This toolkit provides information and resources to administrators under the federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) and other practitioners who want to improve health care services to victims/survivors of community violence.
To produce this document, the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention (HAVI), with support from the U.S. Justice Department’s Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), drew from its experience in providing technical assistance to Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Programs (HVIPs) nationally, worked with leaders from groups involved in providing services to victims of violence, and interviewed VOCA administrators and federal and state grant managers. HVIPs have emerged as an important public health response to community violence. These programs combine the efforts of medical staff and community-based service providers to intervene with victims of violence in hospital settings, connect them with community-based service providers to intervene with victims of violence in hospital settings, connect them with community-based victim services, and reduce future victimization and violent behaviors. Research has indicated that HVIPs are effective in reducing repeat victimization, reducing criminal justice involvement, and reducing health care and other costs associated with violence. HVIPs also address circumstances common to victims of crime, such as disparities in access to health care, transportation, case management, and a range of social determinants of health. This toolkit provides resources that facilitate VOCA state administrators in supporting HVIPs in expanding access to service for victims of violence and work directly with communities of color and other underserved communities to increase health equity in funding for HVIP services, and track progress and address challenges.