Center for Victim Research

Preventing & Reducing Teen Dating Violence
2021-12-02 13:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York)
Join the Center for Violence Prevention Founding Director Dr. Jeff Temple to learn more about Fourth R, an innovative violence and harm prevention program for adolescents. Fourth R targets shared risk and protective factors to decrease dating and peer violence, decrease substance misuse, and increase social and emotional learning and conflict resolution skills. Dr. Template will provide an overview of Fourth R, share guidance about implementing the program in middle and high schools and youth-focused organizations, and share results from the national Institute of Health-funded study completed by CVP in the Houston, Texas area. This webinar will provide an overview of this high-impact youth violence prevention tool.
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Multilevel Evaluation of Project Safe Neighborhoods
2021-11-29 13:00 - 14:30
Multilevel Evaluation of Project Safe Neighborhoods
Panel Chair: Jim Trudeau, Ph.D., RTI International
Panel Abstract: Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is a DOJ-sponsored initiative to reduce violent crime, particularly gun crime, by fostering cooperation by criminal justice agencies and local partners to develop and implement strategic approaches.
This panel presents information about the enhanced PSN model implemented since 2018 and the national evaluation being conducted by RTI International and the Justice Research and Statistics Association. The evaluation includes a national assessment including all 94 districts across the U.S. and territories and case studies in 10 carefully selected districts. Both components address outcomes (violent crime, arrests and prosecutions), implementation (e.g., how PSN principles were implemented; partnership composition and functioning) and how implementation is associated with outcomes.
Following an overview of PSN and the national evaluation, we will delve into the design and initial findings of the national assessment and case studies, respectively. We will also discuss the implications of the FBI’s move away from the UCR Summary Reporting System to incident-based data for the evaluation and how the project team is adapting to this changing environment. Discussants include the PSN Coordinator from the Northern District of Illinois and NIJ’s scientific advisor to this project.
Proposed Panel setting: 15 minutes for each presentation and 20 minutes for introductions, Discussant comments, and Q&A.
Topics – Presenters:

Overview of PSN and the National Evaluation – Jim Trudeau, Ph.D., RTI International
National Assessment: Design and Initial Findings – Lynn Langton, Ph.D., RTI International
US Crime Data Infrastructure and Implications for a National Evaluation – Roger Przybylski, Ph.D., JRSA
Case Studies: Design and Initial Findings – Chris Lindquist, Ph.D., RTI International
Discussants: Basia E. Lopez, MPA, NIJ and Ron DeWald, PSN Coordinator, Northern District of Illinois (invited)

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Web chat with Dr. Liz Miller on Healing Justice and Prevention
2021-11-19 15:30 - 16:30
Life Paths Research Center is pleased to announce their next webchat, which will feature Dr. Elizabeth Miller discussing her work on violence prevention, gender transformative approaches to working with youth, and her latest thoughts about the intersections between social justice and prevention. Dr. Miller will be interviewed by Dr. Katie Schultz.
Dr. Liz Miller is Professor of Pediatrics, Public Health, and Clinical and Translational Science and holds the Edmund R. McCluskey Chair in Pediatric Medical Education at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Elizabeth Miller also directs the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine and maintains an active research program focused on reducing gender-based violence to improve adolescent health with funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the CDC, the Office on Women’s Health, and foundations. Examples of research include a cluster-randomized, controlled trial of a gender-based violence-prevention program, funded by the CDC, which involves training coaches to encourage their middle-school male athletes to recognize and stop disrespectful and harmful behaviors toward girls. Another CDC-funded study involves testing a gender transformative program (addressing healthy masculinity and sexuality) among African American males ages 13–19 in 20 neighborhoods in Pittsburgh. Another cluster-randomized, controlled trial is testing a brief sexual assault intervention (NIAAA R01) at student health centers on 28 college campuses.
Miller also serves as research consultant to Futures Without Violence, a national nonprofit organization providing resources to health care providers in their efforts to prevent domestic violence and sexual assault. Project Connect, a national training project funded by the Office on Women’s Health, involves work with states and tribal organizations on the integration of partner-violence prevention and intervention into public health programs, specifically reproductive health, adolescent health, and maternal-child health programs. Miller has served as the evaluator for this project as well as a similar project located in community health centers in California, funded by the Blue Shield of California Foundation.
Dr. Katie Schultz is an Assistant Professor of Social Work at the University of Michigan and an enrolled citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Drawing on community-based participatory research approaches, her research focuses primarily on responding to violence and understanding community and cultural connectedness in American Indian and Alaska Native communities. She is interested in innovative conceptual and methodological approaches to research with tribal communities and health promotion rooted in Indigenous knowledges and sustainable solutions by and for Native peoples. Her current projects include a study focused on risk and protective factors related to justice-involvement among a Native population; investigating social networks and associations with substance use, violence, and suicide among American Indian adolescents; and collaborating with a statewide coalition to develop research to address violence among tribal communities in Michigan.
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Free, but donations to Life Paths Research Center are invited to support webinars like these.

Bullying as a Developmental Precursor to Sexual and Dating Violence Across Adolescence
2021-11-17 15:00 - 16:00
The next webinar in CVR’s Evidence Hour series will take place on November 17, 2021
Adolescent bullying continues to be a major focus of scholarly research across the globe with 1,585 published articles in the last decade. This webinar will include discussion of the longitudinal studies of the bully-sexual violence pathway (Bully-SV pathway) where bullying serves as a precursor for sexual violence (e.g., sexual harassment, sexual coercion, sexual assault) and teen dating violence. Potential mechanisms underlying the bully-sexual violence pathway include social dominance orientation, exposure to sexual education, alcohol use, etc. Several school-based intervention approaches have shown marginal success in reducing rates of bullying and SV by targeting factors undergirding both behaviors, and these will be reviewed in this webinar.
Read the review.
Presenters:
Dorothy L. Espelage, Ph.D., is the William C. Friday Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Espelage’s research focuses on translating empirical findings into prevention and intervention programming. She is the recipient of the APA Lifetime Achievement Award in Prevention Science & the 2016 APA Award for Distinguished Contributions to Research in Public Policy, and is a Fellow of APS, APA, and AERA. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Education. She has authored over 180 peer-reviewed articles, 70 book chapters on bullying, homophobic teasing, sexual harassment, dating violence, & gang violence.
Barri Rosenbluth, MSSW, has over 30 years’ experience in the field of sexual violence prevention. She served as Senior Director for the Expect Respect Program at the SAFE Alliance in Austin, Texas from 1990-2021, and has collaborated on numerous national prevention education initiatives. Barri specializes in building multi-level programs that support vulnerable youth, mobilize youth leaders and build capacity for response and prevention in K-12 schools. She was honored with the 2014 Phyllis Richards Austin Icon for Children Award from the Austin Child Guidance Center and the 2010 Professional Innovation in Victim Services Award from the U.S. Department of Justice.
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Measuring Race and Racism in Studies of Research Use
2021-11-15 14:00 - 16:00
Hosted by the William T. Grant Foundation and the Forum for Youth Investment, this event, Measuring Race and Racism in Studies of Research Use, is the fourth webinar in a series focused on bringing critical race perspectives to research that examines how to improve the use of research evidence in policy and practice. Past webinars have addressed the ways race matters for how research is used, what research is used, and whose research is used. This session focuses on concrete strategies for incorporating attention to race in a study’s research design.
Panelists will share examples, strategies, and challenges related to the conceptualization and operationalization of race in research design. This webinar is targeted toward researchers who want to develop richer and more nuanced approaches to examining race in their own research.
We invite you to join us on November 15, 2pm – 4pm ET to think together about how to meaningfully measure race and racism in studies that examine strategies to improve the use of research evidence in ways that benefit youth.
Speakers:
• Amanda E. Lewis, Director of the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of Black Studies and Sociology, University of Illinois at Chicago
• Johanna S. Quinn, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Fordham University
• June Ahn, Associate Professor of Learning Sciences and Research Practice Partnerships, University of California, Irvine
• Meredith I. Honig, Professor of Education Policy, Organizations, and Leadership and Director of the District Leadership Design Lab, University of Washington
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Human Trafficking Survivors’ Legal Needs Part 2: A Constellation of Legal Problems
2021-11-15 14:00 - 15:00
Due to the complexity of human trafficking, survivors often have multiple interlocking legal needs that negatively affect their ability to achieve stability and escape the trafficking cycle. “[S]urvivors need specialized services that can assist with expungement, vacatur, and record sealing. Beyond criminal records, survivors also face other legal obstacles” such as debt, identity theft and lack of child custody.
In Part 2 of the Legal Needs workshop series, presenters Megan Lundstrom of The Avery Center for Research and Services and Marianna Kosharovsky of ALIGHT (Alliance to Lead Impact in Global Human Trafficking) continue to discuss the findings of The Legal Deserts Report, namely specific areas of survivors’ legal needs, gaps in the provision of appropriate legal services, and additional opportunities for legal services organizations to meet the needs or survivors.
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Incorporating Racial Equity Analysis in Policymaking: Racial Impact Statements in Justice Reform
2021-11-15 13:00 - 14:00
From the Urban Institute: Good policy should account for how decisions will play out on the ground and affect people’s lives. One tool lawmakers can use that aims to shed light on these impacts before legislation is passed is the racial impact statement. Like environmental or fiscal impact statements, racial impact statements are predictive tools used in criminal justice policymaking to determine whether pending bills, if enacted, are likely to create or exacerbate disparate outcomes among people of different races or ethnicities.
Racial impact statements can build a critical check for systemic racism into the justice policymaking process and help chart a more intentional and equitable course. This virtual event will feature experts from Urban, The Sentencing Project, and the National Juvenile Justice Network, as well as Maryland State Delegate Jazz Lewis and Wayne Ford, the former Iowa state representative who led passage of the nation’s first racial impact statement legislation. Together they will explore how states can effectively use racial impact statements to achieve reform.
Speakers:
• Wayne Ford, former Iowa State Representative
• Jazz Lewis, Maryland State Delegate
• Nicole D. Porter, Senior Director of Advocacy, The Sentencing Project
• Tracey Tucker, Youth Justice Leadership Institute Coordinator, National Juvenile Justice Network
• Leah Sakala, Senior Policy Associate, Urban Institute (moderator)
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Incorporating Youth Voice and the Lived Experience in Research
2021-11-03 15:00 - 16:30
The National Academy of Sciences Board on Children, Youth, and Families (BCYF) is holding this research seminar that examines the importance of including youth voices in research. They note that for research on topics related to youth health and well-being to be meaningful, it must also be responsive to the real experiences of youth today. The lived experience – or the personal knowledge about the world gained through first-hand accounts of everyday events rather than through representations constructed by other people – is relevant across all aspects of research, practice, and policy.
The seminar will highlight examples, both from BCYF’s work and from other projects across the country. It will also feature youth speakers who will share about their own experiences participating in research.
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Deferred Disposition for Domestic and Sexual Violence Cases in Maine
2021-10-28 14:00 - 15:00
Join JRSA in this webinar presentation of research on the use of deferred disposition. As jurisdictions look to transform their criminal justice processes, there is growing interest in the use of deferred dispositions. However, there has been little research on the use of deferred dispositions in cases involving domestic or sexual violence. This recent examination by the Maine Statistical Analysis Center, with the cooperation of the Maine Coalition Sexual Against Assault and the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence, used data obtained from the Maine District Attorneys Technical Services (MEDATS), the electronic repository for Maine district attorney data. The study found that those deferred with domestic violence and sexual assault offenses were more likely to recidivate than those with other types of offenses. In this session, researchers will share their methods, findings, and lessons for future examinations of deferred dispositions. This presentation will also include a moderated Q&A.
Presenters:
George Shaler, MPH, Maine SAC Director
Mr. Shaler has been with the SAC since 2003, serving the first ten years as Research Associate and the last seven years as its Director. During that time, he has been instrumental in all SAC’s projects and products from project development to writing and editing reports.
Elisabeth F. Snell, MPH, Senior Policy Associate
Since June 2015, Ms. Snell has directed the Violence Against Women Act Measuring Effectiveness Initiative (VAWA MEI) within the Cutler Institute, where she oversees daily operations, data analysis, and product development.
Robyn Dumont, MPPM, Research Associate I
In her time at the Cutler Institute, Ms. Dumont has become very proficient at understanding the complexities of a variety of justice system management information systems and their collective capacities to produce data for analysis.
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Cultural Responsivity in Domestic Violence Intervention Approaches for Immigrants in the U.S.
2021-10-27 14:00 - 15:00
October CVR Evidence Hour webinar: While all communities can experience domestic violence, immigrants are at a higher risk of victimization due to their unique positionality in the United States. Even though empirical research has examined mainstream domestic violence interventions and the extent to which they deter victimization, there is limited knowledge about culturally responsive interventions for immigrants. In this webinar, presenters will highlight findings of their scoping review about culturally responsive interventions for immigrants in the U.S. Presenters will also reflect on their experiences as practitioners and researchers who have been engaged in developing and implementing culturally responsive interventions for immigrants. They hope to highlight micro, mezzo and macro level implications for practitioners engaged in service delivery.
Objectives:

To understand the need for culturally responsive services for immigrants experiencing domestic violence
To examine the extent to which culturally responsive interventions exist for immigrant communities in the context of domestic violence
To deliberate on the role of practitioners while engaging with immigrants experiencing domestic violence
Understand the difference between cultural responsivity and cultural competency
Highlight overall implications for research, practice and policy drawing from our scoping review

Presenters:
Abha Rai, Ph.D., MSW is an Assistant Professor at the School of Social Work, Loyola University Chicago. Her area of primary research interest relates to culturally responsive ways of engaging with immigrant communities. Specifically, she focuses on the issues of well-being, domestic violence and the impact of immigration policies on immigrant communities. By utilizing a community-centered research approach, she aims to further social justice and directly serve communities she works with.
Kristen Ravi, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor at the College of Social Work, University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Her program of research primarily focuses on children’s exposure to parental intimate partner violence and their social, mental health, and academic outcomes. Her other research interests include IPV help seeking, IPV among immigrants and refugees and survivors’ experiences of transportation coercion.
Radhika Sharma Gordon is a public health educator and nonprofit consultant who has worked in the Chicago area for more than 30 years. She is the Manager of Outreach and Education at Apna Ghar, a multi-service agency addressing gender-based violence in immigrant, refugee, and other marginalized communities. Radhika earned her Masters in Public Health from the University of Michigan in 1989, majoring in Health Behavior and Health Education. Her work has focused on community health, violence prevention, immigrant rights, and feminist organizing. Radhika has served on the Board of Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago and the Chicago Foundation for Women. She brings an interdisciplinary approach to her training and advocacy work. She has served as a training and planning consultant and a technical assistance provider to a variety of programs and agencies. Radhika is also an Adjunct Instructor at Northeastern Illinois University where she coordinates the undergraduate Community Health Sciences field placement program.
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Coming Together in the Fight Against IPV: Building Multi-Agency Partnerships to Implement and Evaluate a Domestic Violence Enhanced Response Team (DVERT)
2021-10-27 10:00 - 11:30
The University of Cincinnati School of Criminal Justice and Ohio’s Office of Criminal Justice Services invite you to learn about Hamilton County’s Domestic Violence Enhanced Response Team (DVERT), an innovative evidence-informed domestic violence service delivery program. Speakers will discuss the history of DVERT, the importance of the program, the role of evaluation and community-based research collaborations, and how to build a successful partnership between nonprofit service providers and law enforcement agencies.
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Book Discussion: Strengths-Based Prevention: Reducing Violence & Other Public Health Problems
2021-10-20 17:00 - 18:15
Join Rutgers School of Social Work Center on Violence Against Women and Children (VAWC) for an evening discussion with Dr. Vicki Banyard and Dr. Sherry Hamby on their forthcoming book Strengths-Based Prevention: Reducing Violence & Other Public Health Problems.
Speakers:
Vicki Banyard, PhD
Professor, Associate Dean for Faculty Development, & Associate Director, Center on Violence Against Women and Children
Rutgers School of Social Work
Sherry Hamby, PhD
Research Professor & Director, Life Paths Appalachian Research Center
Sewanee, The University of the South

Transform Webinar - The Cycle of Violence, Victimization, and Trauma Exploring Mechanisms for Thriving and Healing for BIPOC People and Providers
2021-10-14 12:00 - 13:00
From the Transform Research Center: The Cycle of Violence, Victimization, and Trauma Exploring Mechanisms for Thriving and Healing for BIPOC People and Providers
This panel includes three clinician scholars who will give “lightning talk” style presentations on Black males’ experiences with trauma, Latinx providers’ vicarious trauma and healing centered interventions with Black girls. This panel will enable the attendees to review the impacts of violence, victimization and trauma among Black and Latinx populations, as well as providers. The facilitators will use their applied research and practice with communities to share strategies about how the quality of life for these populations and providers can be enhanced. This webinar addresses the urgency that providers, educators, and other researchers need to center populations who have been traditionally neglected.
Speakers:
-Camille Quinn, PhD, Assistant Professor, College of Social Work, Ohio State University
-Henrika McCoy, PhD, Associate Professor, Jane Addams College of Social Work, University of Illinois Chicago
-Kathryn Bocanegra, PhD, Assistant Professor, Jane Addams College of Social Work, University
of Illinois Chicago
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Sesión Informativa sobre las Políticas y la Labor Investigadora del Centro Para La Vivienda Segura, una iniciativa de NRCDV / NRCDV’s Safe Housing Capacity Center Policy & Research Briefing
2021-10-12 13:00 - 14:00
Con motivo del Mes para la Concientización sobre la Violencia Doméstica (Domestic Violence Awareness Month en inglés, DVAM según sus siglas en inglés), el Centro Nacional de Recursos contra la Violencia Doméstica organiza su sesión informativa anual sobre las políticas públicas y la labor investigativa el martes 12 de octubre de 1:00 a 4:00 (hora del Este).
La sesión informativa de este año, que se celebra en nombre del Consorcio para la Asistencia Técnica en Materia de Violencia Doméstica y Vivienda, gira en torno al objetivo del DVAM: No hay Justicia para las Sobrevivientes si no hay Justicia Racial.
La sesión informativa estará subtitulada y contará con interpretación simultánea en español y lenguaje de signos americano (ASL, según sus siglas en inglés). A petición previa, se atenderán otras necesidades de accesibilidad.
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Commemorating Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM), the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence is presenting its annual Policy & Research Briefing on Tuesday, October 12th from 1:00 – 4:00 ET.
Organized on behalf of the Domestic Violence & Housing Technical Assistance Consortium, this year’s Briefing centers on the DVAM theme: No Survivor Justice without Racial Justice.
The Briefing will be closed-captioned with simultaneous ASL & Spanish-language interpretation. Other accessibility needs will be addressed upon request.
(event has passed; registration closed)

The National Center for Victims of Crime 2021 National Training Institute
2021-10-06 08:00 - 2021-10-08 17:00
The National Training Institute (NTI) emphasizes a multidisciplinary approach to sharing promising practices, current research, and effective programs and policies that are victim-centered, practice-based, and research-informed. The National Training Institute is a forum for law enforcement, victim service professionals, allied practitioners, policymakers, and researchers to share current developments and build new collaborations.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month
2021-10-01 - 2021-10-31
Domestic Violence Awareness Month is observed every October to bring attention to the issue of domestic violence.

Campus Responses to Sexual Misconduct: Changing the Culture on Campus
2021-09-30 12:00 - 2021-10-01 16:00
The 2021 Center for Research on Violence Against Women Virtual Conference will focus on Campus Responses to Sexual Misconduct. Sessions at this conference will address campus sexual misconduct at a “meta” level, looking at interventions that are designed to change campus culture. The event will convene the voices of leading national researchers and practitioners addressing sexual assault, sexual harassment, and bullying, as well as evaluation methods for broad-based programs. This conference provides information relevant to student life, college administrators, researchers, Title IX, advocates, counseling personnel, and others interested in topics related to campus sexual misconduct.
The Center for Research on Violence Against Women is a program of the University of Kentucky.
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A Conversation with the Authors of Sexual Citizens: A Landmark Study of Sex, Power, and Assault on Campus
2021-09-29 14:00 - 15:30
Campuses are uniquely positioned to create environments that protect students against sexual assault and dating violence and to partner across on- and off-campus entities for a common purpose. Campuses are also experiencing a time of intense change due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a new round of changes coming as campuses think about what a new normal looks like for their community. Join PreventConnect as they host a web conference conversation with Jennifer Hirsch and Shamus Khan, authors of Sexual Citizens: A Landmark Study of Sex, Power, and Assault on Campus. They will discuss what their campus research found, the implications for prevention, and what campus preventionists and others on campuses can do to go beyond education to create protective environments for students.
OBJECTIVES

Describe the key findings of Sexual Citizens: A Landmark Study of Sex, Power, and Assault on Campus
Identify opportunities to create campus environments that protect against sexual and dating violence
Discuss implications for shifting campus sexual and dating violence prevention to the community-level

HOSTS/FACILITATORS: Ashleigh Klein-Jimenez & Tori VandeLinde, PreventConnect & ValorUS
GUESTS:

Jennifer S. Hirsch Professor of Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health, co-author of Sexual Citizens: A Landmark Study of Sex, Power, and Assault on Campus
Shamus Khan, Professor of Sociology and American Studies at Princeton University, co-author of Sexual Citizens: A Landmark Study of Sex, Power, and Assault on Campus

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el Instituto Haciendo Realidad la Justicia/Actualizing Justice Institute
2021-09-14 13:30 - 2021-09-23 18:00
El Centro Nacional de Recursos sobre la Violencia Doméstica y el Instituto Nacional LGBTQ sobre Violencia de Parejas Íntimas en colaboración con la Universidad de Maryland, Condado de Baltimore y, el Consorcio de Investigación sobre la Violencia Basada en el Género de la Universidad Estatal de Michigan se complacen en invitarte para que participes en el curso inaugural Haciendo Realidad la Justicia. No te pierdas la oportunidad de participar en esta oportunidad transformativa para les profesionales e investigadores de violencia basada en el género involucrades en prácticas de investigación participativa comunitaria. Les participantes aprenderán nuevos métodos, compartirán habilidades y crearán colaboraciones significativas que tendrán un efecto positivo en su trabajo en nuestras comunidades. Este evento es virtual, gratis y está abierto para todas las personas. El evento se ofrecerá en inglés con servicios de interpretación en español y en lenguaje de señas estadounidense con subtítulos ocultos.
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The National Resource Center on Domestic Violence and the National LGBTQ Institute on IPV in partnership with the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and Michigan State University Research Consortium on Gender Based Violence are pleased to invite you to participate in the inaugural Actualizing Justice Institute. Don’t miss the opportunity to participate in this transformative event for gender-based violence practitioners and researchers who engage in community-based participatory research. Participants will learn new methods, share skills, and create meaningful collaborations that will have a positive impact on their work in our communities. This is a virtual event which is free and open to all. This event will be offered in English with Spanish & ASL interpretation and closed captioning. More information: https://nrcdv.org/training/aji
When:

September 14: 10:30am-3:00pm PST / 12:30pm-5:00pm CST / 1:30pm-6:00pm EST
September 16, 21, and 23: 11:00am – 3:00pm PST / 1:00pm – 5:00pm CST / 2:00pm – 6:00pm EST

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Symposium: Missing or Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives
2021-09-14 13:30 - 2021-09-16 17:15
In an effort to find lasting solutions to the public safety challenges Tribal communities encounter and to protect them from violence, abuse, and exploitation, a virtual national symposium on missing or murdered indigenous persons (MMIP) related issues for federal, state, tribal and local stakeholders is being held September 14-16, 2021. This MMIP training will address important topics like data collection, victim advocacy, creating a community strategy for addressing missing persons, and working collaboratively across jurisdictions.
The first day, Sept. 14, features sessions on Data About MMIP: What We Know and What We Don’t Know.
Schedule and Registration

33rd Annual Virtual COVA Conference
2021-09-13 08:00 - 2021-09-20 17:00
Virtual Skill Building Session Week (pre-conference):
September 13-16, 2021
Platform: Crowdcast
Members: $150 per Session; Non-Members: $200 per Session
Featuring 4 all-day virtual Skill Building Session master classes:
-Sept. 13: The Anatomy of a Trauma Informed Approach to Sexual Assault; Setting the Stage for Success
-Sept. 14: Manipulation & Murder: The Hows and Whys of the Kelsey Berreth Case
-Sept. 15: Self-Care Beyond the Bubble Bath
-Sept. 16: Holistic Professional Wellness: Beyond Vicarious Trauma

Virtual COVA Conference:
September 20-22, 2021
Platform: Crowdcast
Members: $400; Non-Members: $450
Enjoy 3 Keynotes and choose from 4 simultaneous workshops offered 3 times a day. That’s a total of 36 workshops in 13 track topics!!

The COVA Conference is amongst the largest victim services conferences in the country. In addition to pre-conference all-day Skill Building Session master classes, the COVA Conference is three day event featuring 3 keynote speakers and 36+ workshops. Participants learn new skills and best practices for the victim services field. Last year, for the 2020 Virtual COVA Conference, we had over 1,402 attendees from government agencies, district attorney offices, law enforcement, victim services field professionals, victim advocacy non-profit organizations, as well as victims and survivors.

Facilitators of Help-Seeking for Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence in the U.S.
2021-09-09 14:00 - 15:00
A survivor’s decision to engage with formal services for experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV) is influenced by factors at the individual, interpersonal, and sociocultural levels. Understanding the factors that facilitate survivors’ choice to seek services could be beneficial to formal service providers including community agencies, health professionals, and the criminal justice system, providing guidance toward the development and implementation of accessible services for survivors of IPV. This presentation reviews seven key factors that facilitate survivors’ formal help-seeking.
This webinar will help participants to:

Understand the role of formal services in responding to intimate partner violence (IPV).
Examine the current state of the literature surrounding facilitators of formal IPV help-seeking.
Explore how to incorporate identified facilitators into IPV service approaches, with implications for researchers and practitioners.

Presenters:
Kristen Ravi, Ph.D. is an assistant professor at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Her program of research primarily focuses on children’s exposure to parental intimate partner violence and their social, mental health, and academic outcomes. Her other research interests include IPV help seeking, IPV among immigrants and refugees and survivors’ experiences of transportation coercion.
Sarah Leat, Ph.D. is an assistant professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Memphis. She studies interpersonal violence, specifically focusing on sexual violence and intimate partner violence. Her research interests center on help-seeking behaviors among survivors of intimate partner violence and the impact of the built environment on survivors’ abilities to access services and receive positive outcomes from those services.
Christina Cicconi, M.A., MSW has worked with IPV survivors for the past five years and is currently a case manager at the Johnson County Family Crisis Center which offers services to IPV survivors such as counseling, parenting classes, IPV education, and emergency shelter. She holds a Master of Criminal Justice and Criminology degree and a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Texas at Arlington.

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Evidence Hour: Confronting School Violence and Victimization
2021-08-26 15:00 - 16:00
Learn about the results of a large NIJ-funded meta-analysis on the sources of school violence and victimization. This review included various forms of aggression and crime within K-12 schools; and over thirty different individual, school, and community risk and protective factors. Special focus will also be given to the victimization of LGBTQ youth at school. Presenters will discuss the findings and policy implications, along with promising actions that researchers, practitioners, and advocates can take to advance science and best respond to violence and victimization in schools.
Related article: “Individual, Institutional, and Community Sources of School Violence: A Meta-Analysis”
Jillian J. Turanovic, Ph.D. is Associate Professor and Director of the Crime Victim Research and Policy Institute in the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University. She received her Ph.D. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Arizona State University in 2015. Her research is rooted in the study of victimization, violence, and correctional policy, and much of her work focuses on youth violent victimization and its consequences. She is the author of Thinking About Victimization: Context and Consequences (Routledge, 2019), and co-editor of Revitalizing Victimization Theory: Revisions, Applications, and New Directions (Routledge, 2021). Her work has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Justice, the Office for Victims of Crime, and Arnold Ventures. She received the 2019 Cavan Young Scholar Award from the American Society of Criminology.
Krista R. Flannigan, J.D. is on the faculty of Florida State University College of Criminology and Criminal Justice and is Co-Director of the Crime Victim Research and Policy Institute. She is an attorney, educator, and advocate experienced in emergency response and disaster management, community collaboration, and program development. She has responded to numerous incidents of mass violence and terrorism, including but not limited to, the Oklahoma City Bombing, Columbine High School shooting, 9/11, the Aurora Theater shooting, the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando and the Route 91 Music Festival in Las Vegas. She has also worked with various communities, including those in Parkland, FL and El Paso, TX to establish long-term services for the victims of the shootings in those areas. Most recently, she supported resiliency efforts in Boulder, CO in response to the grocery shooting. Krista also serves a consultant and conducts national trainings for the Office for Victims of Crime, and she developed a special program in Victim Studies at Florida State University.
RECORDING & RELATED RESOURCES

How can we answer important research questions about Adult Protective Services?
2021-08-25 14:00 - 15:30
From the National Adult Protective Services Association: “Join us for an interactive roundtable discussion on Wednesday, August 25th, to discuss how we can try to answer select questions from the APS Research Agenda (developed in facilitation with the Administration for Community Living, under contract with New Editions Consulting, Inc.). APS researchers and APS program staff will have the opportunity to brainstorm ideas for designing research studies that can help answer important questions. We will be discussing how studies may benefit APS programs and how studies may be designed (e.g., study participants, data collection, ethical considerations). In addition, APS researchers and program staff will have the opportunity to discuss challenges and opportunities for conducting APS research”
When: August 25, 2021, 2:00-3:30PM EDT
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2021 National Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) Assistance and Compensation Conference
2021-08-23 - 2021-08-26
INTRODUCTION: The 2021 National Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) Assistance and Compensation Conference brings staff and board members of VOCA Victim Assistance and Victim Compensation programs together annually with their federal colleagues. This conference is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crime, and hosted by the National Association of VOCA Assistance Administrators (NAVAA) and the National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards (NACVCB). This conference is a unique opportunity for the staff and boards of VOCA administering agencies in states, territories, and the District of Columbia to obtain critical information about ways to improve program and grant management and learn about promising practices and innovations. The conference provides a forum for administrators to exchange information, experiences, and ideas with people with similar responsibilities, as well as meet with federal officials, colleagues, and other allied professionals.
WHEN: 2021 Conference to be held virtually from Monday, August 23 – Thursday, August 26, 2021
Presentations will be selected based on: (1) clear identification of goals for participants; (2) incorporation of active learning; (3) practical takeaways and tools participants may implement; (4) best practices and other relevant research to be presented; (5) organization of the presentation agenda; (6) handouts or other materials; (7) innovation in topic and presentation style; and (8) time for questions and answers from participants.
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National Sexual Assault Conference
2021-08-04 - 2021-08-06
The National Sexual Assault Conference is a three-day virtual conference held on August 4-6, 2021, providing advanced training opportunities for activists, advocates, and other professionals working to prevent sexual violence, provide critical intervention services, and support those who have experienced sexual violence. This year’s theme is Advancing Equity. Ending Sexual Violence.

Advances in State-level Crime and Victimization Surveys: Lessons from the Oregon Crime Victimization Survey
2021-07-29 14:00 - 15:00
State and local crime victimization surveys can yield powerful data for estimating the prevalence and incidence of victimization. State-level surveys conducted in recent years, however, have varied considerably in both methodological approach and rigor due in part to the increasing difficulty of surveying households in an era of declining response rates. As a result, a significant challenge remains for researchers seeking to identify the most valid, reliable, and cost-effective methods for sampling households and gathering survey responses. This webinar describes the use of three alternative forms of sampling and data collection modes using Oregon’s first statewide crime victimization survey as a basis. The Oregon Crime Victimization Survey (OCVS) applied a mixed-mode data collection strategy combining computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) with a “text-to-web” option and mail “push-to-web” approach. This allows for the direct comparison of three distinct samples and modes of data collection (i.e., random-digit dialing (RDD) CATI, RDD text-to-web, and address-based sampling (ABS) web) on crime victimization estimates, sampling error, response rates, efficiency, and costs. This webinar discusses the potential advantages and implications of a dual-frame and multimode approach and the importance of methodological choice for obtaining state-level crime victimization estimates.
Presenters:
Stephen M. Haas, Ph.D.
Dr. Haas is director of research and evaluation for the Justice Research and Victim Services (JRVS) portfolio at ICF. He has more than 25 years of experience in project management, program evaluation, applied research, and technical assistance. Dr. Haas has extensive skills in study protocol development, review, and adjustment, including site outreach, selection, and recruitment; data collection, preparation, implementation and monitoring, analysis, reporting, and dissemination; and nonresponse and missing data analysis, imputation, and weighting. He served as a principal investigator and project director for West Virginia’s first crime victimization survey funded by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). Dr. Haas has extensive experience conducting research in victimology and evaluating victim services programs, including STOP Violence Against Women Federal Grant Program, the National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI), the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners Program (SANE), and the Rural Domestic Violence and Child Victimization Enforcement grant. He has received several national honors for his work over the years, including the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s Visionary Voice national award for creativity, hard work, and dedication to the field of sexual violence prevention. For the Oregon Crime Victimization Survey (OCVS), he served as project director and key principal investigator and was instrumental in the development of all aspects of the OCVS providing content-specific knowledge of crime victimization surveys, the National Uniform Crime Reporting Program, and the Oregon National Incident-Based Reporting System.
Matt Jans, Ph.D.
Dr. Jans is a senior survey methodologist at ICF. His methodological expertise focuses on telephone surveys, asking sensitive and difficult survey questions, alternative modes of data collection, interviewer effects, and total survey error. Spanning over 20 years, his career has included survey administration and management, pilot test development and execution, questionnaire design and pretesting, randomized experiment design for surveys, cognitive interviewing, and web survey usability and user experience (UX) testing. Dr. Jans’ served as methodologist for the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), which is the largest single-state health survey in the US. In that role he was responsible for methodological innovation and documentation. Dr. Jans currently surveys as methodologist for ICF’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) portfolio of surveys. Dr. Jans’ survey design experience includes the U.S. Census Bureau’s Human Factors and Usability Laboratory, where he conducted usability experiments and expert reviews of Census Bureau websites and web surveys. Dr. Jans served as a co-principal investigator on the OCVS consulting on best practice in survey methods and focusing specifically on questionnaire design and testing, question wording and format related to mode considerations, and data collection procedures and techniques to maximize response rate and reduce total survey error.
Randy ZuWallack, M.S.
Mr. ZuWallack is a senior survey statistician at ICF. He has 22 years of statistical experience with 16 years of experience with state and local population-based surveys. He specializes in developing cost-effective, goal‑oriented study designs for national, state, and local research and evaluation projects. As a senior sampling statistician, he provides statistical expertise in sampling and estimation, develops analytic methods to address research goals, designs cost-effective methods for survey administration, and presents innovative research at industry conferences. He offers particular expertise in designing dual-frame RDD and ABS samples, including effective approaches to oversampling. Since 2003, he has provided sampling and statistical support for ICF’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) practice which has served more states than any other provider in the U.S. He recently worked on the Washington BRFSS pilot surveys, a project examining alternative methods to improve data collection quality and efficiency. Mr. ZuWallack focused on the sampling and weighting tasks for the OCVS.
Siobhan McAlister, M.S.
Ms. McAlister is a Senior Research Analyst at the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission (CJC). She has worked at the CJC for three years, conducting data analysis and project management on a wide range of studies. She has worked on projects examining recidivism among Oregon Drug Court participants, forecasts of prison beds impacted by policy changes, and reports evaluating racial bias in police stops. A project she is currently leading involves collecting data on U Visa certification requests and processing in Oregon, fulfilling a state legislative mandate. For the OCVS, Siobhan co-lead discussions with a stakeholder engagement group who advised on sensitive language in the survey. She also served as primary liaison between CJC and ICF.
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The Evidence Hour: Helping without Harming: Educating Mental Health Professionals on Working with Survivors of IPV
2021-07-27 14:00 - 15:00
Join CVR for the next in our Evidence Hour series, Helping without Harming: Educating Mental Health Professionals on Working with Survivors of IPV. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global problem that mental health professionals are guaranteed to encounter. This webinar synthesizes existing literature on how mental health professionals are prepared to support those experiencing IPV and discusses how an intersectional feminist framework can be applied in practice settings to confront the complexities of abuse.
Learning objectives:

Participants will examine a review of the existing literature on how mental health professionals are currently prepared to work with IPV survivors.
Participants will learn how applying an intersectional feminist framework can promote social justice for those impacted by IPV and encourage critical conversations about confronting the complexities of abuse, assessing safety, and honoring lived experiences.
Participants will be provided with several strategies and tools to appropriately assist clients who have experienced IPV through a feminist, empowerment model.

Presenters:
Amber Sutton, LICSW, is a licensed independent clinical social worker and a current Ph.D. Candidate in the School of Social Work at the University of Alabama. Her dissertation research focuses on understanding the links between intimate partner violence [IPV], femicide, and COVID-19 through an intersectional feminist framework. Amber holds degrees from Washington University in St. Louis and from the University of Montevallo. Amber has worked with survivors of IPV and their families for the past nine years in a multitude of settings including residential services, prevention education, the legal system, and program evaluation. Amber has also worked as a Director for a domestic and sexual violence agency where she developed and supervised the legal, case management, SANE, counseling, and prevention and intervention education programs. Amber currently serves as a therapist specializing in work with survivors of IPV, a core leadership member of the City of Birmingham’s Women’s Initiative, and is a member of Tuscaloosa’s Trauma Systems Therapy team. Amber’s interests include protections for pets, partner violence in rural communities, trauma-informed management techniques within non-profit organizations, and social justice as it relates to gender-based violence. A survivor herself, Amber is interested in conducting and utilizing research to identify, improve, and support micro, mezzo, and macro-level responses to survivors of violence. Previously, Amber served as a member of the Board of Directors for the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV).
Haley H. Beech, LMSW, is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Alabama, School of Social Work, and a licensed master social worker. Her research focuses on the intersection of maternal health and violence against women, including intimate partner violence and obstetric violence. She has a BA in Sociology from Samford University and an MSW from the University of Alabama. Haley is a social work researcher, community advocate, and intersectional feminist. As a qualitative researcher, she values the lived experiences of others and honors their local knowledge by aiming to highlight their voices and disrupting traditional education in the academy. Her work and research focus on bridging the gap between research and practice with an emphasis on research-informed practice and practice-informed research. Additional research interests include global health social work, maternal health and mortality, intimate partner violence, reproductive justice, cultural humility, and social work education.
Recording & Related Resources

NNEDV Virtual Technology Summit 2021
2021-07-19 - 2021-07-21
From the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV): “This unique training will focus on the intersection of technology and domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and trafficking. 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. We’ll look at the digital divide, non-consensual image sharing, tech abuse and accessibility needs for survivors with disabilities, privacy during a public health crisis, and more.”
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How might we create research environments that aren’t extractive?
2021-07-06 12:00 - 14:00
Orbits is a joint initiative of Chayn and End Cyber Abuse, generously supported by Robert Bosch Stiftung, producing a global field guide for survivor-centric interventions to tackle [Technology-facilitated Gender-based Violence – TGBV]. Employing an intersectional lens, the guide will investigate the nuances of TGBV within different regions and communities, and share principles and good practice case studies to empower policymakers, technologists and researchers to design intersectional, trauma-informed, survivor-centred responses to TGBV.

“How might we create research environments that aren’t extractive?…” – research workshop – open to researchers working on TGBV
6 July, 5-7pm BST/12-2pm EDT/9.30-11.30pm IST

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Read more about this initiative, its history, and additional sessions on Medium.
