Sexual Assault Legal Services Toolkit

Victim Rights Law Center is excited to announce the upcoming availability of its Where to Start: Sexual Assault Legal Services Toolkit. This Toolkit will assist OVW grantees in planning for and launching sexual assault legal services projects. The content and resources provided in the Toolkit are derived from the many years of experience VRLC has been providing direct representation to survivors of sexual assault and technical assistance and training to OVW grantees on issues related to sexual assault. Whether you are a sexual assault provider new to providing legal services, or a legal services organization new to serving sexual assault clients, this Toolkit will help your entire organization better serve survivors of sexual violence. Each chapter includes a webinar that discusses key issues to consider as you create and grow your project, in addition to numerous tools to download and modify for the specific needs of your organization. Please see below for the content each of the Toolkit’s 11 chapters.

Introduction

Get oriented to Victim Rights Law Center (VRLC) Where to Start Toolkit: Launching Your Sexual Assault Legal Practice. Find out how to best use the Toolkit and its accompanying resources to help you effectively launch your new sexual assault legal practice.

Ch. 1: Launching Your Practice: Scope of Services

Discover how to use your OVW grant award letter to guide your legal project’s development, how to implement your new project, and how to assess your organization’s initial preparedness to provide legal services to sexual assault survivors.

Ch. 2: Considerations for Co-Located Programs

If your organization is new to providing legal services, or new to providing legal services specific to sexual assault survivors, there are numerous steps you will need to take to prepare your organization. Find out the key issues to consider, including mandatory reporting obligations and how to keep client information protected. In addition, learn how to expand your organization’s current service delivery methods to encompass survivors of sexual assault and how to communicate with your community about your new legal services project.

Chapter 3: Hiring

Learn how to hire staff that are a great match for your new sexual assault legal services project, including how to effectively advertise, interview, and onboard new staff.

Chapter 4: Vicarious Trauma and Survivor Empowerment

Providing legal services to survivors of sexual assault requires a specialized skill set. Discover how to best respond to survivors of trauma and how to empower them to make choices for themselves. At the same time, learn how to recognize and address the vicarious trauma that often impacts service providers who work with survivors of sexual trauma. 

Chapter 5: Privacy Considerations When Representing Minors and Vulnerable Adults

Delve deeper into the numerous privacy issues to consider when providing legal services to minor and vulnerable adult survivors of sexual violence. Hear from VRLC’s privacy expert about victim consent for services, VAWA confidentiality, and staff mandatory reporting obligations.

Chapter 6: Cultural Responsiveness

If your OVW grant specifies that your organization serve a culturally specific population, tune into this chapter. Explore how to identify culturally specific populations in your community and how to identify the specific needs of survivors from those communities. Learn simple ways to assess whether your organization currently has the capacity to meet the specific needs of survivors from culturally specific populations.

Chapter 7: Office Policies and Protocols: Best Practices for Survivor-Centered Legal Services

Inform yourself about the best practices for maintaining client files when providing legal services to survivors of sexual assault. Consider why it is necessary to establish office policies related to mandatory reporting, provider-client privilege, and policies that can help maintain confidential the information clients share.

Ch. 8: Meeting and Retaining a Client-Survivor: Key Issues to Address Before Conducting the Intake Interview

Be prepared to represent your first survivor-client by learning what key issues to address before you conduct an intake interview with a minor or adult client. Take stock of unique issues that may arise when conducting a conflict check in sexual assault legal cases. Learn new tools to establish rapport with survivors and how to lay the foundation for a successful provider-client relationship.

Ch. 9: Conducting a Sexual Assault Legal Intake: Keys to Success

Find out how to conduct a comprehensive legal intake and how to address the numerous safety issues specific to representing survivors of sexual assault, including sexual assault-specific safety planning and safe communication with clients. Learn what you can do to increase client follow-through.

Ch. 10: Creating an Effective Outreach Plan: Connecting with Survivors Seeking Your Services

Increase your knowledge about how to reach out to survivors of sexual assault to let them know about your legal services project. Learn how to define your target audience and target your outreach efforts by using VRLC Outreach Planning Tool.

Ch. 11: Collaborating with Community Partners: Connecting with Survivors via Other Organizations

Discover how to connect with potential clients by working with community partners. Review the benefits of collaborating with community partners, how to best inform them about your new sexual assault legal services project, and how to get your organization a seat at the table of existing community collaborations.

Ch. 12: Serving Survivors in Rural Communities

Ch. 13: Effective Supervision: Managing OVW-Funded Attorneys Representing Sexual Assault Survivors

© 2018 Victim Rights Law Center. All rights reserved. This project was supported by grant number 2015-TA-AX-K046 awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of Justice.