2026 Basic Victim Assistance Academy (AVAA) - Phoenix

INFORMATION ABOUT THE AVAA

The Arizona Victim Assistance Academy (AVAA) is a project of the Arizona Coalition for Victim Services (ACVS) which is a non-profit coalition made up of crime victim service providers. To date, AVAA has trained over 2,000 advocates state-wide.

This Basic Academy provides a rare opportunity to work, study and interact with other victim service providers from around the state. The number of attendees is purposely kept small so that adult learning techniques can be used to reinforce the information received by the instructors.

This Academy is intended to provide fundamental information for all crime victim advocates or those allied professionals that work with crime victims. The Academy is designed primarily for victim service providers who are new to the field of advocacy with approximately one to three years of experience; however experienced advocates may also find the academy beneficial.

As an attendee you will be required to complete some "pre-work" before the Academy starts. This will take approximately 4-5 hours and you will receive the "pre-work" at least 2 weeks before the training or as soon as you register. On Febuary 9-13, you will attend the in-person 36 hour academy at the Desert Willow Conference Center. Please talk to your supervisor and make sure you will have time to complete this work before you register. By registering, you agree to have this work completed before the start of the Academy. There will be a pretest and a post test given. The Academy will be over at noon on Friday to allow for travel time.

This material is pre-approved by the National Advocate Credentialing Program. For more information see http://www.trynova.org/help-crime-victim/nacp/

The registration includes; continental breakfast, lunch and all instructional materials.

PARTIAL LIST OF BASIC ACADEMY TOPICS

Victims' Rights, Restitution,Victim Compensation, Overview of the Criminal Justice System, Vicarious Trauma, Working with Child Victims, Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, Drunk Driving, Crisis Response and Crimes Against Elderly.

PAYING BY CHECK

If you need to pay by check payment must be received before 2/2/2026. No one will be allowed to attend the training without payment unless approved by the Project Director, Connie Chapman. You can contact Connie at 602-421-9354 or e-mail her at avaaacademy@gmail.com.

Checks can be made out and sent to:

ACVS

P.O. Box 25859

Tempe, AZ 85285

WHEN REGISTERING

Please ensure that the attendee's current e-mail address along with their name is included in the registration information. Many agencies have accounting personnel or supervisors who register for them so please ensure that they enter your name and e-mail address when registering. Attendees will be receiving important information for the Academy through e-mails so please ensure your updated e-mail is included with your registration.

HOTEL ROOMS

We have acquired a small block of rooms at the Phoenix airport Hilton South at the per diem rate of $229 excluding taxes for this event. You can reserve rooms for this event by clicking on the link below.

https://www.hilton.com/en/book/reservation/deeplink/?ctyhocn=PHXASHW&groupCode=CHWAVA&arrivaldate=2026-02-08&departuredate=2026-02-13&cid=OM,WW,HILTONLINK,EN,DirectLink&fromId=HILTONLINKDIRECT

DO NOT USE THIS LINK IF YOU ARE REQUESTING A SCHOLARSHIP, SEE THE NEXT SECTION FOR SCHOLARSHIP ROOMS.

ROOM SCHOLARSHIPS

There are a limited number of scholarships available for hotel rooms. To be eligible for the scholarship, the person requesting the scholarship must be registered for the training and an email must be sent to Connie Chapman at avaaacademy@gmail.com requesting the scholarship and expressing the need. You will be notified if the scholarship is awarded.