2025 Pathfinder Award Nominations

There is still time to complete your Pathfinder Award nomination!

The Office of Victims Services is extending the deadline to submit nominations and supporting materials for the 2025 Governor's Victim Services Pathfinder Awards until Friday, March 21st.

~NEW IN 2025~

PCCD will be interviewing each award winner to create a professional video showcasing what makes them a Pathfinder!  

Videos will premiere at a special luncheon during the Pathways for Victim Services Conference where the winners of the 2025 Governor’s Victim Service Pathfinder Awards will be recognized at an awards ceremony!

Click on the link below to watch a video of Governor Josh Shapiro celebrating the work of victim services and encouraging you to submit a nomination!  

RASA/VOJO Quarter 1 Program Reports Due April 20,2025

Quarterly Program Reports for the 2025-2026 RASA/VOJO Funding Cycle are due April 20, 2025, covering the period January 1, 2025, through March 31, 2025. Please note that April 20^th falls on a Sunday so please consider filing the report ahead of time.

Below are instructions and important reminders concerning the program report.  

NEW THIS QUARTER!

• In Quarter 1, all victims are considered “New” victims. The number of new victims will be the same as the total number of victims served during this reporting period.

• Programs are now required to use the RASA_VOJO 2025 Program Report Worksheet below for programmatic reporting. A copy of this worksheet is found in Egrants when initiating a new RASA/VOJO program report.

Please note there is no change to the data Victim Services Programs will collect and report on for approved RASA and VOJO activities. Thus, the methodology (i.e. database) used to store RASA/VOJO victim information and data is not affected by this change. 

RASA/VOJO 2025 Report

The worksheet has three (3) tabs located at the bottom left corner of the spreadsheet.

• The first tab is the Instructional tab.
• The second tab is the RASA Quarterly Report worksheet.
• The third tab is the VOJO Quarterly Report worksheet.
• Please complete the tab(s) according to approved grant activities. The worksheet has built-in features to include auto-calculation and error messaging to ensure accuracy and save time.
• Once the worksheet is complete, please attached the form to the "Attachments Section" of the Egrants program report. When doing so, you will see the phrase, "Description is required to enable save button." Please identify the worksheet with the name of your program. Choose the "Select Attachment" button and select the file (worksheet) for upload and then select, "Save Complete."

In using this worksheet, data is no longer to be entered into these Egrants sections of the report:

• RASA Victims Served - Adult System
• RASA Victimization Types - Adult System
• RASA Demographics - Adult System
• RASA Services - Adult System
• VOJO Victims Served - Juvenile System
• VOJO Victimization Types - Juvenile System
• VOJO Demographics - Juvenile System
• VOJO Services - Juvenile System

REMINDERS: 

• Please click “No” on Main Page where it asks if you’d like to make a “Final Report.”



•  You do not need to enter anything in the “Briefly List Activities Conducted During This Period” Section on the main page of the report. You may simply enter “Not Applicable” in this section on the main page of the report and save it. 

 PCCD CONTACT INFORMATION:

It is very important to submit your program report in Egrants by the due date of April 20, 2025. If for any reason you are unable to enter your report data and submit the report by the due date, please contact the assigned Program Staff Contact listed for your grant in the Egrants system. 

• Quarterly fiscal reports for RASA and VOJO grants will also be due in Egrants by April 20, 2025. If you have any fiscal report questions, please contact the fiscal staff person listed on your grant for assistance. 

• If you need technical assistance with Egrants, you may contact the Egrants Support Line at (717) 787-5887 or by email at: RA-eGrantsSupport@pa.gov.

VOCA 2025-2027 Application Announcement

This is a reminder the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) 2025-2027 Non-Competitive Funding Announcement will close on Friday, March 14, 2025, with applications due in Egrants by 11:59pm. The Funding Announcement can be accessed at PCCD Active Funding Announcements.

This Funding Announcement is only open to existing VOCA subrecipients that are currently receiving the VOCA 2023-2025 Non-Competitive VOCA Funding. Applications are being accepted for Year 1 funding with the project period October 1, 2025 thru September 30, 2025. Year 2 funding will be determined at the Victim Services Advisory Committee (VSAC) meeting in November 2025. A continuation application is required to commence Year 2.

Grant application and administrative guides can be accessed on PCCD’s Website under the Funding section. The Egrants Help Desk is available to assist with technical or system questions Monday through Friday until 4:00 PM and may be reached by calling (717) 787-5887 or (800) 692-7292, or by emailing

RA-eGrantsSupport@pa.gov.  

Questions concerning the completion of the application outside of Egrants technical issues may be directed as follows:

•   Program-related questions: Contact Mercedes Vega of the Office of Victims' Services. Mercedes may be reached at (717) 265-8723 or mervega@pa.gov.



• Fiscal or budgetary questions: Contact Crystal Lauver of the Office of Financial Management and Administration at (717) 265-8525 or crlauver@pa.gov.

Recordings Of PCCD's Consolidated Standards Are Available On PCCD's YouTube Channel

Pennsylvania has long been considered a leader when it comes to the OVS Consolidated Standards, in their design to deliver quality services and programming led by skilled advocates and staff. To better inform the field, OVS has launched a series of recordings that walk program staff through each of the standards. These are short recordings, up to thirty (30) minutes in length available on PCCD’s You Tube Channel: PA Commission on Crime & Delinquency (PCCD) - YouTube. Each recording counts toward OVS annual training requirements. Staff may listen to any number of recordings as they are released. 

The Standards are meant to be a guide for victim service professionals to promote excellent service delivery and to ensure the uniformity of services. The Standards provide the minimum expectations for service provision and ensure professionalism in a wide variety of victim service practices. 

The following recordings are now available on PCCD’s You Tube Channel: 

Intake Standard (formerly Assessment Standard)

Victims' Rights Notification Standard

Loving Out Loud - Navigating Queer Teen Dating Violence Amidst Political Turbulence

"We need to have an honest conversation - about what it means to grow up queer in a world that doesn't always want us to exist, about the ways love and control get tangled together, and about how it is becoming harder for LGBTQ+ survivors to find safety."

Please click here to read.

Increasing Access To Healing Services And Just Outcomes For Older African American Crime Survivors Toolkit

Older African Americans experience crime and violence at the intersections of race, age, class, and other identities. Systemic and institutional challenges create barriers for older African American survivors seeking services and supports to heal from harm. This toolkit offers victim services providers and criminal justice systems stakeholders information and practical strategies to enhance their capacity to identify, reach, and serve older African American victims.

Please click here to access.

Autism And The Courts

April is Autism Acceptance Month, a significant annual observance aimed at promoting acceptance, understanding, and change in how individuals with autism are perceived and treated.

Previously known as Autism Awareness Month, the name change to Autism Acceptance Month is part of a larger push for more meaningful inclusion and support for individuals with autism rather than just raising awareness about autism.

Pennsylvania Courts have embraced that shift emphasizing the need for true inclusion and support during Autism Acceptance Month and throughout the entire year with its Autism and the Courts Initiative - a statewide movement focused on reducing trauma and supporting individuals in the court system with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Please click here to read.

50 State Report On LGBTQ+ Youth Mental Health, Suicide Risk & Access To Support

The report utilizes data collected through The Trevor Project's 2024 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People to provide state-level analyses of mental health and suicide risk, access to care, impacts of anti LGBTQ+ victimization and policies, and methods to support LGBTQ+ youth - as described by LGBTQ+ young people themselves.

Please click here to access.

What Collective Trauma Feels Like

Recent and ongoing events in the U.S. and throughout the world - unstable political leadership, natural disasters, armed conflicts, violence, and racism - have a profound impact on our collective sense of well-being.

Please click here to read.

Preventing Violence Against Health Workers

A collaboration between the American Hospital Association (AHA) and the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety (IAHSS) to recommend action steps for hospital leaders to build a safer workplace.

Please click here to access.

Know More, Do More Part 2:

Navigating Scenarios And Solutions For Stalking Survivors With Disabilities

March 27, 2025

2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Join us for Part 2 of our ongoing exploration of stalking and its impact on survivors with disabilities. This session will begin with a short recap of key concepts from Part 1, including stalking behaviors, tactics, and the intersection with domestic and sexual violence. We will then dive into real-world scenarios, providing an opportunity to discuss specific challenges and strategies for supporting survivors with disabilities. Participants will have the chance to ask questions, share insights, and collaborate on solutions for addressing the unique needs of those affected by stalking.

Please click here to register.

Legal Obstacles In Addressing Gender-Based Violence

April 4, 2025

9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

3737 Vartan Way Harrisburg, PA 17110

Room A180

Legal Obstacles in Addressing Gender-Based Violence is a hybrid, daylong program curated by the Widener Commonwealth Law Review with an audience of students, educators, and practitioners. Our goal is to bring awareness to the topic of gender-based violence through panels on topics such as sexual violence, domestic violence, and human trafficking

Please click here to register.

Sexual Assault Response Conference

April 10, 2025

8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

PennWest University Campus

The April 10 schedule begins at 8:30 a.m. with registration and a light breakfast, followed by opening remarks at 9:30 a.m. Ninety-minute workshops will be presented addressing topics related to victim advocacy, law enforcement, criminal justice, mental health, and nursing/medical services.

Please click here to register.