VSE members Supporting Justice have been exceptionally busy over the last quarter, with many developments surrounding their Victims Choice website and Quality Mark. Here is short summary of main activities by Supporting Justice:
We are pleased to have just completed our first Quality Mark assessment for a large service provider in the UK. The Victims Choice Quality Mark assesses organisations against specific, victim focused criteria to identify the quality of their frontline service and how service providers can make improvements to better support those affected by crime. Victims need to be sure they are accessing quality support services before they engage with them and we believe commissioners are increasingly looking for independent evidence about providers so they can make better informed funding decisions. Our recent conversations with police and crime commissioners confirm this, and several are keen to use or incorporate the Victims Choice Quality Mark in their commissioning process.
The Victims Choice website is now running into its sixth month and we are pleased to see how it has been received by the public and by those in the sector. There are currently over 470 services listed on the website and we have received over 16,000 page views. Phase two of the site is under discussion and when changes are implemented the site will be even more accessible with greater functionality for those affected by crime and those helping to support victims. You can sign up to our newsletter here for up-to-date information.
The CEO of Supporting Justice, Anne Warren, recently visited Belgrade, Serbia to give a presentation on the main mechanisms for funding victim services in England and Wales. We would like to thank Victim Support Europe for inviting us to present with them and look forward to future engagement. It was an insightful conference with VSE and the World Bank; great progress is being made but there are certainly challenges ahead.
Finally we would like to thank those who responded to our survey on available services to witnesses in court. It’s clear that quite a few members do have a service and, therefore, we are now looking to see if there is scope to create a network to discuss and share best practice and innovative ideas. We’ve contacted those who have already responded to the survey but if you think this would be beneficial then please do complete this short survey to enable us to gauge interest.
