Q: What does the term "victim" mean?

A: In 2009, U.S. residents aged 12 and older experienced more than 20 million crimes, according to findings from the National Crime Victimization Survey*. In a legal sense, a victim is a person who has suffered harm due to the illegal or wrongful acts of another person or entity†. The harm a victim suffers can be

• physical
• emotional/psychological
• economic (such as property loss or lost wages from missed employment) or
• social

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Victims may seek support, services, or other assistance to help them heal or begin recovery. In formal criminal‡ and civil legal proceedings, these harms can be identified and addressed through assessments for restitution, opportunities for victims to speak to their experience, and to determine trauma or victims services. Victims can also seek support and services if they are not a part of a formal criminal or legal process.

Victimization may extend beyond the individual who was the direct target of a crime. Individuals who have been impacted by crime because of their connection to the primary victim are considered co-victims. Immediate family members of a victim of a crime may be considered co-victims if the underlying crime is domestic violence or sexual assault or one in which the family suffered serious trauma or financial loss. A family is likely to be considered victimized if a crime resulted in the death or physical or mental trauma of a family member.

If the crimes were not reported to law enforcement, prosecuted, or otherwise entered into the criminal justice system, the individual/group who was harmed is often considered an unidentified victim. Unidentified or unnamed victims can experience the same harms as identified victims or co-victims (trauma, injury, lack of safety, economic losses), but because their crimes were not entered into the criminal or civil legal systems, they lack access to several of the mechanisms that provide some relief, such as restitution and crime victims' compensation. Many victims do not report their experiences to law enforcement or civil courts. In 2006-2007, only 48.3 percent of all violent crimes and 37.9 percent of property crimes were believed to have been reported to law enforcement.1

For some individuals who have been harmed, the very term "victim" may feel like an inappropriate label, as it could imply a kind of helplessness or enduring vulnerability that does not describe either their state of mind at the time of the act or their current place in the process of healing and recovery. These individuals may refer to themselves (and others of similar sentiment) as a "survivor," which is intended to celebrate strength and healing. The term survivor is also sometimes used to refer to a loved one or family member of a homicide victim.

Q: Why is it important for reentry efforts to engage victims?

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A: Crime can have a harmful impact on entire communities and its effect can be felt long after criminal prosecutions are over. Reentry can lessen this impact and be truly successful if the harm is addressed in ways that make offenders accountable and the public committed to community safety. Victims are key stakeholders in reentry efforts. Involving victims and enforcing victims' rights are both important elements to maintaining a supportive and transparent system overall.

Victims, co-victims, and community members may be concerned about the possibility of the individual returning to the community from prison or jail without a reentry plan. Among the many concerns about offenders' eventual release is personal safety. Reentry processes should include victims and allow them to identify their own safety or other needs and to share information about the returning individual to help with successful reintegration planning.

Victims can contribute to risk assessments and help identify effective supervision strategies by providing information about their sense of safety and about criminal offense patterns (especially if they know the individual who was incarcerated). Victim participation also helps build credibility for the reentry initiative.

Q: What types of services can victims receive?

A: Victims can and co-victims may be able to seek and receive a variety of different services, depending on their needs. Specifically, victim services can include accompaniment to and assistance with legal or medical proceedings; crisis interventions; safety planning; emergency housing; information and referral; access to support groups; peer counseling; clinical treatment; relocation; and advocacy or support within social, educational or other systems (also referred to as systems advocacy). These services may be offered immediately after victimization or in the form of long-term support. Victims can and co-victims may be able to access these services at any point in their lifetimes.

Q: Who provides victim services?

A: Victim services are systems-based, community-based, or provided informally.

Systems-based services are generally provided by agencies located in government offices, such as victim/witness advocates based in prosecutor offices, crime victim compensation programs, and in community or state corrections agencies. Usually, these systems-based services are provided to support the victim in navigating the specific agency where the service is housed. For example, law enforcement-based advocates may assist during the investigation and a prosecution-based advocate may provide services to the victim during a criminal proceeding.§

Community-based services are provided by organizations or individuals specializing in crime victim work, such as rape crisis programs, domestic violence shelters, or advocacy programs for survivors of violent crime. Individuals who provide these services are often required (by funding agencies, professional standards, or other requirements) to complete a training course specific to the resources they offer and people they serve. Community-based advocates may be available to provide victims and co-victims long-term, ongoing support. These services are not directly tied to victims' participating in any other system (e.g., a victim does not need to report the crime to law enforcement to receive community-based services). Community-based services can be received in a variety of ways, including through hotline services, in-person meetings, and support group services.

Informal support is provided by friends, family, community leaders, members of faith communities, or any group or individual that the victim identifies and can include accompaniment to legal or medical appointments, emotional support, information, and referrals. Studies indicate that victims of crime are most likely to look to friends, family, and members of the community for support in the aftermath of crime.2 These informal networks are an important gateway to accessing support, information, and more formal referrals to services, but these individuals often lack formal training and experience with the nuances related to how the criminal legal system responds to victims. Individuals who provide informal support to crime victims may call on community-based services to help them support crime victims.**

Advocates who work within systems (e.g., systems-based advocates) may share information about the victim and the case within and across their office. On the other hand, the information collected by community-based advocates regarding the victim is often protected and subject to rules governing confidentiality. Different state and federal laws, such as those pertaining to sharing medical information, determine what community-based organizations can share with other agencies.

Q: How do crime victims find out about services?

A: Victims often access formal services as a result of their contact with the criminal justice system. A law enforcement officer may give crime victims information cards that outline their rights and available resources, or a victim-witness advocate may meet with them during interview appointments at a prosecutor's office. With a victim's consent, a hospital may ask a community-based rape crisis center to dispatch an advocate to provide support and information to a victim during a medical or forensic exam. During a trial, a victim may sign up to receive notification from a corrections-based victim's advocate of an offender's release from incarceration. These personnel can keep victims informed, give victims a voice, and ensure that their rights are upheld.

Victims may also become aware of services through advertising campaigns and educational outreach (such as public service announcements or awareness month activities). Media or television show coverage of particular crimes (such as domestic violence or scams), which may include a discussion of resources that can be valuable to victims.

Q: How can probation and parole agencies address victims' concerns?

A: Some victims may have specific safety concerns related to the release of an offender. Safety planning processes initiated by law enforcement, community corrections agencies, or advocates can help victims determine if they require cautionary measures such as protective orders. Victims who perceive they are in danger can inform reentry personnel about any threats made by the offender or past patterns of violence that they fear may reemerge. Supervision personnel may choose to incorporate that information into supervision plans, or develop more intensive protective measures. Victims may also be able to provide information about the offender that could be useful to reentry personnel. These include the offenders' propensity to go to certain kinds of locations or to associate with people related to criminal activity.

Q: What is a victim impact statement and what should it include?

A: A victim impact statement (VIS) is a written or oral description of the physical, financial, and emotional effects a crime has on an individual victim, family, neighborhood, or community. The VIS is used by probation agencies to prepare pre-sentence investigation reports for the court; for judicial consideration at the time of sentencing; and by paroling and correctional authorities as they make decisions regarding the classification of incarcerated offenders, and/or the release of the offender from custody.

The VIS can help the offender better understand the consequences of his or her actions and their affect on victims long after the crime was committed. It should highlight a victim's security concerns, which can contribute to specific conditions of release and help in the development of a victim safety plan. The VIS should also give the victim an opportunity to express his or her feelings about the offender's programming plan, and whether the victim chooses to participate in mediation, a dialogue, or other face-to-face interactions with the offender.*

The right to present victim impact information is usually guaranteed by law. However, some states leave the matter to the discretion of the judge or other officials (such as the parole board)†.

Q: Why would victims choose not to participate in the reentry process?

A: Reentry planners should remember that most victims will be unfamiliar with reentry systems and personnel. Victims may not understand much about offender reentry or have any idea what to expect when the individual is released to the community.

Because every person experiences the impact of crime differently, it is impossible to know how any individual victim of crime will react, what they will expect, or to what extent they want to engage with reentry processes. The offender's return to the community may trigger reactions that could disrupt a victim's life, including reliving elements of the trauma and experiencing an increased level of concern for safety. Victims often also have complex relationships with those who have injured them: offenders may be family members, neighbors, co-workers, domestic partners, or complete strangers. The differences in these relationships will profoundly influence how victims see their role and hopes for the reentry process.

Some victims may not feel like they can, or should, participate in reentry planning. In all cases, it is important to offer access to victim services for those whose offenders are reentering the community. Victims who choose not to engage in the beginning of a reentry process may decide to participate at a later point, and should be allowed to do so. Access to adequate systems of victim support (such as advocates or mental health or peer counseling resources) improves the likelihood that victims will engage in a long-term process.

Q: What rights do victims have?

A: In most states, the rights of victims are enumerated in the state constitution or statute. In general, victims' rights offer protections and rights to victims and co-victims, such as the right to attend hearings, to provide a VIS, access compensation benefits and services, and to be notified upon the release of particular offenders.

Victim rights fall into four basic categories:

• Information: Victims of crime often have the right to information related to the investigation, adjudciation. and disposition of the relevant case and the defendant's status and proceedings. These rights can include receiving the following notices of arrest, proceedings, trial delays, deposition, release, parole hearings, termination of supervision, and referrals to sexually violent predator civil hearings.
• Presence and Input: Victims of crime often have the right to attend and provide feedback during criminal (and some civil) proceedings. They may have the right to attend hearings, to have an advocate or supportive person present during those hearings, to present a VIS, to make a statement during parole hearings, and to provide input concerning conditions of supervision.
• Protections: Victims of crime have a right to protections that can either mitigate potential threats to personal safety or maintain privacy. These rights can include identity protection (particularly for child victims), separate and secure waiting areas during legal proceedings, confidentiality of victim records, access to protective or restraining orders (either civil restraining orders or those ordered by the court during criminal procdeedings), and protections from employment loss due to participating in legal proceedings.
• Restoration of Economic/Property Loss: Victims of crime may experience a loss of property or income as a result of their victimization. They may also require services (such as mental health counseling or medical care) that require payment or reimbursement. These expenses and costs can be reimbursed through reparation programs, restitution orders, civil remedies or the return of property confiscated during the investigation, or adjudication processes.‡

Q: What can be done when victims' rights aren't enforced?

A: Of the states that do have crime victims' rights, most do not have enforcement mechanisms to help ensure that those rights are consistently upheld. There are numerous ways individuals' rights can be denied (for example, a local government may lack the resources to build or staff secure waiting areas or to print referral cards for victims). Efforts to enforce victims' rights also may be undermined when statutes require that the provisions be offered only "when possible."

When victims' rights aren't enforced, advocacy groups or the Attorney General's office should be asked to provide assistance. Partners in the reentry initiative—especially corrections and law enforcement agency representatives, prosecutors, faith and community leaders, and elected officials—should advocate at the community and state level to see that policy and practice are consistently supportive of victims. Creating reentry systems that address victims' needs can help encourage victim participation and may strengthen planning processes overall.

Q: What does an efficient and effective victim notification process look like?

A: Effective victim notification programs will differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, depending on what resources are available. Any victim notification program should put safety issues in the forefront of their planning. Processes should keep victim information confidential, keeping in mind that they do not always share information about their victimization with their family or roommates. Victims are the best judges about what information should be released to whom, and how that information will impact their safety.

It is important to note that not all victims want to be informed about offender reentry status. For some victims, continuing to hear about the individuals who harmed them could be re-traumatizing and not helpful to their recovery. For others, receiving updates will increase their sense of safety.

Notice of an offender's release must be timely enough to allow for victim preparation and safety planning; for predictable changes in status, a 60-day advance notice is recommended. Notifications should be available in multiple languages and reflect the diversity of the community in which the victim resides. Notification programs should use skilled, trained personnel to contact victims directly. This is generally preferred over automated notification programs that cannot provide victim-specific resources or answer concerns that notification might generate. Personnel who notify victims of status changes should also have on hand resources and referrals to supportive services. (Electronic updates can be useful in addition to hearing from a real person, but it's important that human contact be made with a victim to ensure that any questions can be answered and to make appropriate referrals for services or other resources.)

Q: How can victim notification be improved?

A: One significant challenge of notification programs is the historical tendency to require victims to "opt-in" to these services at the time of trial, meaning that victims must choose to join the notification program and provide their contact information to the relevant agency long before the individual is released to the community. Although the opt-in process was designed to respect victims' decisions and preferences, most corrections agencies indicate that the majority of victims choose not to join. It is unclear if this decision is because of objections about the program itself, or if the application for the program simply gets lost in the pile of paperwork and details that are generated during the trial.

Victims should be able to register for (or opt out of) notification services at any point throughout the criminal process, including the reentry process, if they choose.