Vision 21: Transforming Victim Services—a comprehensive assessment of the victim assistance field conducted through the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice—identified a vision that every state will establish wraparound legal networks to ensure that crime victims’ rights are enforced and that victims of crime receive the broad range of legal services needed.

As a result of that vision, ten state VOCA—Victims of Crime Act administrative offices—including DC’s—received funding to coordinate legal networks. The Victim Legal Network of DC (VLNDC) was created with the ultimate goal of alleviating the legal obstacles that crime victims face after a criminal victimization by creating a seamless network of high-quality, well-trained legal services providers in the areas of criminal representation, civil law, and administrative proceedings. 

NVRDC serves as the lead subject matter expert on the team for crime victims' rights and as the organization uniquely providing both criminal and civil crime victim services in the District.

With the support of the Mayor’s Office of Victim Services and Justice Grants (OVSJG), NVRDC coordinates the efforts to craft a responsive network structure that would address the concerns raised in Vision 21 for the District in collaboration with Amara Legal Center, Ayuda, and the Legal Aid Society of DC. Over the first 2 phases of the project, these organizations developed an implementation plan that guides the network referral process, in order to increase access to legal services for those impacted by crime in the District.  Once the plan was completed and approved, VLNDC began a 3-month pilot phase with 6 additional legal service organizations joining as network partners—growing the network to 10, before reaching a total of 16 member organizations.

Learn about the other networks funded by OVC under Vision 21 here.

Funding for the multi-year project is made possible by a grant from the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, and supported with technical assistance and training from the National Crime Victim Law Institute (NCVLI).

Please contact NVRDC’s VLNDC Managing Attorney, Lee Swanson, for more information about NVRDC’s role in the VLNDC project at lee@nvrdc.org.