The Directory of Crime Victim Services: An OVC Online Resource

Citation

Carter II, J.W. (2013), "The Directory of Crime Victim Services: An OVC Online Resource", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 36 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/pijpsm.2013.18136aaa.002

"The Directory of Crime Victim Services: An OVC Online Resource"

Article Type: Policing on the web From: Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, Volume 36, Issue 1.

The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) operates as part of the United States Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs. While the OVC offers many resources to victims of crime, this installment of Policing on the Web focusses on one of those resources. Created in 2003, the Directory of Crime Victim Services is an online resource designed to assist victims, as well as those assisting victims, in finding non-emergency contacts for agencies offering services and resources to victims of crime.

Victims of crime, or those assisting them, can access the directory[1] and locate services by using various search parameters. Using the directory, a victim can search for services by geographic location or jurisdiction. He/she can search for agencies in a particular state, or federal agencies offering services to crime victims, or even search for agencies in other countries. Victims can then choose to narrow their searches even further by searching for services offered in a specific city or zip code or even by specifying an agency's name. Finally, victims have the option of searching for agencies specializing in a specific type of victimization (i.e. various crime types), searching for the types of services needed (e.g. counseling vs financial assistance vs personal advocacy), or searching by the type of agency (e.g. law enforcement vs courts vs mental health). One feature of the directory that would be especially helpful for victims of crime is a link to an online glossary of terms used in the search process. For example, a victim who is unfamiliar with the term “human trafficking” or is unsure if the term refers to his/her victimization can use the glossary to determine how the term is used in regards to the directory.

Once the victim has entered his/her search parameters, the directory will generate a list of service agencies presented in a very easy to read table that provides for each agency: the name and basic contact information for the agency, as well as the type of victims the agency serves, the type of agency, and the specific services the agency provided. Obviously, the number of agencies produced will vary by location and crime type. For example, a simple search of Montana for agencies serving adults molested as children generated a list of 125 agencies, whereas a search for the same victimization type for the state of California produced a list of 507 agencies.

Even though the resulting lists of agencies can be quite long, the format in which they are presented greatly increases the ability of the victim to find the services/agencies needed. Since the lists of agencies produced by each search are presented in a table format, victims can easily sort the lists by city or agency name. Each list can also be downloaded in a wide variety of formats for use in other offline applications.

Whether one is the unfortunate victim of crime or a police officer looking for assistance in referring victims of crime to specific agencies, the web site for the “Directory of Crime Victim Services: An OVC Online Resource” can be an invaluable tool. The directory can make the process of matching agencies and the crime victim services they provide with the people who need them much less complicated and much less painful.

J.W. Carter IICollege of Mount St. Joseph, Cincinnati, OH

Note

1. The URL address for the Directory of Crime Victim Services is http://ovc.ncjrs.gov/findvictimservices/