OVC FY 15 Linking Systems of Care for Children and Youth Invitational Letter

The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) launched its Vision 21: Linking Systems of Care Initiative in FY 2014 in response to recommendations from its Vision 21: Transforming Victim Services Final Report (Vision 21) and the final report released by the Attorney General's National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence. Recommendations in both reports aim to improve youth outcomes by addressing the enduring issue of child and youth victimization. Victimization, left unaddressed, can have serious, long-lasting consequences for children's physical and mental health. Research demonstrates that trauma left untreated can manifest into a range of physical, emotional, and behavioral problems. Although many systems exist to respond to the negative results of trauma and victimization, these systems often fail to communicate and collaborate effectively to get to the root of the problem. OVC's Linking Systems of Care Initiative involves a three-tiered response to improve services to this victim population by: 1) establishing demonstration sites to develop coordinated approaches to identify and serve child victims across systems; 2) dedicating technical assistance (TA) resources to support the demonstration sites' efforts; and, 3) evaluating the policies, procedures and protocols established by the demonstration sites to ensure the coordinated approaches established are grounded in evidence and improve outcomes for those served. In FY 2015, recipients of FY 2014 Vision 21: Linking Systems of Care Initiative will be eligible for continuation funding.