National Victim Assistance Agency Survey, 1992

This data collection examines victim assistance programs
 that are operated by law enforcement agencies, prosecutor's offices,
 and independent assistance agencies. Victim assistance programs came
 into being when it was discovered that, in addition to the physical,
 emotional, and financial impact of a crime, victims often experience a
 "second victimization" because of insensitive treatment by the
 criminal justice system. Specifically, this study sought to answer the
 following questions: (1) What are the current staffing levels of
 victim assistance programs? (2) What types of victims come to the
 attention of the programs? (3) What types of services are provided to
 victims? and (4) What are the operational and training needs of victim
 assistance programs? The survey was sent to 519 police departments,
 sheriff departments, and prosecutor's offices identified as having
 victim assistance programs. Also, 172 independent full-service
 agencies that were believed to provide referral or direct services to
 victims (not just advocacy) were also sent surveys. Variables on
 staffing levels include the number of full-time, part-time, and
 volunteer personnel, and the education and years of experience of paid
 staff. Victim information includes the number of victims served for
 various types of crime, and the percent of victims served identified
 by race/ethnicity and by age characteristics (under 16 years old,
 17-64 years old, and over 65 years old). Variables about services
 include percent estimates on the number of victims receiving various
 types of assistance, such as information on their rights, information
 on criminal justice processes, "next-day" crisis counseling,
 short-term supportive counseling, or transportation. Other data
 gathered include the number of victims for which the agency arranged
 emergency loans, accompanied to line-ups, police or prosecutor
 interviews, or court, assisted in applying for state victim
 compensation, prepared victim impact statements, notified of court
 dates or parole hearings, or made referrals to social service agencies
 or mental health agencies. Information is also presented on training
 provided to criminal justice, medical, mental health, or other victim
 assistance agency personnel, and whether the agency conducted
 community or public school education programs. Agencies ranked their
 need for more timely victim notification of various criminal justice
 events, improvement or implementation of various forms of victim and
 public protection, and improvement of victim participation in various
 stages of the criminal justice process. Agencies also provided
 information on training objectives for their agency, number of hours
 of mandatory pre-service and in-service training, types of information
 provided during the training of their staff, sources for their
 training, and the priority of additional types of training for their
 staff. Agency variables include type of agency, year started, and
budget information.

Tags: counseling, criminal-justice-system, law-enforcement-agencies, victim-compensation, victim-rights, victims, victims-services
Organization: Department of Justice