Victim Offender Dialogues have positive benefits for victims and survivors of violent crime. I've been funded by the National Institute of Justice to study the impacts of VOD on the health and wellness of crime victims and survivors in Colorado. My co-investigator Karen Albright and I lead a research team which works in close collaboration with the Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance, the Colorado Department of Corrections, the Colorado Division of Youth Services, and Colorado probation departments to examine the effects of VOD. This inquiry is tangled up with important questions about how and why victims and survivors access VOD, and what barriers stand in their way. 

Read: Legislating Victim Offender Dialogue: A Value-Rich Policy Analysis in Victims and Offenders.

Visit: Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance

Visit: Colorado Department of Corrections

December 10, 2017

(from left to right)
Nancy Lewis, COVA
Mary McGhee, COVA
Spiro Koinis, Division of Youth Services
Greg Brown, Chief Probation Officer
Shannon Sliva, Principal Investigator
Karen Albright, Co-Investigator
Ceema Samimi, Research Assistant
Not pictured: Monica Chambers, Dept of Corrections

April 13, 2017

In 2011, Colorado state law created new opportunities for victims of crime in the form of High Impact Victim Offender Dialogues. High Impact VODs offer victims and survivors of serious, violent crimes the opportunity to meet face to face with the offender in their case for a facilitated dialogue process. The outcomes of these cases in the CO Department of Corrections have been overwhelmingly successful.

Colorado High Impact VOD Programs Get a Boost

http://www.rjcolorado.org/blog/colorado-high-impact-vod-programs-get-a-boost