Vision 21

On behalf of the Board and staff of the National Crime Victim Law Institute, thank you for participating in NCVLI’s piece of the Office for Victims of Crime’s (OVC) project, Vision 21: Transforming Victims Services. 

When we began this work more than a year ago, we knew the project was ambitious, but were excited to be a part of the visioning of the future of the victims’ field. Thanks to the dedication and wisdom of each of you, we were not disappointed. We were able to engage in challenging and sometimes uncomfortable conversations, to learn from each other, and to contribute to the larger Vision 21 effort. NCVLI submitted its final report to OVC last October, and we understand from OVC that the report is being factored into the overarching Vision 21 final report that the Medical University of South Carolina is drafting. Because our final report was designed to contribute to this larger project, OVC is not releasing our report or those of the other 12 month grantees, at this time. Instead, OVC will release MUSC’s report, which will include the work of the 12 month grantees, later this year. We are excited to see that product and will pass it along as soon as we receive it.  However, if you would like to keep up with Vision 21independently, please follow the project at: http://ovc.ncjrs.gov/vision21/.   

Over the last year we learned so much from each of you and we look forward to partnering with you in the weeks, months and years ahead as we continue to build a better future for victims, survivors, and communities.  

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Background on Vision 21

In the summer of 2010, NCVLI was awarded a grant from the Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) to undertake one of four projects under the “Vision 21: Transforming Victim Services” initiative.  “Vision 21” was designed to develop a philosophical and strategic framework for defining the role of the field in the country’s response to crime and moving the field forward in the future.  The four project areas were:  (1) The role of the crime victims’ field in the overall response to crime and delinquency in the U.S., (2) Building capacity in the crime victims’ field to better serve victims of crime, (3) Enduring challenges in the crime victims’ field that are still being addressed, and (4) Emerging challenges that the crime victims’ field has yet to address.

The grant NCVLI received was for area (1) - an in-depth look at the role of the crime victims’ field in the overall response to crime and delinquency in the United States.  For this project, NCVLI brought together many diverse perspectives in a Stakeholder Group to critically examine and create consensus on foundational questions and proposed answers related to who is a crime victim and the field’s response to underserved and unserved victims through enhanced partnerships and better integration of the field into the broader criminal justice field to advance crime victims’ rights.  The Stakeholder group brought together national experts on issues including, but not limited to, child welfare, health, mental health, victims’ rights enforcement, judiciary, law enforcement, legal, ID theft, sex trafficking, gangs, violence against women, at-risk juveniles, and corrections.  This Stakeholder Group was further augmented by an Expanded Partner Group consisting of a wide range of professionals in the field.  In addition, NCVLI allowed for input from the field at large through an online process.

This project is funded by Grant No. 2010-VF-GX-K011 awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this document are those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.