Tennessee Developing and Enhancing Statewide Automated Victim Information and Notification (SAVIN) Program

The Statewide Automated Victim Information and Notification (SAVIN) program ensures victims of crime receive accurate and timely information regarding the status of offenders and events related to their case. Through SAVIN, victims are able to participate in the judicial process and make sound decisions to protect themselves from further victimization while maintaining total anonymity. This information-sharing capability is also available to courts, corrections, and law enforcement officials.

The Tennessee Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence (TCADSV) will be using this enhancement SAVIN award to further implement their 2007 SAVIN award. The 2007 award was used to implement automated victim notification services to 50 counties throughout Tennessee. These funds will allow Tennessee to provide automated victim notification to an additional 25 counties, thereby expanding their statewide network. Each of these counties will make resources available to the TCADSV and Appriss (sole source SAVIN vendor) for purposes of implementing and operating SAVIN during the grant period. Four new agencies each month will be brought into the program until the final agencies join, completing the rollout for the additional 25 counties in the SAVIN program.

A statewide stakeholder database will be expanded with a comprehensive list of local contacts, including email addresses and other contact information. The Tennessee SAVIN program will continue to collect and report data that measures the results of the SAVIN program's performance. Appriss will be required to provide web based reporting tools that will track detailed statistics about the performance of the program. The Tennessee SAVIN program will be comprised of a near real-time data collection network, a central data processing facility, a network monitoring/management capability, and a two-way communication capability. This system will require extensive data and network management and monitoring to ensure that all required data is being received accurately and on time from every facility participating in the network.

Appriss will continue to ensure that the Tennessee SAVIN program will allow victims to access offender information via a public website or via a toll-free number. Callers to the phone line will be able to use an automated service, or zero out to a live operator on a 24 hour per day, 365 day per year basis. Victims will be able to register for notification on either the web site or the phone line. Once a victim is registered, the SAVIN program will generate automated outbound telephone notifications. Tennessee SAVIN will also have a TDD capability for hearing impaired victims. All services will be made available in English and Spanish.

CA/NCF