Early Intervention for Victims of Crime: Evaluation of Skills for Psychological Recovery

.The Medical University of South Carolina proposes to conduct formative evaluation of Skills for Psychological Recovery for victims of violent crime. This is an essential step to prepare for the first rigorous evaluation of Skills for Psychological Recovery. The purpose is to establish an efficient, accessible, and culturally responsive early intervention that decreases negative mental health outcomes following violent crime and increases engagement with the criminal justice system. Project activities include establishing an advisory board of key stakeholders to guide the research design, interpretation of results, and dissemination of deliverables; conducting an open pilot trial with 80 racial/ethnic diverse victims of crime whose preferred language is English or Spanish recruited from an outpatient mental health clinic, police department, rape advocacy center, and hospital-based program; and conducting qualitative evaluation of Skills for Psychological Recovery through semi-structured interviews with racial/ethnic diverse victims of crime, agency leaders, and providers to assess unmet needs, barriers and facilitators, and inform potential modifications to the intervention. Expected outcomes include the development of an advisory board to inform research and services on early intervention for violent crime victims; development of a research protocol and battery of assessments including novel assessments of Skills for Psychological Recovery fidelity to use in a subsequent rigorous evaluation of the intervention; feasibility of research methods including successfully retaining victims in a baseline assessment, the intervention, 1-month, 2-month, and 4-month follow-up assessments; feasibility, acceptability, and appropriateness of Skills for Psychological Recovery for violent crime victims; perspectives of Black and Hispanic victims of crime regarding how to improve the intervention and its implementation; a refined Skills for Psychological Recovery manual and implementation guide for victims of violent crime. Further, expected outcomes include establishing the appropriate design (randomized controlled trial versus quasi-experimental) for a subsequent rigorous evaluation of Skills for Psychological Recovery. Dissemination of deliverables will occur through several national organizations including the National Mass Violence Victimization Resource Center and the National Center for Victims of Crime. The intended beneficiaries of the project are victims of violent crime, who are at risk for experiencing a range of mental health problems and yet often do not receive care. Evaluating early intervention strategies that are culturally responsive and can be implemented by victim service professionals may significantly attenuate risk for longer-term mental health problems and societal costs associated with victimization. CA/NCF