In January, 2001, Bucks County prison officials approached Network of Victim Assistance (NOVA) to provide Victim Empathy Trainings (VET) to offenders of crime serving state sentences in the Bucks County prison system. Under Act 143, certain offenders of violent crime cannot be released from prison until they have completed training on the impact of crime on victims and the community. The Bucks County prison decided that rather than train and utilize their own staff for this program, they would contract with their local comprehensive victim advocacy and service organization to develop and conduct the training sessions. After all, they felt, who would be better to understand the impact of crime than those who work with victims?

Without a doubt, this venture presented some interesting challenges for the agency. Staff members had to deal with their own feelings of trepidation about meeting with offenders in the prison setting. The agency had to address conflict of interest issues and prepare information and assurances about the program for victims. Confidentiality of victim information was an absolute requirement and thus a clear division between education and direct services staff needed to be maintained for this program.

NOVA staff worked with the Office of the Victim Advocate (OVA) to adapt a curriculum developed for the state correctional facilities on this topic. Staff met with prison officials to clarify their needs and expectations and address issues of security, logistics and fees. NOVA invited the local MADD chapter to work with the agency to deliver a session on DUI.

To date, NOVA has provided six 12-hour training programs to over 70 inmates. The training has challenged the staff’s understanding of offenders, increased their knowledge of the prison system and provided them with more thoughtful answers to victim’s questions about the prison experience. However, has the program helped offenders develop empathy and an understanding of the impact of their crime on their victim(s) and the community? Those questions are nearly impossible to answer. The trainers do believe that they are reaching many participants in some way. 

As one offender wrote in the course evaluation: "Since taking the training course, I have learned how the victims feel and what they go through. I’ve learned that it’s more than fear and it isn’t just the victim – the family and friends of the victim also  suffer."