DCJS Victims Services

National Crime Victims' Rights Week

April 6–12, 2025

30th Anniversary of Virginia's Crime Victim and Witness Rights Act

Thirty years ago, the justice landscape shifted significantly with the passage of the Crime Victims' Rights Act. This groundbreaking legislation prioritized crime victims' and witnesses' needs and rights within the criminal justice system.

As we commemorate this groundbreaking legislation, we invite you to renew your commitment to elevating the voices of victims, safeguarding their rights, and empowering survivors. Please click the button below to read our statement of commitment to victims' rights and add your name in a symbolic act of recommitment.

Recommitment Statement

Manager's Message

Kristina Vadas, Manager of DCJS Victims Services, shares her reflections on the Virginia Crime Victim and Witness Rights Act and its positive impact on individuals and communities across Virginia.

Victims' Rights Resources

Click the button below to download the DCJS Victims Services National Crime Victims' Rights Week fact sheet. This fact sheet contains facts, statistics, and resources for crime victims.

DCJS Victims Services NCVRW Fact Sheet

DCJS Victims Services also offers several brochures you may download to share with victims. They include:

Crime Victim and Witness Rights Card-English

Crime Victim and Witness Rights Card-Spanish

Summary of Virginia's Crime Victim and Witness Rights Act

The National Crime Victim Law Institute (NCVLI) offers resources regarding victims' rights in Virginia and recommends best practices for upholding those rights. The document can be found here.

Download NCVLI's Select Victims' Rights–Virginia

NCVLI also offers a guide to Law-Enforcement-Based Victim Services in Virginia: Privacy, Privilege, and Confidentiality. This guide provides an overview of privacy, privilege, and confidentiality concepts and includes applicable Virginia legal citations. This document offers victim-serving professionals a foundational understanding of these key concepts in victims' rights to better assist victims in making informed choices about these issues.

Download Law-Enforcement-Based Victim Services in Virginia: Privacy, Privilege, and Confidentiality

Victim Advocacy in Virginia: Past and Present

As we mark the 30th anniversary of the Virginia Crime Victim and Witness Rights Act, we wanted to create a visual history showcasing the progress and changes in the field. We invited victim service programs to submit photos of their organizations and staff reflecting their history and present work.

These images serve as a testament to the dedication of victim-serving professionals to victims' rights and reflect 30 years of providing trauma-informed, victim-centered services to crime victims. Please click the button below to watch the video of our collective victim advocacy history.

Watch Video

DCJS Victims Services NCVRW Event

On April 7, 2025, DCJS Victims Services hosted an event to celebrate National Crime Victims' Rights Week and the 30th anniversary of the Virginia Crime Victim and Witness Rights Act.

Former DCJS Victims of Crime Act Administrator John Mahoney reflected on the hard work and dedication of Mandie Patterson and the Victims' Bill of Rights Implementation and Advisory Committee, which was integral to the Act's passage. Attendees then heard from a victim advocate panel featuring advocates whose combined years of experience exceeded 150 years. The panelists, Judy Casteele, Estee Newbey-Howard, Shelly Shuman-Johnson, and Kristi VanAudenhove, discussed the changes to victims' services they have experienced in the past decades and their visions for the direction of services in the future.

Following this panel, the patrons of the original legislation were recognized. The Honorable William C. Mims shared his reflections on the Act's importance. The event concluded with remarks from Captain Carol Adams of the Petersburg Bureau of Police, who spoke on the importance of victims' rights as both a law enforcement officer and a survivor.

Former DCJS Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) Administrator John Mahoney and DCJS Victims Services Manager Kristina Vadas

Victim advocate panel featuring Judy Casteele, Karla Reaves,

Shelly Shuman-Johnson, Kristi VanAudenhove, and Estee Newbey-Howard

The Honorable William C. Mims

Captain Carol Adams, Petersburg Bureau of Police

This year's National Crime Victims' Rights Week theme is "Connection>Kinship>Healing." According to the Office for Victims of Crime, this theme reflects "...that shared humanity should be the center of all survivors and victims of crime. KINSHIP is a state of being with survivors that drives vital connections and increases access to services, rights, and healing. KINSHIP is where victim advocacy begins."

For the crime victims of Virginia, victim advocates demonstrate kinship in the vital work they do every day to uplift victims' voices and support survivors. We wanted to represent this sense of family by making our victims' services family tree with the photos you shared of your programs and staff. The tree in the photo collage symbolizes the deep roots of victim rights advocacy. Each branch represents the different organizations that provide services and support to victims: law enforcement, prosecutors, victim advocates, and forensic nurses interconnected, all part of the same family, working together to support survivors.

Download the Tree Mosaic