Enhancing Response to Victims: A Formative Evaluation of the Law Enforcement-Based Victim Services Program

A practitioner and victim-informed multisite formative evaluation of a law enforcement-based victim services program

The Importance of Access to Law Enforcement-Based Victim Services Personnel

The role of law enforcement-based victim services (LE-VS) personnel is unique among advocates, social workers, and other helping professionals in the criminal legal system. LE-VS personnel have access to law enforcement agency personnel, crime reports, associated agency processes, and victims during crucial criminal legal system intersection points. They often connect with and support victims immediately after crimes are reported and help them exercise their statutory rights. Victim service personnel are the only law enforcement agency group whose primary responsibility is to focus on the rights and needs of victims.

Ensuring victims have access to LE-VS specialists, who provide robust and ethical services, can mitigate the significant and long-term physical, psychological, and financial consequences of victimization. This support can also mitigate the harm felt by many victims who interact with the criminal legal system when criminal investigations remain unsolved or never progress to prosecution.
 

Victim Services: An Expanding Component of Law Enforcement Agencies

Recognizing the importance of LE-VS, the Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) sought to establish victim service programs within law enforcement agencies. This resulted in the establishment of the Law Enforcement-Based Victim Services and Technical Assistance Program (LEV Program), which is led by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). Since 2018, OVC has funded 80 LEV sites. In 2021, the National Institute of Justice-funded RTI, in partnership with IACP, to evaluate the 73 LEV sites funded in 2018–2020 to understand and improve law enforcement response to victims through science.

Collecting Data on More than 70 LEV Programs Nationwide

The evaluation occurred in two phases. Because the sites widely vary in structure and approach, the first phase focused on better understanding the landscape of LEV. Each LEV site was invited to complete a web-based survey that collected data across several topics and areas (e.g., staffing, collaboration, services). Of the 73 LEV sites, 68 (93.2%) completed the survey and 4 (5.5%) partially completed the survey. Respondents included direct supervisors, technical leads, and LEV personnel. To supplement the survey, the LEV Training & Technical Assistance team provided administrative information for each site (e.g., agency size, supervisor type). Our team accessed data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to provide contextual information about the LEV sites’ jurisdictions.

An Inventory and Typology of LEV Programs

Using this data, we developed an LEV Inventory, which documents key characteristics (e.g., agency size, site size, services provided) across the LEV program. The inventory will help agencies that are implementing or considering a LEV site. We then used descriptive statistics, such as crosstabs and means comparison, to explore similarities and differences between common LEV features and develop an initial LEV typology. 

We found that LEV sites were incredibly diverse regarding agency size (small, medium, and large), jurisdiction type (city, county, state, tribal, and other), program type (new vs. enhanced), supervisor type (sworn or professional), and number and type of community partners. We were therefore unable to identify distinct site models. However, we did find a clustering of characteristics: new sites tend to be supervised by sworn officers, offer fewer services, and have fewer internal and external partners. This is not surprising, but it reinforces that victim service programs need time to grow and evolve, and expectations around program capacity and staff responsibilities should be realistic.

Understanding the program design and implementation of LEV programs

In phase two of the evaluation, 10 of the LEV sites were invited to participate in a virtual interview and a site visit, which included in-person interviews with LEV program staff, internal law enforcement collaborators, external partners, and victims who have received LEV assistance. The purpose of the virtual interview was to gain a better understanding of the sites and refine site-specific logic models, whereas the goal of the site visits was to gather a holistic view of the LEV program, including the perspectives of sworn law enforcement staff who refer victims to the LE-VS specialists, community partners that LE-VS specialists may refer clients to for longer-term services and support, and LEV clients.

In general, LEV sites aimed to increase capacity to provide trauma-informed services to victims, increase agency awareness about victim services program resources, develop and expand community partnerships, and sustain these efforts after grant funding ends. Sites sought to accomplish these goals by:

• Situating the victim services program in the agency, developing a supervisory structure, hiring personnel, and developing policies to guide the victim services program
• Developing eligibility criteria and identification protocols for victim assistance, identifying eligible victims who may benefit from assistance, and conducting initial outreach
• Providing services and supports directly and through referral to community partners
• Developing and strengthening partnerships with individuals and groups within the agency (e.g., law enforcement leadership and line officers) and with external agencies and organizations 
• Managing caseloads and documenting victim services activities to meet grant requirements and to better understand client and agency perspectives of the services, assistance, and resources provided 
• Planning to maintain or expand programmatic activities after the initial grant funding ends

Although these were common activities, there was substantial variation in how they were accomplished across individual sites.

Assessing the evaluability of LEV program

There is inherent value in informing victims of their rights, providing them with information about the criminal legal process, and connecting them with the supports and services they need. We do not need an evaluation to tell us that using victim-centered and trauma-informed approaches to responding to crime works better than not doing so. However, the field does need information and guidance on how best to develop, structure, and implement law enforcement-based victim service programs. This project has laid a foundation for continued research on what is and is not working. This is critical for assessing how these programs can be improved to better serve victims, their families, and communities. Victims of crime deserve no less.

Learn More about Law Enforcement-Based Victim Services Programs

Click here to download our LEV Inventory, which helps agencies develop LEV sites of their own. Click here to read our full report on our LEV Program evaluation.

Our team’s collaboration with IACP to evaluate the LEV program testifies to RTI’s commitment to improving victim assistance through evidence-based responses. Learn more about our services for law enforcement, communities, and victims.