The professionalization of victim services needs to be a national priority. This includes standardizing ethical principles, developing organizations that unite professionals (e.g., national societies or associations), generating scientific knowledge about the profession, and developing a system that offers employment and promotion access. In short, investing in ways to professionalize the victim services field would benefit victim-survivors by increasing the number of providers available to help, enhancing nationwide dedication to serving victim-survivors of crime, and ultimately increasing the number and improving the quality of services offered.

Why this matters

Millions of people experience victimization and suffer from harm each year, but the majority do not receive help. Victim advocates and victim service providers (VSPs) are charged with responding to victim-survivors of crime to provide or connect them to needed services, yet they are the least resourced of criminal legal organizations. Beyond average pay and governmental funding, victim service organizations lag behind other criminal legal organizations in terms of resources devoted to their profession, which in turn impacts the number and quality of services they can provide to help victims-survivors of crime.

Key takeaways

We recommend the following to professionalize the victim services field:

• Provide sustained funding for accessible and long-term programming. Typically, the grant programs that fund VSPs often have short durations (limited to a year or two) and restrict the services they can provide (e.g., to people without felony records, or women and girls only), as well as the types of crimes they cover (e.g., gender-based violence). Longer-term, guaranteed funding is needed that stipulates fewer limitations on the scope of the services VSPs can provide and the populations they can serve.
• Enhance recruitment, training, and education/certification standards, and provide incentives and promotions for professionals. Increased wages that are at least comparable to other criminal legal agencies ($56,000+ annually) are necessary to attract and retain staff. Additional training and certifications are also necessary to improve services and enable professionals to advance their careers and specialization. For instance, enhanced training on topics pertaining to culturally responsive services for higher-risk and underserved populations, including Black, Latiné, and Indigenous people, LGBTQ+ people, and people who live in rural areas, could provide avenues for professionals who seek greater specialization in the field.
• Support national professional organizations in the VSP field. Such organizations offer networking opportunities and avenues to create and share research and education, as well as places to enhance professionals’ sense of belonging in the field.
• Provide services, skills, and employment benefits that reduce the risk of stress, secondary trauma, and burnout among VSPs. VSPs are at increased risk of experiencing these job-related problems, which, coupled with relatively low pay, can lead to high rates of turnover and transitions away from the field.
• Invest in research to build scientific knowledge about the victim services field. This includes funding more research on what victim service professionals do, how they do it, the gaps in services and their areas of expertise, and the benefits and challenges they face. Research is needed that improves VSPs’ decisionmaking, efficiency, and service delivery and should produce the data necessary to justify any recommended changes. Lastly, research is needed to improve VSPs’ physical and technological infrastructure so they can provide in-person as well as virtual services, in trauma-informed and evidence-backed ways.