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Victims of crime were virtually invisible in the laws and policies that governed the United States' justice systems prior to the 1982 Final Report of the President’s Task Force on Victims of Crime. While significant progress has occurred over the past two decades regarding rights of victims of crime, much remains to be done.
ICF International is dedicated to the enhancement of the victim services field through development and deployment of a suite of training and technical assistance (T&TA) materials and services, as well as research-based information that will train and prepare all victim service and allied professionals to respond to the multiple and evolving needs of each victim. Just as the field works to put victims first, we work with the field to ensure their success by putting victim service providers, advocates, and allied professionals first.
This translates into practices that respond to the question, "How will this benefit victims and survivors of crime?" It also represents a commitment to include the voices of victims and survivors in the planning, review, and evaluation of T&TA products.
Our Approach
ICF has established a reputation for being highly responsive to clients' emerging needs and priorities. Recently, we mobilized more than 350 full-time staff within one month to set up the Road Home housing assistance program for more than 200,000 households affected by Hurricane Katrina.
For the Office for Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance Center (OVC TTAC), we have mobilized extra staff and consultants when needed to meet a critical deadline or launch an important initiative like the enhancement of the National Victim Assistance Academy (NVAA), or accessing resources for community and faith-based organizations. Sometimes these needs arise on short notice and other times they result from new legislation, budget authority, or administrator priorities that allow adequate time to be strategic about the T&TA needed to support the initiative.
In response to incidents of international and domestic terrorism, and mass casualty crimes, ICF has mobilized a network of consultants to provide emergency services and technical assistance.
ICF also has significant experience consulting to the corrections industry on workforce issues such as recruitment, retention, and organizational performance.
ICF offers a range of alternative T&TA models that are strategically designed to have the greatest impact on the field, within specified time and budget parameters. We present robust knowledge-to-practice strategies and use industry-standard approaches to assess what we know about what works (from both research and field experience) and design a diverse set of T&TA venues to help victim service practitioners translate knowledge into effective practices in their own environments. Those venues could include peer-to-peer assistance, national and/or regional workshops, on-site consultation from successful program leaders, specific skills trainings or live forums, and on-line learning communities for sharing ideas, experiences, and models as the initiative progresses.
We implement the strategies our clients select with complete commitment, collaborating with the organizations that are best equipped to ensure the initiative’s success.
Our Capabilities
Training
- Training Calendar
- National Victim Assistance Academy
- Web-based Training and e-Learning
Technical Assistance (TA)
- On-site TA
- Face-to-Face
- Peer-to-Peer
- On-line
TA Resources
- Scholarship Programs
- Consultant Management
- Curriculum and Product Peer Reviews Conference Support Programs
- Conference/Meetings Logistics Support
- Writing, Editing, and Quality Assurance
Information Technology and Management Services
- Web Site Development and Maintenance
- On-line Learning Communities
- Management Information Systems
- Computer and Graphic Technology Services
- Strategic Communications and Outreach
Performance Improvement
- Needs Assessment
- Research and Evaluation
- Performance Measurement
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SELECTED PROJECTS |
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Training and Technical Assistance Center
On behalf of the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) of the U.S. Department of Justice, ICF operates a national Training and Technical Assistance Center (OVC TTAC). Our staff built on-line learning communities to bring together OVC grantees, consultants, evaluators, and others to share and generate knowledge. These communities have successfully promoted high levels of interaction and collaboration through on-line discussions, work groups, and resource sharing. ICF helped the OVC launch academies to provide comprehensive, academically based, foundation-level education for assistance providers, advocates, and allied professionals. Our team successfully maintains a pool of more than 500 subject matter experts and engages the field by recognizing and validating the expertise of victim service providers, advocates, and allied professionals in the development and delivery of training and technical assistance that puts victims first.
Study of HHS Programs Serving Human Trafficking Victims
ICF is conducting a systematic review of current programs and services aimed at improving program design, as required by Congress under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005, to ensure the most effective services possible are available to meet the needs of victims of international and domestic trafficking. Working in partnership with the client and with Advocates for Human Potential, Inc., the ICF team is conducting a study of HHS programs that blends both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. The study includes a comprehensive review of existing literature, research and secondary analysis of existing data; eight site visits (intensive case studies); and communication of the study results to the field through issue briefs, a final report, and presentations. Read the issue briefs.
Needs Assessment of Service Providers and Victims of Human Trafficking
For the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), ICF Caliber conducted the first-of-its-kind needs assessment of service providers and victims of human trafficking to determine what services existed, how responsive those services were to victims’ needs, and what services were still needed. Our study examined barriers to service provision, similarities and differences of trafficking victims to other crime victims, understanding of new legislation, and support needed by providers to aid victims. Assessment results informed the development of federally funded demonstration programs and supported applications for grant funding.
Evaluation of the Child Development Community Policing
(CDCP) Model
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
The CDCP program is a national model of a collaborative alliance among law enforcement, mental health professionals, and community agencies on behalf of children and families exposed to violence in their communities. Beginning in 2002, ICF has been conducting a five-year, multi-site evaluation of the CDCP model. The model is being employed in varied community and institutional settings, and is aimed at helping children recover from the psychological trauma of witnessing violence, thereby increasing their feelings of safety and reducing the likelihood of future delinquency. This evaluation is using a multi-method approach that includes both process and outcome data in an attempt to uncover the mechanisms that contribute to the coordinated delivery of services and to the positive impact of the program on children and families experiencing violence. A quasi-experimental design is being used to assess the effectiveness of two CDCP sites (vs. matched comparison sites). Multiple sources of cross-sectional and longitudinal data have been used to explore the problem of children exposed to violence immediately after a crisis and longitudinally track the trajectory of recovery after an intervention.
Evaluation of a Multi-Site Demonstration of Collaborations to Address Domestic Violence and Child Maltreatment
(Greenbook Project)
National Institute of Justice
The Greenbook Project was designed to improve the way dependency courts, child protective services, and domestic violence service providers work together to address the problems of families with co-occurring domestic violence and child maltreatment. Under a five-year grant from the National Institute of Justice, with funding from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation in HHS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ICF developed and implemented an integrated process and outcome evaluation design using multiple methods to measure the extent to which demonstration sites’ collaborative efforts result in system changes that would lead to improvements in safety, decreases in repeat abuse, and increased batterer accountability. The evaluation was designed to meet both national and demonstration sites’ needs; build sites’ commitment and capacity to use data to monitor and improve performance; increase understanding of the mechanisms by which and the extent to which system change is implemented; and have an impact on policy, practice, and knowledge in the field.
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