This video, which was prepared by the U.S. Justice Department's Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) and the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), presents an overview of the BIA Victim Specialist Program (VSP) and reports some of the program's successes and challenges in providing services to crime victims in Indian Country.
The video explains the services that are available to Indian victims of crime through the VSP, which complements tribally operated victim services programs. The video emphasizes that the BIA Victim Assistance Program was established to fill a gap between the Federal and the tribal systems. The VSP ensures that residents of tribal communities have victim services that are managed and delivered by fellow Indians who understand the dynamics and impact of crime on a tribal resident. The victim specialist maintains a relationship with the victim to ensure that his/her needs are understood and that services are delivered in a sensitive way in the context of the distinctive nature of the victim's trauma.