National Organization for Victim Assistance
The National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA) is a recognized leader in the victims’ rights movement and crisis response. For over 40 years, NOVA has championed dignity and compassion for all survivors of crime and crisis; created and shared best practices in responding to mass tragedy on the community level; and promoted the professionalization of victim advocacy.
NOVA is committed to upholding excellence in the field of victim advocacy and crisis response by providing trauma-informed training, education and credentialing to all victim assistance and allied professionals. All NOVA training programs are created to promote a standard of knowledge among those interacting with survivors of trauma and to ensure each survivor receives a level of care and respect that empowers and promotes their wellbeing. This is accomplished through: Providing trauma-informed and inclusive, evidence-based educational content; Developing local crisis response teams to promote community resilience following tragedy; Creating the highest educational and ethical standards in the victim assistance field through NOVA’s Code of Professional Ethics for Victim Assistance Providers and acting as secretariat of the National Advocate Credentialing Program (NACP)®, which is the only national credentialing program available to victim advocates. Through in-person and distance learning programs, including one of the best-attended professional conferences in the field, NOVA successfully trains over 25,000 helping professionals annually.
Founded in 1975, NOVA is the oldest national victim assistance organization of its kind in the United States and a 501(c)(3) membership organization.
