NVAA Session Descriptions

Track 1: Foundation-level Training
Track 2: Specialized Training
Track 3: Leadership Institute

Track 1: Foundation-level Training (4 days)

This is an intensive 4-day training designed for individuals with less than 3 years of experience in the field of victim services. Prior to attending this training, participants are expected to complete pre-Academy readings and assignments (average completion time is 5 hours), some of which will be available online. Upon completing Track 1, participants will have gained knowledge and skills to better serve victims and survivors of crime. Topics include:

• History of the victim services field.
• Basic victims’ rights and the justice system.
• Impact of crime on victims.
• Communicating with victims and survivors.
• Providing direct services to victims and survivors.
• Collaborating for victims’ rights and services.
• Cultural and spiritual competence.
• Ethics in victim services.
• Developing resilience.

Learning Objectives (MS Word 37KB | PDF 23KB)

Top

Track 2: Specialized Training

This track comprises three trainings on critical and timely topics that have direct impact on providers work.

Providing Culturally Competent Services to Victims of Crime (3 days)
This workshop provides an interactive exploration of issues in providing culturally competent services to victims of crime. Through a series of activities and case studies, the training explores the challenges and benefits of providing culturally competent care for victims and how services can be more effective when they are delivered within the most relevant and meaningful cultural, gender-specific, and age-appropriate context. Also included is a review of provider competencies (i.e., knowledge, skills, attitudes, interpersonal decision-making) that are critical to effectively serving victims of crime from diverse populations. Topics include:

• What is cultural competence?
• Stereotyping; cross-cultural communication; and language and interpreter bias.
• Barriers to effective victim assistance.
• Envisioning a culturally competent victim service program.

Learning Objectives (MS Word 36KB | PDF 21KB)

Identifying and Responding to Elder Abuse (1 day)
As the field of victim services witnesses a shift toward an increasingly large aging population in the U.S., victim service providers are often called upon to identify and respond to elder abuse. To help broaden the scope of understanding and service response to this emerging issue, this 1-day training provides information and skills to more effectively provide services to victims of elder abuse. Topics include:

• Elder abuse and victim services.
• Understanding elder abuse.
• Identifying elder abuse.
• Responding to elder abuse.

Learning Objectives (MS Word 40KB | PDF 28KB)

Ethics in Victim Services (1 day)
No issue is more complex — or important — than the ethical considerations surrounding providing services to victims of crime. This 1-day training explores common ethical conflicts and ways victim service providers can apply ethical standards and a decision-making process to help resolve these conflicts. Topics include:

• Motivators for substance use and criminal behavior.
• The relationship between substance use and victimization, with a focus on violent crime.
• Substance use by the perpetrator and substance use by the crime victim.
• Substance use as a reaction to victimization.

Learning Objectives (MS Word 25KB | PDF 18KB)

Top

Track 3: Leadership Institute (5 days)

Professional Development
What skills will enhance your leadership and management capabilities? You will learn theoretical concepts, as well as practical guidelines, for human resource development, and program evaluation. Topics include:

• Four primary value orientations of employees: Their interdependence in fostering a harmonious workplace and improving performance.
• How change in an organization can affect behavior within it.
• Program evaluation: How to carry it out realistically and practically.

Leadership in Victim Services
What is your role of influence, change, and improvement?Using case studies and examples, participants will explore the qualities, attitudes, styles, and strategies of effective leaders in victim services. Topics include:

• The source of leadership qualities and common myths about leadership.
• How past experiences contribute to the ongoing and dynamic process of becoming a leader.
• Core leadership strategies for victim assistance and justice organizations.
• The challenges to ethical leadership.
• Approaching problems as opportunities.
• Using cooperative communication skills.
• Developing a checklist for successful collaboration.
• Factors affecting change, including threats and resistance to change, and how to use these as a driving force to promote and advocate for victims' rights and enhanced services.

Strategic Planning in Victim Services
Where is your program going and how will you get there? Strategic planning is critical to establish and maintain direction and support for organizations and programs. Participants will learn how to enhance their performance in managing services, resources, and staff, and how to apply steps and guidelines to begin effective strategic planning. Topics include:

• The five basic steps of strategic planning.
• Common pitfalls of strategic planning and how to avoid them.
• How to articulate an organization's values, mission, and vision.
• Setting goals and developing objectives.

Learning Objectives (MS Word 41KB | PDF 24KB)

Top