New Hampshire’s Department of Justice is set to launch a four-day “Victim Assistance Academy” in Concord next month after the Executive Council approved the $3,500 program Wednesday.
The training program, which will be held at the New Hampshire National Guard Training Facility, will teach victim service providers skills in communication, trauma resilience, working with marginalized survivors, navigating substance misuse and mental health scenarios, and other areas.
Participants might range from service providers in nonprofit organizations to victims’ advocates in the Department of Justice or county attorneys’ offices.
The department held the training in 2021 virtually due to COVID-19, but “students felt that an in-person academy would be more effective,” Attorney General John Formella wrote in an explanation of the program to the council.
This time around, participants will have accommodation at the National Guard Training Facility, according to the department.
The council also approved an annual allotment of federal funding provided to the state by the Violence Against Women Act, signing off on a $30,000 award to the Manchester Office of the City Solicitor, which will receive 25 percent of the funding. An additional 25 percent of the award must go to law enforcement and 30 percent must go to victims’ services organizations, according to the terms of the federal statute.
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