The Center for Victims of Violence and Crime in Pennsylvania or CVVC in short is a non-profit organization. It is tax-exempt under section 501(C)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The organization is also eligible to receive tax-deductible donations and also charitable contributions. The PA Center for Victims of Violence and Crime is currently funded by the City of Pittsburgh, the County of Allegheny, Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency and several other private foundations.
If you are interested in finding out more information on the official registration procedure or the financial data of the organization, you can contact the PA Department of State. Call the toll free number 1-800-732-0999 and get all the information you need. You can also visit the official web site of the Center at http://www.centerforvictims.org/.
The CVVC relies on the help and work of the community, as it is community-based it does not make any profits. Its declared mission is “Healing Trauma. Resolving Conflict. Ending Violence.” In this regard, there are three components or agencies that are work towards these goals. These components are the Crime Victim and Witness Assistance, the Conflict Resolution, Mediation and Training Services and the Peace-It-Together Community Initiative. The later features services such as community education, outreach, efforts to build peace and media programming or arts.
The Crime Victim and Witness Assistance component of the program is a crucial victim and witness assistance center. It functions at a state level and it offers essential help and services to men, women and infants who went through any form of violence and crime. All services provided over here are strictly confidential.
The Dialogue and Resolution Center offers victims resolutions for conflicts that they are seeking help for along with state recognized mediation and even dialogue services. The same agency also hosts CVVC’s training services, the Community Mediation Program and the Victim/Offender Dialogue program.
The Peace It Together Community Initiative aims to educate the community about the basic causes of violence. General Public Welfare is the fundamental reason for these courses, therefore wellness and restorative strategies are being offered as well.
The PA Crime Victims Website – which you can find here www.pacrimevictims.org will provide you with the information regarding the victim of a crime who could be someone close to you. Over here you can also learn more about your rights and also of the services that are available for you. You can read more on criminal and juvenile justice systems and learn how to get the financial assistance that you are looking for.
The Victim Offender Dialogue is a special process during which victims and their offenders meet face to face in safe environments. They have talks on their issue and they discuss what happened and how to fix the damage that has been done. Obviously, these procedures are attentively supervised by trained facilitators, who can thoroughly guide the entire process. The Victim Offender Dialogue process involves the following steps:
- Referral procedure – the program receives the referral during or at the end of the court process.
- Intake procedure – the program’s official gets in touch with the offending juvenile and his or her victim; he or she then explains explain the program and determines if they are willing to be a part of it. Trained facilitators will next be assigned with the respective case, if both parties agree.
- Victim Offender Dialogue is a face to face meeting that is being held with the victim, the offender, trained facilitators and supporters. These meetings occur in safe and secure locations.
- Post-Dialogue Monitoring is a process that involves the parties reaching a formal agreement about repairing harms. The agreement will then be monitored by VOD, Allegheny County Juvenile Court and/or Allegheny County Juvenile Probation to make sure all of terms of the agreement will be respected.