Victim Support Europe, in collaboration with Estonia’s Ministry of Justice, aims to improve the protection and support offered to Estonian victims of crime by means of the Advancing Rights of Estonian Victims (AREV) project.
With input from various stakeholders, the project team has been developing an Individual Needs Assessment (INA) form (with accompanying guidelines) to help identify victims, thereby advancing victim-centric justice in the country. Three police stations in the Viru region will coordinate the implementation of the INA; this pilot scheme will allow the AREV team to test the tool, gather feedback, and review recommendations, thus supporting a subsequent nationwide rollout.
To facilitate the anticipated rollout, the project team held a training event in the pilot area. The “Piloting the Individual Needs Assessment (INA) Training” took place on 18 October 2022 in Narva, Estonia and brought together experts from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Estonia to discuss best practices, the benefits of an INA, and the current INA form and guidelines.
The training event opened with a presentation from Robin Fontijne, Victim Support Netherlands, who shared information on how to best use the INA. He described the collaborative efforts between various stakeholders in the Netherlands, with a particular focus on the relationship between police officers and victim support. Mari-Liis Org from the Victim Support section of Estonia’s Social Insurance Board presented information on its victim support activities. Robert Maker and Lee Colvin from Sustainable Criminal Justice Solutions (SCJS) illustrated the need for and benefits of the INA and their accompanying guidelines. Finally, Brit Tammiste of Estonia’s Ministry of Justice, introduced the INA form and how it would be piloted in the Eastern Prefecture.
In the pilot region, project partners include the East Prefecture police departments (Jõhvi, Narva, and Rakvere), Viru District Prosecutor’s Office, Viru County Court, the National Social Insurance Board’s Victim Support Service, Ida-Viru Central Hospital, Rakvere Hospital, Narva Hospital, Lääne-Viru County’s Association of Local Authorities and Ida-Viru County’s Association of Local Authorities.
