Evaluation of OVC's Wraparound Victim Legal Assistance Network Demonstration Project

• NCJ Number: 254634
• Author(s): Samantha Lowry; Lisa Feeley; Jaclyn Smith; Alana Henninger; Amy Bush
• Date Published: April 2019
• Length: 424 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2012-VF-GX-0001
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Evaluation; Program/Project Description
• Award: Evaluation of the Office for Victims of Crime Wraparound Victim Legal Assistance Network Demonstration Project

Annotation

This is the Final Report on the methodology and findings of an evaluation of the U.S. Justice Department's Office for Victims of Crime's (OVC's) Wraparound Victim Legal Assistance Network Demonstration Project, which examined five demonstration sites' efforts to develop wraparound networks of legal services that provide crime victims holistic services.

Abstract

The evaluation team collected data from a variety of stakeholders in the programs, including staff from organizations that were part of each network's steering committee, others involved in the network, legal and social crime victim service providers in each network's jurisdiction, and crime victims seeking or having received services from network partners. Mixed methods were used to determine 1) whether coordinated, collaborative, and holistic approaches to legal assistance have been effective in meeting crime victims' needs; and 2) the features of each site's network that work best and under what conditions. Data were collected with online and paper surveys, in-person and phone interviews, and administrative databases. Overall, the evaluation found that all sites met their goals. Although each site had distinctive goals, there were some common themes, such as improving service provision, training/educating service providers, improving referral processes, reaching underserved victims, and building collaborative relationships. The site networks had a significant impact on victims, with over 4,000 crime victims being served with just over 6,500 services. The number of victims served by the networks ranged from about 375 to about 2,400; on average, victims received 1.3 services.