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March 2023 Featured Resources

Are You Ready for National Crime Victims’ Rights Week (NCVRW)?

National Crime Victims' Rights Week | April 23-29, 2023

Since 1981, NCVRW has celebrated the extraordinary work of those individuals and organizations that confront and remove barriers to achieving justice for all victims of crime.

In 2023, NCVRW will be commemorated April 23–29.

This year’s theme—Survivor Voices: Elevate. Engage. Effect Change.—calls upon communities to amplify the voices of survivors and create environments where survivors have confidence that they will be heard, believed, and supported.

2023 NCVRW Artwork and Sample Proclamation

Use the 2023 NCVRW artwork and sample proclamation to help educate the public about victims’ rights, protections, and services leading up to NCVRW, during NCVRW, and throughout the year.

Artwork is available in English and Spanish and we encourage you to use this artwork
to—

  • create or enhance your outreach efforts,
  • increase your visibility in your community,
  • promote valuable resources for victims of crime, and
  • engage in a dialogue with community members.

Select artwork allows space for you to add your organization’s contact information.

NCVRW ceremonies often include proclamations from public officials to inspire the community, raise awareness of victims’ rights, and address unmet needs. Share the 2023 NCVRW sample proclamation to increase the likelihood that one will be issued in your community.

View the artwork and sample proclamation

Register to Attend OVC’s 2023 NCVRW Candlelight Vigil

Join OVC for the 2023 NCVRW Candlelight Vigil as we pay tribute to victims of crime and the many dedicated professionals and volunteers who advocate on their behalf.

Date: Wednesday, April 26, 2023
Time: 7:00 – 8:00 p.m., eastern time
Location: Washington, D.C. - National Mall (Center Panel at 4th Street NW)

Register for the Vigil

Promote and Discover NCVRW Events

Are you hosting community engagement events, candlelight vigils, and other in-person or virtual awareness events to commemorate NCVRW? If so, add your event to our site and, once vetted, let us help promote your event.

We also encourage you to search OVC’s events page for NCVRW events across the Nation hosted by local, state, Tribal, and national organizations.
 

March 5–11 is National Consumer Protection Week

National Consumer Protection Week

National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW) is a time dedicated to helping people understand their consumer rights and make well-informed decisions about money.

During NCPW, OVC joins the Federal Trade Commission and other agencies and organizations to help the public understand their consumer rights and avoid scams, identity theft, and other consumer protection issues.

Access resources for press and social media outreach, event planning, and more on the Federal Trade Commission’s NCPW website.

View the following resources to help you educate consumers and provide services to victims—

  • Find guides about consumer rights and learn about common frauds and scams and how victims of fraud and identity theft can get help on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Consumer Resources website.
     
  • Share information about the Identity Theft Resource Center's services with victims of identity theft. Hotline services are available Monday–Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., eastern time by phone at 888-400-5530 or live chat.
     
  • Read the Identity Theft Resource Center’s 2021 Consumer Aftermath Report, which describes the emotional and practical effects on the day-to-day lives of identity theft victims.
     
  • Take the OVC Training and Technical Assistance Center’s (OVC TTAC) Victim Assistance Training Online, which includes modules about cyber fraud, financial crimes, identity theft, among other crimes.
     
  • Take the Identity Theft Victim Assistance Online Training, which gives users the knowledge and skills to more effectively serve victims of identity theft and assist with their financial and emotional recovery. 

 

March is Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month

Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month: Beyond the Conversation - #DDAM2023

Use the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities’ campaign materials to raise awareness during Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month.

This campaign seeks to raise awareness about—

  • the inclusion of people with developmental disabilities in all aspects of community life, and
  • awareness of the barriers that people with disabilities still sometimes face in connecting with their communities.

Visit our Victims with Disabilities topic page to view publications, training and technical assistance opportunities, and more resources on helping victims with developmental disabilities. Resources include—

  • Just Ask: A Toolkit to Help Advocates, Attorneys, and Law Enforcement Meet the Needs of Crime Victims with Disabilities
    This OVC-funded online training toolkit, produced by the Vera Institute of Justice, was created in response to conversations with professionals working with survivors, many of whom are open to asking about accommodations, but don’t know how and are worried about saying the wrong thing.

    The toolkit lays out four simple steps for providing accommodations to survivors with disabilities, and includes sample language that can be used when talking to survivors.
     
  • Supporting Crime Victims with Disabilities
    This OVC-funded online training toolkit, produced by the Vera Institute of Justice, provides comprehensive and culturally responsive informational and educational resources, tools, videos, and examples of best practices for victim advocates and professionals to prepare them to effectively respond to victims of crime with disabilities, including individuals with development disabilities, across the lifespan.
     
  • Multidisciplinary Response to Crime Victims with Disabilities
    This OVC publication features state-level and community-level replication guides on adapting multidisciplinary responses models to serve crime victims with disabilities, including individuals with developmental disabilities.
Date Published: March 7, 2023