A total of 14 programs focused on victims of crime earned more than $40 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) last week as a means of culturally specific enhancement to help them better reflect and support their communities.
Of these, an award of nearly $2.9 million went to the Office of Justice Program’s (OJP) National Institute of Justice to support research, and another $2.1 million was given to the Bureau of Justice Statistics to support the National Census of Victim Service Providers. However, the bulk of the funding – approximately $38 million – was dispersed between 12 grant programs overseen by the OJP’s Office for Victims of Crime. These included:
- The Advancing the Use of Technology to Assist Victims of Crime program, for strategies to create, expand or improve the use of technology to interact directly with crime victims and to provide information, referrals, crisis assistance, and long-term aid.
- The Expanding Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Services to Victims of Sexual Assault program, to create or expand sexual assault examination programs focused on improving sexual assault care through a community-based approach. This could help campus efforts, nonprofits, or even Tribe-affiliated providers.
- The Transforming America’s Response to Elder Abuse: Enhanced Multidisciplinary Teams (E-MDTs) for Older Victims of Financial Exploitation and Abuse program, to support multidisciplinary teams and strengthen their ability to identify and respond to cases of elder abuse and provide more comprehensive support for victims of financial exploitation.
- The National Center for Culturally Responsive Victim Services program, which will develop and maintain OVC’s National Center. This center will oversee national training and technical assistance for victim services and victim compensation among victims in historically underserved, marginalized, or other inequality-afflicted communities.
- The Building State Technology Capacity program, to enhance victims’ access to services while innovating the provision and quality of services, as well as improving the accessibility and responsiveness of victim service organizations.
- The Fostering Resilience and Hope: Bridging the Gap Between Law Enforcement and the Community program, will help law enforcement officers address trauma and adversity and rebuild relationships within their community.
- The Advancing Hospital-Based Victim Services program splits funding between four organizations and one technical assistance provider to improve links between victim services, hospitals, and other medical facilities that increase support for victims of crime and reduce the chances of future victimization.
- The Emergency and Transitional Pet Shelter and Housing Assistance Grant Program, supporting shelter and other assistance to victims of domestic violence and their pets.
- The Services to Support Victims of Hate Crime and Strengthen Communities programs, to support field-generated strategies, approaches, and models to support individuals, groups, and communities affected by hate crime.
- The Addressing Female Genital Mutilation and Cutting program, to halt female genital mutilation through education and community response.
- The National Joint Training Conference for VOCA Victim Assistance and Victim Compensation Administrators
- The National Crime Victims’ Rights Week Community Awareness Projects program, to increase public awareness of victims’ rights and services nationwide and strengthen agencies’ approach to develop collaborative community awareness during National Crime Victims’ Rights Week.
“The Department of Justice is committed to doing all it can to reduce violent crime, and supporting victims of crime is not only critical to those efforts but also central to our most fundamental responsibility: protecting our fellow citizens,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said. “The resources announced today will provide direct support to victims of crime as they recover and also bolster the important work of our state, local and Tribal partners who provide victims with comprehensive, high-quality victim services and care.”
Most funding for these awards was generated by the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) of 1984 and the Crime Victims Fund it created, which uses fines and penalties paid by convicted federal offenders to aid victims.