Background:

As part of the 2023 NC Victims of Crime Needs Assessment, the community advisory board and research team added “co-victims of homicide” to the assessment’s priority population. Co-victims of homicide (i.e., people whose loved one was taken by homicide) are an underserved group who face grief, loss, and trauma, and have ongoing support needs.

Due to challenges with a crime victim survey in the original needs assessment (see full report for details), we were unable to collect sufficient information about the service needs of co-victims of homicide. However, through our existing collaboration between the UNC Chapel Hill School of Social Work, the Gillings School of Global Public Health, and NC VAN, we were able to secure additional resources to survey co-victims of homicide.

Aims:

• Identify services and supports needs of co-victims of homicide

• Identify barriers co-victims of homicide face when trying to accessing services

Principal Investigator:

Tonya Van Deinse