State Victim Assistance Academies

State Victim Assistance Academies (SVAAs) provide comprehensive, academically based, foundation-level education for victim assistance providers, victim advocates, and allied professionals. SVAAs use the National Victim Assistance Academy (NVAA) model for developing training programs in partnership with academic institutions. OVC launched the SVAA initiative in 1999 with grants to five states, and the list of new SVAA sites has been growing ever since. Each SVAA site develops a planning committee; establishes a partnership with an academic host university; formulates the student selection criteria; assesses the specific needs of the respective state; and develops, implements, and evaluates the training program.

OVC strongly encourages the development of similar initiatives in other states, with the goal of creating a national network of SVAA academies. OVC's Training and Technical Assistance Center provides technical assistance to SVAAs and coordinates quarterly SVAA conference calls and annual SVAA grantee meetings. For more information, visit the SVAA page.

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