Justice Today

Learn about the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), which was signed into law 40 years ago on October 12, 1984. Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) Director Kristina Rose and prominent victim advocates Steve Siegel, Herman Millholland, and Anne Seymour discuss the history of VOCA and highlight major accomplishments of the victim services field over the past four decades.

Read the corresponding blog post and view the VOCA 40th Anniversary Resources.

Speaker List

• Kristina Rose, Director, Office for Victims of Crime
• Anne Seymour, Associate Academic Program Director, National Mass Violence Center
• Herman Millholland, Independent Consultant, Millholland & Associates
• Steven R. Siegel, Denver District Attorney's Office (retired)

Learn about the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), which was signed into law 40 years ago on October 12, 1984. This episode features a conversation between Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) Director Kristina Rose and Victim Advocacy Corps Program leader Abrianna Morales and student fellows Thanh Nguyen and Grace Chungu as they discuss the impact of VOCA and the future of victim services.

Read the corresponding blog post and view the VOCA 40th Anniversary Resources.

Speaker List

• Kristina Rose, Director, Office for Victims of Crime
• Abrianna Morales, Program Manager, Victim Advocacy Corps
• Grace Chungu, Student Fellow, Victim Advocacy Corps 
• Thanh Nguyen, Student Fellow, Victim Advocacy Corps

In this special episode of Justice Today, we’re marking a significant milestone in the world of justice and public safety—the 40th Anniversary of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA).

Since its inception in 1984, BJA has played a vital role in improving the criminal justice system, advancing public safety, and supporting law enforcement agencies across the United States. To commemorate this remarkable occasion, we're bringing you an in-depth conversation with Karhlton F. Moore, the current Director of BJA. Karhlton’s insights offer a closer look at how BJA collaborates with state and local agencies to address complex issues and drive meaningful change.

Read the corresponding blog post.

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In this special episode of Justice Today, we’re marking a major milestone in the world of justice and public safety—the 40th Anniversary of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). As one of the nation’s leading agencies for advancing justice reform and supporting public safety initiatives, BJA has played a pivotal role in shaping the criminal justice landscape over the past four decades.

This episode is part one of our podcast series celebrating BJA’s anniversary, and in it, we sit down with several former BJA directors who reflect on the agency’s evolution, the challenges it has faced, and its crucial role in responding to national crises. These past directors offer a unique perspective on how BJA has worked alongside law enforcement, community organizations, and policymakers to drive innovation in the criminal justice system across the country.


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Visit the BJA website and stay connected:

• Subscribe for announcements
• Follow us on Facebook
• Follow us on X
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel

The nations prisons and jails are struggling to recruit and retain staff. These staffing challenges impact re-entry efforts and overall public safety.

In this episode of Justice Today, hear from former Bureau of Justice Assistance fellow Dr. Danielle Rudes on how leaders can make correctional institutions better for staff and residents.

Also read the corresponding blog post.

Law enforcement agencies are teaming up with mental health clinicians to improve behavioral health responses and allow police officers to focus on crime reduction. In this episode, our host discusses how Denver police work side-by-side with mental health clinicians to treat residents experiencing mental health emergencies and connect them with treatment.

Learn how the need for secure housing for victims of crime and their companion animals led to the creation of the Emergency and Transitional Pet Shelter and Housing Assistance Grant Program.

Office for Victims of Crime Director Kristina Rose and Nancy Blaney, Director of Government Affairs at the Animal Welfare Institute, speak about how this program is ensuring that victims and their pets can access shelter services. 

Every day, Joe Platania and his office make complex judgment calls that help decide whether people will spend years or even decades behind bars. In this episode, Platania explains how this process of “prosecutorial discretion” works.

The road to recovery from substance use has many twists and turns, and often stops and restarts. In Navajo County, Arizona, county prosecutor Bradley Carlyon is working to help residents on the road to recovery from the moment they enter the county jail.

Research shows that women officers use less force and are perceived by communities as more honest and compassionate. Yet currently, women make up only 12 percent of sworn officers and 3 percent of police leadership in the United States. In this episode of Justice Today, Maureen McGough, chief of strategic initiatives for the Policing Project at the New York University School of Law, discusses how the 30X30 Initiative, which is sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, is improving public safety by helping local law enforcement agencies recruit and retain more women.

The National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) has played an essential role in obtaining justice for victims of sexual assault nationwide. During this episode of the Justice Today podcast, hear how SAKI funding helped the state of Georgia process a backlog of sexual assault kits, which led to the identification and conviction of a serial rapist who had lived in plain sight for over a decade, preying on vulnerable women.

During this episode of the Justice Today podcast, Mayor Jermaine Wilson describes his personal journey from maximum security prison to the highest elected office in his hometown, Leavenworth, Kansas.

Formerly incarcerated people face a web of laws that Marlon Chamberlain describes as "permanent punishments." During this episode, he discusses his campaign to eliminate them.

During this episode, three Black law enforcement leaders discuss why they walked 54 miles from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama—retracing the route of a famous 1965 civil rights march—and how their journey changed their professional and personal lives.

Detective Kari Johnson of the Denver, Colorado Police Department and Dr. Angela Williamson, the Forensics Unit Supervisor at the Bureau of Justice Assistance, describe how decades of determined police work and cutting-edge forensic science identified Joe Michael Ervin as the person who assaulted and murdered four women between 1978 and 1981. Read the transcript.

Reflecting back on Recovery Month, the Bureau of Justice Assistance's (BJA's) Betsi Griffith discusses BJA's work in this area and some of the lessons learned from it.

In January 2021, NIBRS became the national standard for law enforcement crime data reporting. The transition to NIBRS offers significant improvements to data on crimes known to law enforcement, providing detailed information on the characteristics of crime incidents, victims, and persons arrested.

During this episode, hear from David Gibbs as he explains how he escaped an addiction to alcohol and drugs that began when he was eight years old.

During this episode, Doreen Schenkenberger describes how she recovered from alcoholism that began at age 13 and now leads a statewide organization that assists others on that same path.

To commemorate the annual observance of the National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims on September 25, Office for Victims of Crime Director Kristina Rose speaks to Roberta Roper about the murder of her beloved daughter, Stephanie,  in this Justice Today podcast episode. Recalling the tragic event and its aftermath, Roberta shares the challenges she and her family faced while trying to navigate the justice system. In response to her experience, and in memory of her daughter’s life, Roberta founded the Stephanie Roper Committee and Foundation, now known as the Maryland Crime Victims’ Resource Center.

Hear Roberta’s inspiring story and how the crime victims’ field has changed in the past four decades and learn about the ongoing work that needs to be done to help all victims of crime find their justice.