VictimConnect Evaluation Instruments: Toolkit Resource 7

• NCJ Number: 300162
• Author(s): Malore Dusenbery; Sara Bastomski; Krista White; Erica Henderson
• Date Published: December 2020
• Length: 31 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2018-V3-GX-0003
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Award: Phased Evaluation of VictimConnect: An OVC-Funded, Technology-Based National Resource Center

Annotation

This brief – the seventh of seven toolkit resources that support the Urban Institute’s formative evaluation of the VictimConnect Resource Center – presents drafts of the instruments that will be used in Urban’s planned implementation and outcome evaluations of VictimConnect.

Abstract

VictimConnect is a nationwide victims’ helpline operated by the National Center for Victims of Crime (NCVC). The evaluations that used the five instruments described in this brief were conducted in 2019 and 2020. The instruments were developed by Urban’s researchers based on their collaborative formative evaluation of VictimConnect. Urban’s researchers also reviewed previous hotline evaluations and victim research instruments in developing the tools for the VictimConnect evaluations. One of the evaluation instruments is the Session Observation Protocols, which indicate what the Urban researcher/reviewer should document when observing VictimConnect staff interacting with visiting crime victims. The second evaluation instrument profiled is the Staff Interview Questionnaire, which contains questions related to background/experience, training, information on the victims who have been served, staff knowledge and skills, service delivery, and service provider collaboration. The third evaluation instrument described is a Staff Survey, which solicits from staff information on a just-completed interaction with a visiting victim seeking services. The fourth evaluation instrument profiled is the Longitudinal Visitor Survey, which solicits from visiting victims contact information, demographic information, background/contextual information, VictimConnect service characteristics, activities during interaction with staff, feedback on interaction, feedback on service overall. and intended next actions. The fifth evaluation instrument is the Stakeholder Interview Questionnaire, which solicits information from stakeholders on their role in VictimConnect services, background/training, and opinion on additional resources needed.