The National Technical Assistance Project Overview
In 2007, SVJI launched a national technical assistance project to provide consultation, training, and technical assistance to interdisciplinary sexual assault response teams across the country. For the 2011-2013 grant period, the features of the project include: intensive technical assistance with previously selected teams, general technical assistance for OVW Grants to Encourage Arrest and Prosecution (Arrest) grantees, directed support to state and territorial level leaders for teams, and the second National Institute for Team Leaders.
Intensive Technical Assistance Project
Teams are following the Protocol Development Cycle as a framework to identify strengths and weaknesses in their response to sexual violence. Teams develop policies and interagency protocols to improve their response, design and conduct their own training, monitoring, and evaluation initiatives that shape a cycle of continuous improvement. SVJI offers training, consultation, and assistance to teams within each segment of the cycle and related to team formation and sustainability.
Selected Sites:
Lafayette Parish SART- Louisiana
Salt Lake County SART- Utah
General Technical Assistance for OVW Arrest Grantees
Technical Assistance Available On:
• CCR/SART formation and sustainability issues
• Team-led community and system assessment on the current response to sexual assault
• Design of team vision, mission, goals, process, and system intervention options
• Incorporating best practices into victim-centered approaches to case handling
• Implementing the 8-Step Protocol Development Cycle
• Strategies for hearing from victim/survivors about their experiences with your response system
• Shifting to a victim-centered approach
• Managing conflict and agreement on teams
• Monitoring and evaluating change efforts
As part of our General Technical Assistance, SVJI offers monthly webinars for SARTs and Multi-disciplinary teams responding to sexual assault. Webinars are currently free to OVW Grantees. Email your contact information to
svji@mncasa.org to request an invitation.
Directed Support to State and Territorial Level Team Leaders
Building upon experience through a pilot project to assist state level providers of training and technical assistance to teams, SVJI continues to build a virtual network of state level coordinators to facilitate the exchange of ideas, resources, and questions that guide our work. A past pilot project for state level team leaders featured a specialized co-hort at our first National Institute for SART Leaders in May 2011 and one-to-one live coaching and training for selected state coordinators to lead teams in their states through the Protocol Development Cycle. If you provide training and technical assistance to local collaboratives addressing sexual assault in your state or territory, please contact us to join this growing network:
svji@mncasa.org.
National Institute for Team Leaders
SVJI held the first National Institute for Team Leaders in May 2011 in Jacksonville, Florida. We are currently planning the next Institute for the Fall 2012 and will build on themes of the first Institute in an interactive learning environment: How do teams to engage in authentic work, meaningful conversations and work towards a common mission? How do teams keep victims/survivors at the center of their work? What does victim-centered mean? What are the essentials of team formation? How is momentum sustained? How do you manage conflict and agreement? What about evaluation?
The Institute will be 2 ½ days in length and is only open to team coordinators and those that support coordinators. The Institute is designed to build skills, cultivate connections and engage in meaningful peer-to-peer exchanges. Look for updates on our
National Institute page or contact us at
svji@mncasa.org to request notification of the conference and registration dates.
Related Documents:
Considerations for Team Formation (PDF)
Key Project Concepts (PDF)
Roles and Responsibilities (PDF)
SVJI Core Intervention Principles (PDF)
Being Victim-Centered (PDF)
