Since 1980, NOVA has provided training to prosecutors, nurses, law enforcement officers, social workers, judges, clergy members, mental health professionals, law enforcement officers, and victim service practitioners, paid and volunteer, in over 500 state, regional, and national workshops and seminars. A listing of the most recent trainings to illustrate NOVA’s range of training capabilities is found in Professional Development/Training.

In the same time period, NOVA has organized 38 regional conferences and 28 national conferences ranging in size from 50 to 1,500 participants. Participant evaluations of the training programs and conferences consistently have been excellent. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 rating the highest, average scores are typically 9.5.

NOVA has translated much of its training experience into written training curricula for seven professional groups, from judges to victim advocates. In addition, with support from OVC, NOVA has developed many training curricula. A listing of NOVA’s training curricula is found in Professional Development/Training.

NOVA is continuously converting its published materials to text files available on the Internet, while maintaining a clearinghouse on general and cutting-edge victim issues, and answering hundreds of requests for information each month.

NOVA has established a 40-hour National Crisis Response Team (CRT) Training Institute, has presented the Institutes numerous times since 1990, and has taken the curriculum to many other countries. It now offers a 24-hour Advanced CRT Training Institute, a 40-hour War Trauma Training Institute and a 50-hour Training for Trainers.

In 1983, NOVA organized a strategic planning seminar to analyze the next decade of victim services and to coordinate a long-range plan for the victims’ movement addressing public policy, victim service, and victim-oriented training needs.

In 1985, NOVA, with the support of the National Institute of Mental Health, convened a national mental health "consensus seminar" which resulted in a national consensus statement on mental health needs for victims of crime.

Also in 1985, in collaboration with Mothers Against Drunk Driving, NOVA organized the National SHARE ("Self-Help Associations Relating to Each Other") Conference to discuss the future needs of grass-roots organizations and victim activists. The most significant outcome of the conference was the development of a network of individuals committed to the idea of a national constitutional amendment on victim services.

Also in 1985, NOVA organized the first National Conference on the Crime Victimization of Racial Minorities.

In 1986, NOVA organized the first National Conference on a Constitutional Amendment on Victim Rights.

In 1990, NOVA began a concerted effort to address the impact of technology on the victims’ field. After two years of reviewing the state of the art, NOVA held a national conference, "2001: The Next Century – Megatrends in the Victims’ Movement," the first such gathering to identify the next decade’s emerging issues. Its proceedings were published in 1994. Workshops on "future issues" were presented at NOVA’s annual conferences in 1992-94, which was elevated to a plenary session on new technology in 1995.

In 1994, NOVA held a second national conference on emerging issues, "Victim Assistance: The Cutting Edge." Also in 1994, NOVA invited a small group of individuals from the public and private sectors to discuss the implications of new technologies on the victims’ movement. Among their recommendations were to improve technological literacy among victim advocates and to improve the ways technology is used to provide protection to victims.