A University Partnership for Victim Service Professional Development: Model Standards for Serving Victims and Survivors of Crime

Abstract

This paper describes processes and products of a partnership to promote professionalization of the field of victim services. The National Victim Assistance Standards Consortium was established by the federal Office for Victims of Crime in partnership with the University of South Carolina. The Consortium reached across geographic, philosophical, and disciplinary divides to forge a common ground in professional development, including a definition and mission for the field as well as three sets of model standards for serving victims and survivors. The project included a review of literature on victim services, town hall meetings across the country, and layered review and refinement of standards by approximately 50 professionals working at the local, state, and national levels. The online document, Achieving Excellence: Model Standards for Serving Victims & Survivors of Crime, will provide standards for promoting competence and ethical integrity as well as quality and consistency of service.

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank members of the National Victim Assistance Standards Consortium, participants of town hall meetings and listening sessions, persons who participated in the many layers of review of this document, and the organizations that granted permission to adapt portions of their professional products for use by the Consortium. A full listing of persons to be credited can be found in the online document Achieving Excellence: Model Standards for Serving Victims and Survivors of Crime or may be requested from the author.

Additional information

Funding

Funding. This document was prepared by the University of South Carolina under [grant number 1999-VF-GX-K012] and updated by the South Carolina Research Foundation under [grant number 2010-VF-GX-K019], with both grants awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, United States Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent official position or policies of the United States Department of Justice.