VICTIMS' RESOURCES IN THE INFORMATION AGE

The advent of information technologies, especially the enormous growth of the Internet, has changed the way in which information about crime victims' issues is being made available to researchers, advocates, and practitioners. Today, victims and victim service providers can instantly access an enormous amount of information specific to their needs, including the latest research findings, statistical reports, program descriptions, grant and funding sources, evaluations on victim issues, promising practices, and referrals to professional organizations in the victim-serving community.

For victims and victim service providers, information access begins with the Office for Victims of Crime Resource Center (OVCRC), a component of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS).

Established by the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), U.S. Department of Justice, OVCRC is your primary source for crime victim information. OVCRC is accessible 24-hours-a-day through the NCJRS World Wide Web Justice Information Center and Fax-on-Demand where menus provide information and publications from all Office of Justice Programs (OJP) agencies: Office for Victims of Crime, National Institute of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Bureau of Justice Statistics, and Bureau of Justice Assistance, as well as the Office of National Drug Control Policy. In addition to the web site, victim assistance professionals can benefit by taking advantage of various online services, such as the Justice Information (JUSTINFO) Electronic Newsletter, e-mail inquiries, the Conference Calender Database, and the Online Ordering Store. NCJRS also has highly trained information specialists to personally answer questions and direct individuals to the best resources available. Furthermore, NCJRS offers allied professionals an opportunity to be placed on its mailing list to receive up-to-date information via the NCJRS Catalog. Together with online services, Fax-on-Demand, and personal assistance, NCJRS and OVCRC can help victim advocates know more to better serve the needs of victims of crime.

ACCESSING NCJRS AND OVCRC

To contact OVCRC, call (800) 627-6872. To contact NCJRS, call (800) 851-3420. NCJRS can be accessed online in the following ways:

NCJRS World Wide Web Homepage. The homepage provides NCJRS information, and links to other criminal and juvenile justice resources from around the world. The NCJRS web page provides information about NCJRS and OJP agencies, grant-funding opportunities, full-text publications, key-word searching of NCJRS publications, access to the NCJRS Abstracts Database, the current NCJRS Catalog, and a topical index.

NCJRS Online Ordering System. Publications, videos, and other materials that pertain to criminal justice, juvenile justice, and drug control policy can now be ordered at any time. The online store is open 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week.

Justice Information (JUSTINFO) Electronic Newsletter. This free, online newsletter is distributed to your Internet e-mail address on the 1st and 15th of each month. JUSTINFO contains information concerning a wide variety of subjects, including news from all Office of Justice Programs (OJP) agencies and the Office of National Drug Control Policy; criminal and juvenile justice resources on the Internet; criminal and juvenile justice funding and program information; and announcements about new NCJRS products and services. To subscribe, send an e-mail to listproc@ncjrs.gov with the message subscribe justinfo [your name].

E-Mail: Information and Help. Users requiring technical assistance or having specific questions about criminal and juvenile justice topics can send an e-mail to askncjrs@ncjrs.gov. To place an order for publications, users may send an e-mail to puborder@ncjrs.gov.

OTHER NCJRS ELECTRONIC INFORMATION SERVICES

Fax-on-demand. NCJRS has established a "fax-on-demand" service that allows the user to obtain copies of selected NCJRS documents directly through their own fax machine, using a toll-free telephone number. To access the fax-on-demand menu, simply call (800) 851-3420, and follow the prompts.

CD-ROM and Online Access to the Abstracts Database. Users with CD-ROM capability can also obtain the NCJRS Abstracts Database on CD-ROM. This disc features citations and abstracts of more than 140,000 criminal justice books, research reports, journal articles, government documents, program descriptions, program evaluations, and training manuals contained in the NCJRS Research and Information Center library collection. The disc also contains search software that supports retrieval, using any combination of words to search individual fields or all fields globally. The disc can be searched using "free text" methods, or in combination with the National Criminal Justice Thesaurus. In addition, the NCJRS Abstracts Database is available on the NCJRS homepage.

VICTIM-RELATED INTERNET SITES

Crime victims and victim service providers have witnessed a remarkable growth in the amount of information available to them, through the continued development of the Internet, especially the World Wide Web. Now, victim-serving agencies and advocacy organizations have the ability to reach around the corner or around the world with information about new issues, services, and promising practices designed to improve the welfare of victims of all types of crime. In an effort to present the most comprehensive and timely information available through this vast medium, the Office for Victims of Crime has substantially revised its World Wide Web homepage. OVC encourages crime victims and victim service providers alike to visit this comprehensive resource.

Many other agencies and organizations are now providing victim-related information through the World Wide Web. The following is a list of sites on the Web that contain information on selected crime victimization topics. Please note that this list is intended only to provide a sample of available resources, and does not constitute an endorsement of opinions, resources, or statements made therein. Further, neither the Office for Victims of Crime nor Justice Solutions endorses any commercial products that may be advertised or available on any of these listed sites.

This list does not constitute an endorsement of opinions, resources, or statements on any of the web sites by the Office for Victims of Crime, U.S. Department of Justice, or the National Center for Victims of Crime.

Federal Agencies/Resources

Bureau of Justice Assistance
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Center for Substance Abuse Prevention
Center for Substance Abuse Treatment
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
FBI Uniform Crime Reports' Statistical Data
Federal Judicial Center
GovBot Database of Government Web Sites
HRSA Information Center
Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention
NCJRS Justice Information Center
National Archive of Criminal Justice Data
National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
National Institute of Corrections
National Institute of Justice
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
National Institute on Drug Abuse
Nonprofit Gateway
Office of Community Oriented Policing Services
Office of Justice Programs
Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention
Office for Victims of Crime (OVC)
Office of National Drug Control Policy Information Clearinghouse
Office on Violence Against Women
THOMAS: Federal Legislation
U.S. Department of Education
   Campus Security and Safety
   Safe & Drug Free Schools
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Grantsnet
U.S. Department of Justice
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Center on PTSD
U.S. Parole Commission
U.S. Supreme Court
USA.gov

National Victim-related Organizations

American Bar Association
   Center on Children and the Law
   Commission on Domestic Violence
   Commission on Law and Aging
American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children
Anti-Defamation League
Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence
Child Abuse Prevention Network
Childhelp USA
Child Quest International
Child Welfare League of America
Concerns of Police Survivors (COPS)
Family Violence Prevention Fund
Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community
Mothers Against Drunk Driving
National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards
National Association of VOCA Assistance Administrators
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
National Center for Victims of Crime
National Center on Elder Abuse
National Children's Alliance
National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
National Commission Against Drunk Driving
National Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Association
National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center
National Fraud Information Center
National Insurance Crime Bureau
National Organization for Victim Assistance
National Sexual Violence Research Center
National Victim Assistance Academy (OVC)
National Victim Assistance Academy
National Victims' Constitutional Amendment Network
National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center
Neighbors Who Care
Parents of Murdered Children (POMC)
Safe Campuses Now
Security on Campus
Stalking Resource Center
Victims' Assistance Legal Organization (VALOR)

National Criminal and Juvenile Justice- and Public Policy-related Associations

American Correctional Association
American Correctional Health Services Association
American Council for Drug Education
American Jail Association
American Probation and Parole Association
American Youth Policy Forum
Association of State Correctional Administrators
Balanced and Restorative Justice Project
Center for Restorative Justice & Mediation
Center for Restorative Justice & Peacemaking
Center for Sex Offender Management
Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice
Coalition for Juvenile Justice
Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America
Community Justice Exchange
Community Policing Consortium
Correctional Education Association
Council of State Governments
Higher Education Center for Alcohol & Drug Prevention
Institute for Law and Justice
International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators
International Association of Chiefs of Police
Join Together
National Association for Community Mediation
National Association for Conflict Resolution
National Association for Native American
Children of Alcoholics
National Association of Attorneys General
National Association of Counties (NACo)
National Association of Drug Court Professionals
National Association of Police Organizations
National Association of State Alcohol & Drug Abuse Directors
National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse
National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise
National Center for State Courts
National Conference of State Legislatures
National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics
National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
National Criminal Justice Association
National District Attorneys Association
National Governors Association
National Indian Justice Center
National Institute on Drug Abuse
National Judicial College
National Juvenile Detention Association
National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center
National League of Cities
National Mental Health Association
National Organization of Black Law Enforcement
National Sheriffs' Association
Office of Correctional Education
Parents Resource Institute for Drug Education
Partnership for a Drug-Free America
Police Executive Research Forum
Police Foundation
Southern Poverty Law Center
State Justice Institute
Victim Offender Mediation Association

State-level Crime Victim Compensation Programs

State-level VOCA Victim Assistance Agencies

Federal and State Corrections

Federal Bureau of Prisons
Alaska Department of Corrections
Alabama Department of Corrections
Arizona Department of Correction
Arkansas Department of Correction
California Department of Correction
Colorado Department of Correction
Connecticut Department of Correction
Delaware Department of Corrections
Florida Department of Correction
Georgia Department of Correction
Hawaii Department of Public Safety
Idaho Department of Correction
Illinois Department of Correction
Indiana Department of Correction
Iowa Department of Correction
Kansas Department of Correction
Kentucky Justice Cabinet
Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement & Criminal Justice
Maine Department of Correction
Maryland Department of Correction
Massachusetts Department of Correction
Michigan Department of Correction
Minnesota Department of Corrections
Mississippi Department of Corrections
Missouri Department of Corrections
Montana Department of Corrections
Nebraska Department of Correctional Services
Nevada Department of Corrections
New Hampshire Department of Corrections
New Jersey State Department of Correction
New Mexico Department of Correction
New York State Department of Correctional Services
New York City Department of Correction
North Carolina Department of Correction
Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
Oklahoma Department of Correction
Oregon Department of Correction
Pennsylvania Department of Correction
Rhode Island Department of Correction
South Carolina Department of Correction
South Dakota Department of Correction
Tennessee Department of Correction
Texas Department of Correction
Utah Department of Correction
Vermont Criminal Justice Services
Virginia Department of Correction
Washington State Department of Correction
West Virginia Division Of Corrections
Wisconsin Department of Correction
Wyoming Department of Correction

State Coalitions and Related Resources

Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance
Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Services
Florida Network of Victim/Witness Services
Indiana Victim Assistance Network
Iowa Organization for Victim Assistance
Kansas Organization for Victim Assistance
Michigan Crime Victim Rights
Michigan Victims Alliance
Missouri Victim Assistance Network
New Mexico Victim Assistance Organization
North Carolina Victim Assistance Network
Ohio Victim Assistance Association
Safe Horizon (New York City region)
South Carolina Victim Assistance Network
Texans for Equal Justice
Washington Coalition of Crime Victim Advocates

Victims Rights Compliance Programs

National: National Crime Victim Law Institute
Arizona: Voice for Victims
Colorado: Division of Criminal Justice; Office of Victim Services
Connecticut: Office of Victim Advocate
Maryland: Maryland Crime Victims Resource Center
Minnesota: Office of Crime Victims Ombudsman
New Jersey: Crime Victims' Law Center
South Carolina: Crime Victims' Ombudsman
Wisconsin:
   Victim Resource Center
   Crime Victims Rights Board

Other Victim Resources

Action Without Borders — Nonprofit Directory
Alliance for Justice
American Humane Association
APA — American Psychological Association
Battered Women's Justice Center
Boys & Girls Club of America National Headquarters
Children's Institute International
Compassionate Friends
Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence
Florida State University, School of Criminology & Criminal Justice
Hope For Healing.Org
Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma
International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies
International Victimology Website
Jewish Women International
Justice for All
Maryland Crime Victims Resource Center
Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse
National Crime Victim's Research and Treatment Center
National Organization on Male Sexual Victimization
National Parent Information Network
Out of the Blue (Domestic Violence in the Jewish Community)
Post Trauma Resources
Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network
Rule of Law Foundation
Security on Campus, Inc.
Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners
Stalking Victims Sanctuary
Survivors of Stalking
Victim Assistance Online
Violence Policy Center
Workplace Violence Research Institute
Yahoo Search for Victims' Rights

Legal Research/Resources

Findlaw
State Law and Legislative Information
U.S. Supreme Court Decisions

Media

NewsLink
Criminal Justice Journalists
Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma
Michigan State University Victims and the Media Program
Newspapers.Com
Public Relations Society of America

Special thanks is extended to Steve Derene, Director of the National Association of VOCA Assistance Administrators, and Promising Strategies and Practices in Using Technology to Benefit Crime Victims, sponsored by the National Center for Victims of Crime with support from the Office for Victims of Crime, U.S. Department of Justice, for providing much of the Web site information included in this section.