“If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” Lila Watson, Australian Aboriginal Elder, from the Dreamkeepers Credo at www.dreamkeepers.net

“We are in this together, my friends, the rich, the poor, the red, the white, the black, the brown and the yellow. We are all one family of humankind. We share the responsibility for our Mother the Earth and for all those who live and breathe upon her. I believe our work will be unfinished until not one human being is hungry, not a single woman is battered, not one child is abused, not one innocent languishes in prison, and no one is persecuted for his or her beliefs. I believe in the good in humankind. I believe that the good can prevail, but only with great effort. And that effort is ours, each of ours, yours and mine.” Leonard Peltier, from My Life is My Sundance

Welcome. We are blessed to be the Training and Technical Assistance Provider for the Tribal Victim Assistance in Indian Country Grant Program, in cooperative agreement with the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, US Department of Justice. To see a list of FY 2003-2005 Tribal Grantees and their contact information, click here.

Through Tribal Victim Assistance (TVA) programs, American Indian and Alaska Native communities and reservations can initiate or expand efforts to provide direct services to victims of crime. TVA Programs are designed to address the needs of unserved and underserved victims, particularly those victimized by crimes such as child abuse, homicide, elder abuse, Driving While Intoxicated, gang violence, sexual assault, domestic abuse, arson.

TVA Programs provide services that respond immediately to the emotional and physical needs of crime victims, such as on-call crisis counseling, accompaniment to hospitals for medical examinations, hotline counseling, emergency food, clothing, transportation, and shelter; emergency legal assistance; and other emergency services intended to restore the victim’s sense of dignity and self-esteem. Programs also provide Advocacy on behalf of crime victims, including accompaniment to criminal justice offices and court, transportation to court, child care to enable a victim to attend court, restitution advocacy, and assistance with victim impact statements. Victims may receive services that offer an immediate measure of safety, such as boarding up broken windows and replacing or repairing locks. To the extent other funding is not available, TVA program funds can be used to pay for forensic medical examinations for sexual assault victims. TVA programs also work in conjunction with State Victim Compensation Programs to obtain crime victim compensation benefits for crime victims.

Our purpose as the Training and Technical Assistance provider is to assist TVA programs to be the best they can be. We work with you to ensure all program staff and related agencies, such as law enforcement, are adequately trained. We assist as needed to ensure management operations such as budgeting, data collection, and timely report writing are successfully implemented. We join you in your heartfelt commitment to provide the most comprehensive, highest quality services possible to the deserving members of your community, and we’ll do what we can to assist you in achieving this goal.

Here is what you can expect from us:

Communication. We will contact you frequently—sometimes just as a “check in” to say hello and see how things are going. We like hearing stories of your successes and challenges, and it gives us an opportunity to link tribes together who may be of help to one another. You are always welcome to give us a call on our toll-free line: 1-877-438-4400.

Caring about what you think. We will ask for your opinion and perspective about services and new initiatives. We may ask you to fill out a short survey from time to time. We invite you to be a member of our Advisory Board and give us feedback about what kind of services you’d like to see.

Post Awards Conference. This year’s conference is tentatively scheduled for February, 2004. We know many of you still need to hire staff for your programs and complete other tasks before you get rolling, so you’ve got plenty of time before we meet.

On-Site Training. Dan and Angie will be calling to ask about your Training needs. As part of your TA, your tribe can receive free training—on site at your community—on just about any topic related to crime victim services. We conduct some of the training ourselves, and we also have many consultants available. Remember, with this grant you can train Law Enforcement as well as Advocates and other providers who work directly with victims in your community. A full list of Training Topics can be found here

Leadership Skills for Program Managers. These tele-classes will be offered once per week beginning November, 2003. The curriculum covers all the basics for surviving and thriving in Indian Country program management and offers an official Certificate of Completion. These classes were developed from direct experience as a victim services program manager in Indian Country, and they were developed with extensive input from professional management consultants as well as last year’s Tribal Advisory Board. For more information and a class schedule, contact Angie.

Best Practices. This year we will feature grantee programs around the country who are doing innovative work in the field of victim services and invite them to teach a tele-class to all grantees. The Best Practices program will be featured on the Website, and the Best Practices trainers will become members of our Mentoring Program. It is our goal to hire our more experienced grantees to provide on-site training to newly emerging grantees in our TVA community. We believe the best education is the one we get by learning from each other.

The TVA Community Website. The website is scheduled to be launched this November. On this site you will find what we like to call “one-stop-resource shopping” for all your victim assistance program needs. We will feature links to tribal, state and federal resources, including the listings for your State VOCA administrators, Victim Compensation directors, FBI Victim Witness coordinators, and Victim Specialists from the US Attorney offices. The Resource Library will feature training manuals, articles, and web links for Law Enforcement needs and Advocacy issues, as well sample Tribal codes, Tribal Victim Bill of Rights, Program Policies & procedures, and Educational articles on signs/symptoms for child abuse, sexual assault, stalking, domestic abuse, gang-related crime, elder abuse and other topics. There is too much to list here—you’ll just have to check us out!!

Management Reports & Newsletters. You will receive a T&TA Newsletter once each month featuring educational articles, training opportunities and other program information. Also, we also host training workshops several times each year to acquaint (or re-aquaint) you with how to fill out all the necessary program reports and financial reports that need to be sent to OVC and the Office of the Comptroller.

If you have further questions, please give us a call. We’re glad to be working with you.

Until next time,

Gina