Below is a list of some of the most frequently asked questions about the CCRI project. To view a general response to any of the questions listed below, click on the question. If you do not see your particular question, or the answer is unclear, please e-mail us and we will respond as soon as possible.
Does the CCRI project provide funds to a community for personnel positions?
Does the CCRI project specifically apply to victims of Criminal Mass Crisis?
How do we get started in our community?
How much does this program cost a community to implement?
Isn't this an awful lot of work to put into something that may never happen in our community?
Does this program train Crisis Response Teams like NOVA and the American Red Cross?
What agencies have to be involved from our community for us to establish the CCRI in our community?
Do the state-level agencies have to be involved in the process?
What is the Incident Command System (ICS)?
Does the CCRI project provide funds to a community for personnel positions?
No, the CCRI project does not provide funding to participating communities or jurisdictions for personnel positions. The focus of the project is to assist the involved agencies in identifying ways of utilizing existing agency/community resources to fulfill those needs. CCRI is strictly designed as a training and technical assistance program.
Does the CCRI project specifically apply to victims of Criminal Mass Crisis?
The intent and focus of the CCRI project is to assist communities in preparing to meet the needs of the victims of an act of CMV. However, because the program focuses on the enhancement of the victim services infrastructure (sharing of information, organization, identification of resources, and streamlining of service delivery), it will naturally enhance the day-to-day system response to all crime victims.
Our agency/community has policies, procedures, protocols, and/or SOPs that define what we are to do in the event of a CMV. Does the CCRI conflict or interfere with those established guidelines?
No, this project is intended to support the community's existing agency policies, procedures, protocols, and/or SOPs. Most existing guidelines deal with the response of operational agencies (law enforcement, fire and rescue, prosecution, and medical). The CCRI project works with the victim service provider agencies to form a collaborative that will provide a resource to meet the needs of the victims and support the operational agencies' response to the Criminal Mass Crisis (CMC).
How do we get started in our community?
Simply contact the CCRI Project Staff by calling 202-659-2882 or through e-mail (bhammond@jijs.org). The staff will be glad to discuss your individual situation and provide support in getting started. It is not required that the community have a formal working group in place to get started.
How much does this program cost a community to implement?
There is no direct cost or charge to the community. This is a training and technical program of the Office for Victims of Crime, US Department of Justice.
How does this process differ from the way we approach a natural disaster such as floods, hurricanes, etc.?
The research shows us that while there are some similarities between victims of natural disasters and victims of crime there are also distinct differences in their ability to cope and reconstruct their lives. This project focuses on meeting the unique needs of and challenges for victims of crime, such as mitigating the trauma that can result from involvement with the criminal justice process.
Isn't this an awful lot of work to put into something that may never happen in our community?
Establishing a community-based CCRI is a tremendous amount of work; however, the benefits far out weigh the work. The community is not only better prepared in the event of a CMV, the establishment of the CCRI can enhance the day-to-day way of doing business.
Does this project train Crisis Response Teams like NOVA and the American Red Cross?
No, this project focuses on the establishment of an infrastructure for the effective and efficient management of direct services to crime victims.
What agencies from our community need to be involved for us to establish the CCRI in our community?
This will depend on the individual community. The end goal of the process is to secure the involvement and participation of all victim service providers that will be involved in the community's response to a CMC. However, the process can be started with a small core group of agencies that are willing to work to educate and involve the other players. A good "core" group to begin the process with might be the existing public and private community-based agencies that work with crime victims (law enforcement and prosecution based victim/witness programs, rape crisis and child abuse centers, and area mental health services).
The establishment of the community-based CCRI is an ongoing process. It is fluid and changes with the community. As additional resources become available they should be incorporated into the collaborative.
Do the state-level agencies have to be involved in the process?
No, the CCRI project is a community-based multidisciplinary approach. It is based on the premise that acts of CMV happen on the community-level, and, must ultimately, be handled by the community. Therefore, State and Federal victim resources are there to support and assist the local efforts.
It is can be very helpful to have them involved; however, it should be clearly stated and understood that the CCRI is a community-based effort.
What is the Incident Command System (ICS)?
Incident Command System (ICS) is a model system used for the command, control, and coordination of various agencies during the response to an emergency incident. Any emergency incident, from a simple vehicular accident to a mass casualty disaster, could involve several different agencies such as police, fire, and emergency medical services departments to name a few. ICS provides the agencies involved in an incident with the principles necessary for them to work together effectively.
Originally developed in the 1970s, ICS is now a fully developed model that can be effectively applied to all types of emergencies, regardless of the size of the incident or the number of agencies involved. The key to the effectiveness of ICS results from its standardized primary management principles and its common organizational structure.
For the purposes of the CCRI, we use this a generic term. The actual structure and name of the command system varies greatly from community to community. Our main concern is that some form of overall command management needs to be in place for a jurisdiction to effectively respond to a CMC.
Do all operational agencies (law enforcement, prosecution, and fire and rescue) use the ICS to manage major events?
While it may not be referred to as the "ICS," all operational agencies do use a formalized management structure for handling major incidents. To determine what this management structure is called in your community, ask for an organizational chart of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) for the community.
