Our Services
We support the rights and well-being of surviving loved ones of homicide victims and others harmed by violent crime in North Carolina.
Support Services
We provide comprehensive trauma-informed services to loved ones of homicide victims in both English and Spanish. These services include one-on-one grief counseling, homicide support groups facilitated by mental health professionals, and community-based grief workshops. We also provide assistance with navigating systems that serve victims, reimbursement of expenses related to court attendance, information, and referrals, post-trial support, and information about the criminal legal system and crime victims’ rights.
Training
We develop curriculum and facilitate training to improve service providers’ response to victims. Our Victim Service Practitioner Certification Academy certifies 100-120 professionals at the state level each year. The service providers we train include community-based advocates, system-based advocates, law enforcement, prosecutors, clergy, therapists, and many others.
We offer specialized trainings on topics such as accessing support services for English as a Second Language (ESL) for immigrant victims, best practices for supporting loved ones after a homicide, vicarious trauma experienced by law enforcement and prosecution, and delivering bad news to loved ones of homicide victims.
Advocacy
We championed the first NC Crime Victims’ Rights Act in 1999 and Marsy’s Law in 2019 — which expanded the offenses eligible for victim rights and imposed specific remedies when rights are not upheld. In 1998, we enhanced crime victim compensation eligibility for DWI cases. And we are currently working on victim-related legislation for advocates who work with loved ones of homicide victims — supporting confidentiality between victims and advocates.