National Indian Nations Conference: Justice for Victims of Crime

The purpose of this project is to plan and conduct the 13th National Indian Nations Conference: Justice for Victims of Crime, which is the largest and oldest Department-sponsored Indian nations conference. The event provides training for victim service providers; law enforcement officials; prosecutors; judges; health and mental health professionals; social workers; and victim advocates from tribal, federal, state, and local levels. Issues addressed include: victim issues within the tribal criminal justice system, service delivery, advocacy strategies, responding to child abuse, tribal community responsibility, working with victims and Indian nations, improving the criminal justice process, using research and evaluation, safety for elders, working with domestic violence victims, and working with law enforcement and other allied professionals. Surveys of prior trainings show that participants depart with (a) solid tools to implement tested methods and practices on providing services to Indian Country crime victims; (b) increased knowledge of available federal, state, tribal, and local resources; and (c) information on current research findings - all of which inform and strengthen crime victim service provider efforts. CA/NCF