Important VOCA Survey, NCVRW Resource Guide and NCVRW Action Kit Now Available Online, and VAWA Briefing Book

Dear Friends:

As you can guess, I had a FANTASTIC weekend with my beloved Green Bay Packers headed to the NFC Playoffs next week, at Lambeau in the “frozen tundra!” We went from two years of “faith-based football” to an amazing “dream team,” and I couldn’t be prouder! FOUR MISSIVES THIS WEEK, and DO please take time to complete the VOCA survey!:

The OVC National Crime Victims’ Rights Week Resource Guide is now available online at www.ovc.gov. In addition, APPRISS (provider of the VINE and SAVIN services) has produced a NCVRW Action Kit with an emphasis on automated victim notification. You can download this Kit at www.appriss.com.

IMPORTANT VOCA ACTION ALERT: The FY08 appropriations omnibus bill passed by Congress and signed by the President REDUCED VOCA spending to $590 million. This will mean an estimated 11 percent cut in VOCA Assistance grants to the states (we are hosting a VOCA Briefing on the Hill on February 8th to address this concern!). The National Center for Victims of Crime and its partners are gathering information to share with policymakers about the real world effect of this drastic cut. Please help us by taking a few minutes today to complete our survey. While we request that each agency or organization only complete the survey one time, additional comments by other staff are welcome. Send your additional comments to NCVC’s Public Policy Department at: ncvc_public_policy_dept@ncvc.org with the subject line “VOCA.” The survey, which should only take 5 to 10 minutes to complete, is available at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=M3ycwV_2b1ZMk4QeAymdpYhg_3d_3d. PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF SURVEYS WE RECEIVE – YOUR INPUT AND THAT OF ALL FOLKS WHO RECEIVE VOCA FUNDING ARE TRULY APPRECIATED!

Your national policy leaders are currently updating the VAWA Appropriations Briefing Book, and MMM will keep you posted when this is available. You may want to check out the most recent version to get up to speed on key funding issues related to VAWA: http://www.nnedv.org/docs/Policy/BriefingBook08.pdf.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

ANNE