Capacity Builders, Inc. Navajo Youth Builders Future Victim Specialist Internship Program

The Developing Future Victim Specialists to Serve American Indian/Alaska Native Victims of Crime Program statutory authorities are 34 U.S.C. § 20103(c)(1)(B) and 34 U.S.C. § 20103(c)(3)(E)(i). Through this program, OVC seeks to further cultivate a workforce focused on providing services to American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) victims in hard-to-staff positions and locations. By identifying and training prospective victim service professionals in, or from, the communities to be served, tribal and Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) victim service programs will be better able to fill direct victim service positions in remote Indian Country and Alaska Native locations, and in turn ensure that victims in these locations get the services they need.

Capacity Builders, Inc., requested funding to sustain their current program focused on developing future victim specialists to serve crime victims of the Navajo Nation, which covers New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. With this funding, Capacity Builders will recruit 20 students from three participating colleges/universities—Dine College, San Juan College, and Utah State University-Blanding Campus. Students will gain direct victim service experience by interning with various crime victim programs serving the Navajo Nation, including the Sexual Assault Victim Advocates Program, the Justice for Families Program, and Navajo Nation Criminal Investigations.CA/NCF