CCJ Directory

Janelle Melohn is the Senior Policy Advisor at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP), which provides grants, training, and other resources to prevent and reduce crime. Prior to this role, Melohn served as the Director of the OVC VOCA Center with the National Criminal Justice Association. The OVC VOCA Center provides no-cost training and technical assistance to Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) Victim Assistance and Compensation Administrators and their staff on federal grant management and administration through expert consultation, peer-to-peer collaboration, problem solving, data analysis, training, and innovation.

Melohn previously spent 15 years with the Crime Victim Assistance Division in the Iowa Attorney General’s Office, the last 10 as director. As head of the office she oversaw a staff of 29 individuals, an annual budget of roughly $45 million, and eight statewide programs aiding victims of crime, including Crime Victim Compensation, Sexual Abuse Examination Payment, Victim Services Support grants, IowaVINE (a statewide automated victim notification system), the Identity Theft Passport Program, Registrant Watch (an automated victim notification partnership with the Department of Public Safety), and Training, Outreach, and Anti-Human Trafficking efforts.

Before joining the Iowa Attorney General’s Office, Melohn worked for the Story County Sheriff’s Office as a detention officer supervisor in the Story County Jail. During her tenure, she supervised a staff of eight detention officers and maintained the custody, care, and control of the Iowa state and federal inmate population.

Melohn served on the National Association of VOCA Assistance Administrators for seven years, (two as Board President) and has also served as a board or appointed member for the National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards, the Iowa Governor’s Criminal Justice Reform Committee, the Friends of Iowa Civil Rights Inc., and the Iowa Sex Offender Research Council.

In 2019, Melohn received the Trailblazer Award from the Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault for her work to prioritize funding and services to open doors for historically marginalized communities. She holds a Master of Public Administration from Drake University with an emphasis in executive development and a B.S. in sociology from Iowa State University.