Youth Outreach for Victim Assistance

Teens are victimized by crime at alarmingly high rates - they are twice as likely as adults to become victims of violent crime, according to a recent study from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Teens need resources to help them respond to such threats to their safety as dating violence, bullying, hate crimes, sexual harassment, and assault.

As teenagers develop, they assert their independence from their families and turn to their friends for acceptance, approval, and advice. Because youth are more attentive to messages from their peers, one of the best ways for teens to learn how to be safe is to learn from each other. While teens contribute passion, creativity, and knowledge to their discussion of safety issues, they need the involvement of committed adults to increase the chances that their messages will be heard. This is where Youth Outreach for Victim Assistance comes in.

The National Crime Prevention Council and the National Center for Victims of Crime

(NCVC) created the Youth Outreach for Victim Assistance (YOVA) project with the following two goals:

• To raise awareness about and prevent youth victimization by mobilizing teams of youth and adults to create public awareness campaigns in their communities
• To improve the quality and accessibility of services to help teen victims of crime by providing resources to victim service providers and encouraging teen victims to get help

The YOVA project addresses teen victimization by initiating campaigns to educate youth about victimization and the services available for teen victims. In the first year of the project, 20 school- and community-based sites were chosen to participate. In the second year, NCPC and NCVC chose 29 sites to participate; eight of these had participated in the first year and were chosen to act as mentors to the new sites. This year, at least 20 new sites and eight mentor sites will be selected.

Each new site will

• Form a team of youth and adults to design and implement a new campaign
• Identify a specific teen victimization issue that it will address
• Plan and implement a project to educate teens on the issue. These projects may be radio public service announcements, poster campaigns, websites, workshops, school assemblies, and so on

Read more about current YOVA sites and view their campaign materials.

YOVA is funded by the Office for Victims of Crime, U.S. Department of Justice.