(Lake County, IL) - The Lake County State's Attorney's Office invites residents to honor National Crime Victims’ Rights Week by participating in a virtual scavenger hunt to learn more about the services offered by the office and its partners.

National Crime Victims’ Rights Week is April 18-24. This year's theme is "Support Victims. Build Trust. Engage Communities."

The State's Attorney's Office was chosen to receive a $5,000 grant this year from the National Association of VOCA Assistance Administrators, to be used for a community awareness project in Lake County to honor National Crime Victims’ Rights Week.

The project, a virtual scavenger hunt, allows participants to learn more about the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office and its partner agencies and how they can assist you and your family.

The States Attorney's Office invites residents to register for the Virtual Scavenger Hunt, which will take place during National Crime Victims' Rights Week, at NCVRW2021.eventbrite.com.

Participants will receive a tool kit including community materials, giveaways, resources, and a virtual scavenger hunt passport booklet. The virtual scavenger hunt passport will guide participants to each agency's website. Players will learn more about each agency through a series of questions that can be answered by browsing their websites and seeing what services they offer.

The first 300 residents to register will receive the tool kit, after that, supplies may be limited.

Throughout the week, participants can join the State's Attorney's Office on Facebook, @LCSTATESATTORNEY, to share answers and what they've learned about the agencies. By sharing the posts to friends and family, participants will help the office and agencies extend their reach into the community.

"Our office is dedicated to being the voice of the victim and to making sure no one is forgotten in our courthouse. Our work during 2021 National Crime Victims' Right Week has been greatly enhanced by the grant from National Association of VOCA Assistance Administrators and the Office of Victims of Crime," State's Attorney Eric Rinehart said.

 "This grant allows us to enhance community education efforts so that victims and survivors of crime learn about county-wide services and so that they know that our justice system must serve them," he said. 

First designated by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, National Crime Victims’ Rights Week increases general public awareness of, and knowledge about, the wide range of rights and services available to people who have been victimized by crime.

For additional information about 2021 National Crime Victims’ Rights Week activities or about victims’ rights and services in Lake County, please contact Carrie Wings at cwings@lakecountyil.gov or Ediza Hernandez at EHernandez2@lakecountyil.gov.

Grant funding is from the Office for Victims of Crime, within the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office was one of the 106 recommended by the National Association of VOCA Assistance Administrators (NAVAA) and selected for funding by OVC for 2021 from the 242 applications that were submitted nationwide.

NAVAA is a non-profit organization that represents the 56 state agencies that distribute money from the federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) Crime Victims Fund to more than 4,000 direct victim assistance service providers. The money in the Crime Victims Fund comes from fines collected from offenders convicted of federal crimes and not from U.S. taxpayers.