is coming soon!
This event is co-sponsored by the Baker Institute Center for Health and Biosciences, Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Texas Health Science Center. Additional support is provided by the University of Texas Medical Branch’s Center for Violence Prevention.
This event is free, but registration is required. Please note there are two ways to attend this event: Register here to attend in person, or register here to attend virtually via Zoom.

2022 Crime Victim Law Conference
2022-06-16 - 2022-06-18
NCVLI’s Crime Victim Law Conference is the only national conference on rights enforcement in the country. Professionals serving victims gather to learn, share best practices, and plan the future of victims’ rights.
PROPOSAL SUBMISSION FORM

Update on the NCVS Instrument Redesign: Juvenile Testing Efforts
2022-06-09 13:00 - 14:30
This webinar will describe findings from a three-pronged testing effort designed by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) to produce knowledge and findings toward improving participation and the measurement of victimization among youth ages 12 to 17 as part of the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) Redesign Research and Development Program.
The testing effort involved 1) conducting youth cognitive testing on the redesigned NCVS instrument 2) gathering feedback from youth and their parents on NCVS participation and 3) conducting a proxy test with youth and their parents. It will highlight feedback from youth and their parents on factors that would encourage or hinder NCVS participation, the suitability and comprehension of the redesigned instrument for youth, and the alignment of survey responses between parents and youth.
Live captioning will be available.
Presenters:
Grace Kena, Statistician, BJS
Christine Lindquist, PhD, Senior Research Sociologist, RTI International
Sarah Cook, Research Public Health Analyst, RTI International
Christopher Krebs, PhD, Senior Research Social Scientist, RTI International
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Update on the NCVS Instrument Redesign: Results from a National Field Test
2022-06-07 13:00 - 14:30
This webinar will provide updates on efforts by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) to redesign the entire National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) instrument. It will describe results from a large-scale national field test of the NCVS Instrument Redesign, specifically the performance of the current NCVS instrument and procedures against the new instrument.
Additionally, speakers will discuss BJS’s decisions on the new survey instrument, based on findings from the field test and other research. It will also provide a timeline for this multiyear redesign project, including anticipated milestones for the implementation phase. An overview of the new instrument will be presented, highlighting improvements compared to the current instrument and changes to the methodology.
Live captioning will be available.
Presenters:
Jennifer Truman, PhD, Statistician BJS
W. Sherman Edwards, Senior Advisor, Westat
David Cantor, PhD, Vice Principal, Westat
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OVC TTAC Program Evaluation Course
2022-05-31 - 2022-06-29
From OVC Training & Technical Assistance Center on the National Victim Assistance Academy:
Program Evaluation
Continuing Education Unit (CEU) will be offered for this training.
We know that program evaluation is valuable, yet we are intimidated at the thought of actually conducting an evaluation. It is important to be able to measure effectiveness and other indicators of performance in your program to help with fundraising and to demonstrate the need for services. This Program Evaluation training will give you the practical skills to conduct an evaluation and take some of the fear out of the process!
Audience: The training is designed for those who work in a victim service organization that is, or will be, conducting a program evaluation.
Introductory Week: What is Program Evaluation?

Week 1: Foundation to Program Evaluation

Determine the steps for engaging in program evaluation.
Describe the benefits and barriers to program evaluations and propose solutions and alternatives.
Describe how to self-assess internal capacity to conduct an evaluation.
Explain evaluation ethics and collecting data from specific groups.

Week 2: Preparing for Program Evaluation – Developing a Program Evaluation Plan

Write SMART objectives using the ABCD&E model.
Identify the components of a logic model and construct a basic logic model.
Identify the three primary types of program evaluation.
Discuss the importance of keeping a program evaluation focused.

Week 3: Implementing the Plan – Data Collection

Discuss the benefits and drawbacks of different data collection approaches and when to use them.
Identify the types of methods for data collection.
Determine the best data collection approaches for your program evaluation.
Discuss the differences between qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method data collection.

Week 4: Analyzing Evaluation Data and Using it to Tell Your Program’s Story

Describe the importance of analyzing and making sense of the evaluation data.
Discuss the importance of writing for your audience when writing evaluation reports.
Identify the key components of an evaluation report and what is included in each section.
Determine which techniques to use to present evaluation data to create a compelling story.
Identify ways to use the evaluation results

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Understanding Dissociation and Sexual Violence: Dissociation Part 1
2022-05-25 14:00 - 15:00
Dissociation is a common tool the brain uses to cope from traumas such as sexual violence. Every sexual assault advocate has supported a survivor who dissociates, whether they know it or not. Join part one of this four part panel discussion to learn more about what dissociation is, how it impacts the lives of survivors, and what advocates can do to help survivors navigating dissociation. Panelists joining for these conversations include Olga Trujillo, a survivor and expert on dissociative identity disorder, Nicole Matthews, an expert on sexual violence and advocacy in Native communities, and Kris Bein, an expert on advocacy skills.
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Lessons Learned About Survivor-Centered Support During the COVID-19 Pandemic -- Child Welfare and Family Violence Advocates
2022-05-25 14:00 - 15:00
Futures Without Violence will hold a webinar to share more about the issue brief Lessons Learned About Survivor-Centered Support During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Recommendations for Child Welfare and Family Violence Advocates. This brief focuses on best practices and innovative strategies that child welfare and family violence advocates can implement to form stronger support networks for survivors of violence and abuse that continue to function in emergency conditions.
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New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center Research Day
2022-05-20 08:30 - 16:00
During this free event on May 20th, we will showcase gun violence research being done by our leadership team, GVRC post-doctoral and doctoral students, community partners, and researchers we have funded this year. This conference is not looking to engage with simply an academic audience. Instead, we’d like this to be a truly community-engaged event, with community members, those involved in violence interruption work, policy makers, journalists, students, educators, the military, and others attending.
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Accounting for our communities: Strategies and solutions for disaggregated AAPI data
2022-05-12 15:00 - 16:30
This event is another in the series, Bridges: A Connect Call for Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders Addressing Gender-Based Violence. The theme for this call is Accounting for our communities: Strategies and solutions for disaggregated AAPI data.
These bi-monthly community connect calls are intended to be a space for AANHPI advocates, community members, and allies to connect, dialogue, share successes, problem solve, and network.
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National Town Hall on Mass Violence & Readiness
2022-05-05 15:00 - 17:00
The National Mass Violence Victimization Resource Center’s second National Town Hall on Mass Violence will focus on readiness. Participants will be able to:

Identify the traditional and non-traditional professionals who are involved in responding to MVIs, and their respective roles and responsibilities.
Identify the structures and collaborative strategies needed for effective, survivor-centered MVI readiness and preparation
Describe the importance and core elements of advance planning to strengthen a state’s or community’s readiness to respond to a MVI.

Moderated by Anne Seymour, and hosted by Dr. Alyssa Rheingold of the National Mass Violence Victimization Resource Center, panelists will include:

Eugenia Pedley (OVC Program Manager)
Amanda Eagan (ICP-TTA, Senior T/TA Specialist)
Michelle Garcia (Director, DC Mayor’s Office of Victim Services and Justice Grants),
Pamela Ferguson-Brey (Director, Hawai’i Crime Victim Compensation Commission) and
Randi U. Barretto (Special Projects Coordinator, Hawai’i Crime Victim Compensation Commission)

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Lessons Learned About Survivor-Centered Support During the COVID-19 Pandemic - Pediatric Healthcare Providers
2022-04-27 14:00 - 15:00
Futures Without Violence is holding a webinar to share more about the issue brief Lessons Learned About Survivor-Centered Support During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Recommendations for Pediatric Healthcare Providers. This brief focuses on best practices and innovative strategies that pediatric healthcare providers and pediatricians can implement to form stronger support networks for survivors of violence and abuse that continue to function in emergency conditions.
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Community-based Participatory Research (CBPR): Putting the Approach into Practice
2022-04-27 12:00 - 13:00
From the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention:
Research helps to expand our knowledge base of violence and prevention, and it is needed to create better informed and more effective practices. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is a valued approach in public health because of its alignment with health and racial equity, because it centers the voices of the community, and because it is flexible in its approach. The webinar will convey principles of CBPR, the values of the approach, and provide an orientation to different experiences of CBPR and the various ways it can be implemented.
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Space, Power, and Community-level Prevention: the Sexual Assault Prevention and Campus Equity (SPACE) Toolkit
2022-04-26 14:30 - 15:30
SPACE stands for Sexual Assault Prevention And Community Equity. The toolkit provides campuses a new approach to sexual violence prevention – one grounded in a broad commitment to equity. Campuses can use it as part of institutional redesign & sexual assault prevention. Join us for a webinar on April 26th at 2:30EST for an overview.
Toolkit available here: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5cfe8170aca3540001876100/t/623102c34c35ee72a4ab8da8/1647379140460/SexualCitizensToolkit_2022_Final.pdf

Trauma-Informed Investigations for Sexual Assault Cases
2022-04-26 13:00 - 14:00
This webinar, sponsored by the National Institute of Justice, will highlight the importance of conducting a trauma-informed interview of a victim of sexual assault. Trauma-informed investigative interviews provide an opportunity to not only meet investigative objectives and help close cases, but also foster victim healing and engagement with the criminal justice system. Research indicates a sexual assault survivor’s experience and interaction with law enforcement impacts the level of future engagement with the criminal justice system.
The presenter will not only discuss the benefit of a trauma-informed interview, but also techniques for conducting the actual interview and considerations for training associated with understanding trauma as applied to sexual assault victims. These techniques and considerations for engaging survivors of sexual assault from a trauma-informed, victim-centered perspective support recommendations #2 and #22 of the National Institute of Justice’s National Best Practices for Sexual Assault Kits: A Multidisciplinary Approach.
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Promoting Child Maltreatment Prevention and Advancing Equity
2022-04-25 08:30 - 15:30
The UNC School of Social Work invites the public to participate in its inaugural Social Work Legacy Speakers Series: Promoting Child Maltreatment Prevention and Advancing Equity.
The Legacy Speakers Series will bring together individuals committed to strengthening the lives of children and families and addressing challenges and gaps in our current service systems. The goals of the Speakers Series are to create an enduring legacy of security and stability for families and to ensure that our community’s most vulnerable are not harmed by programs or efforts intended to buffer them from the effects of traumatic experiences.
Speakers:
• Leading welfare scholars Phillip Redmond and Tamika Williams of the Duke Endowment.
• Camille Quinn, an assistant professor at The Ohio State University (OSU) and health criminologist who examines the treatment of Black girls in criminal justice systems.
• Susan Yoon, an associate professor at OSU who examines child maltreatment and resilience with a focus on fatherhood/father involvement.
• Kathryn L. Maguire-Jack, a University of Michigan associate professor and one of the nation’s leading experts on child maltreatment.
• Michelle Johnson-Motoyama, an associate professor at OSU and CDC and NIH-funded researcher who examines state and federal policy at the intersection of economics and child maltreatment.
Other invited panel participants include youth and parent leaders, public and private community leaders, and UNC faculty.
To attend this event in person or via Zoom, please register online.

National Crime Victims’ Rights Week
2022-04-24 - 2022-04-30
From the Office for Victims of Crime: Since 1981, National Crime Victims’ Rights Week (NCVRW) has challenged the Nation to confront and remove barriers to achieving justice for all victims of crime. During NCVRW, we celebrate the accomplishments of the victims’ rights movement and reflect on how far we have come.
Every April, OVC leads communities throughout the country in their annual observances of NCVRW.
Save the date for NCVRW 2022, which will be observed April 24–30. The 2022 NCVRW theme is Rights, access, equity for all victims. The theme underscores the importance of helping crime survivors find their justice by—

enforcing victims’ rights,
expanding access to services, and
ensuring equity and inclusion for all.

Facilitación que Transforma: Construyendo Comunidades Virtuales Transformative Facilitation: Building Virtual Communities
2022-04-19 13:00 - 14:30
A muchas organizaciones de violencia doméstica, la pandemia les ha llevado a cambiar la forma en que se ofrecen algunos servicios de apoyo. Es decir, hoy en día muchos servicios de apoyo son ofrecidos virtualmente, adaptándose así a la pandemia y a las restricciones con respecto a encuentros presenciales. Los grupos de apoyo son una parte importante de la intercesión de sobrevivientes de violencia doméstica.
Históricamentes, han sido una forma de cultivar conexiones sociales entre sobrevivientes. El cambio a plataformas virtuales resalta que la facilitación efectiva de grupos de apoyo es fundamental para fomentar participación, apoyo mutuo entre sobrevivientes e incluso procesos de sanidad. Los mismos principios se pueden aplicar a sesiones de escucha, los grupos focales/de discusión y otros grupos en nuestras organizaciones.
Este seminario web conversacional explorará las formas en que el campo debe adaptarse para construir comunidades virtuales efectivas. Afirmamos que crear un ambiente que invite la participación y que sea accesible puede fomentar cercanía aún cuando estemos físicamente separades.
For many domestic violence organizations, the pandemic has led to shifting how advocacy supports are delivered. That is, many supports are now being offered virtually to accommodate the pandemic quarantine and in-person restrictions.
Support groups, a cornerstone of domestic violence advocacy, have historically been one way to cultivate social connectedness for survivors. With the move to virtual platforms, we know that effective facilitation is critical to engagement, peer support, and even healing in a support group space. The same principles can be applied to listening sessions, focus groups and other groups across our organizations.
This conversational webinar will explore build engaging virtual communities. We assert that creating an environment that invites participation and centers access can bring us closer even when we are physically apart.
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Elder Justice Decision-Making Capacity Symposium
2022-04-19 - 2022-04-21
Every day the lives of older adults are profoundly and negatively impacted in both the criminal and civil justice systems based on mistaken assumptions and inadequate assessments of their capacity to make decisions for themselves. In order to raise greater awareness of these issues and improve how elder justice professionals approach these issues, the Department of Justice will be hosting the Elder Justice Decision-Making Capacity Symposium, a three-day virtual conference on April 19-21.
The Symposium will highlight what we know today about the aging brain and its impact on decisionmaking, and discuss the protocols and tools available to assess decision-making capacity. The Symposium will then focus on the myriad of ways that perceptions of an older adult’s decision-making capacity can have profound implications on their treatment in criminal and civil proceedings. These may include elder abuse or fraud prosecutions not being pursued; unnecessary or inappropriate guardianships being imposed; and civil legal remedies being denied to older victims of elder abuse, neglect and financial exploitation.
By shedding light on the latest science as well as best clinical, legal and judicial practices, the Symposium aims to increase access to justice while promoting the self-determination of older adults.
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International Conference on Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, and Reimagining Justice
2022-04-19 - 2022-04-21
From End Violence Against Women International (EVAWI): Our annual conferences focus on sexual assault, intimate partner violence, stalking, human trafficking and elder abuse. We consistently bring together law enforcement personnel, prosecutors, victim advocates, judges, parole and probation officers, rape crisis workers, health care professionals, faith community members, educators, researchers and others in this three-day conference highlighting promising practices and emerging issues to effectively respond to these crimes in all of our communities.
April 19-21, 2022
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Crime Survivor Voices Survey Results and Recommendations
2022-04-04 17:30 - 19:00
The Prosecutors Alliance California Survivor Policy, Training and Resource Center is proud to announce our monthly training series every first Monday February to June 2022. The series was developed in response to the needs and issues areas identified by those working directly with survivors of violence and crime. Victim Advocates, attorney’s and social service provider are encouraged to attend this FREE training series.
Other topics include Collaboration with CBSs to Serve Survivors of Violence and Crime (May 2) and Understanding Elder Abuse and Financial Fraud (June 6).
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Logic Model for Victim Service Programs: The Link Between Program Outcomes and Program Sustainability
2022-03-24 14:00 - 15:00
During this training, participants will learn how the use of a logic model is an essential component of victim services program evaluation and planning. Information and discussion on the relationship between resources, activities, and outcomes will help prepare participants to consider the range and types of program outcomes to track. These outcomes have valuable practical use beyond reporting and can be used to support program communications, fundraising, and grant applications.
“Logic Model for Victim Service Programs: The Link Between Program Outcomes and Program Sustainability” webinar is part of the new Vital Subjects series. This series will address topics that are critical to the victim services field across the country.
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International Symposium on Child Abuse
2022-03-21 - 2022-03-24
The National Children’s Advocacy Center (NCAC) is excited to bring you the virtual 38th International Symposium on Child Abuse scheduled for March 21-24, 2022. Symposium will continue to provide the state-of-the art training you need to continue to provide services to children and to fight child abuse. We are working to add more workshops and provide an even better digital learning experience than our first virtual conference in 2021!
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Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences: 59th Annual Meeting
2022-03-15 - 2022-03-19
Join us for the ACJS 59th Annual Meeting, March 15 – 19, 2022, in Las Vegas, NV at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino. ACJS President Heather Pfeifer is excited to bring you a content rich program focused on “Avenues of Change: Integrating Research, Advocacy, and Education.” She and the 2022 program committee chairs have worked hard to assemble topic areas within the Criminal Justice Sciences that are timely and relevant. Whether you are in academia or a practitioner, there is something for everyone.
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