Deputy Attorney General Sally Quillian Yates today announced 44 awards totaling over $26 million in funding through the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women’s Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies and Enforcement of Protection Orders Program. These 44 recipients will create and enhance collaborative partnerships between criminal justice agencies, victim services providers, and community organizations that respond to sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking. The awards were announced at the Justice Department’s Second Annual Violence Reduction Network (VRN) Summit in Detroit, Michigan.
“Sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking are serious crimes that require a robust criminal justice system response in coordination with community based organizations and victim service providers,” said Deputy Attorney General Sally Quillian Yates. “This program challenges the whole community to work together to identify barriers and develop solutions that enhance victim safety and hold offenders accountable.” Three VRN sites – Chicago, Detroit, and Oakland/Richmond – will directly benefit from these awards. Cook County is receiving an award to develop a multidisciplinary team to strengthen the law enforcement response to victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking who are enrolled in colleges located in Cook County, including Chicago. Contra Costa County, California—home to Richmond—is receiving an award to support the "Contra Costa County Zero Tolerance for Domestic Violence" project, which, among other things, will provide a variety of resources and services for victims of domestic violence and support a full-time probation officer who will monitor 35-40 high-risk domestic violence probationers. And Detroit is receiving an award to improve the information communication systems between the Detroit Police Department’s Domestic Violence Unit and the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office and to provide centralized, accessible legal and social services to victims of domestic violence.
The Fiscal Year 2015 Arrest Program grant recipients are: * Bannock County, ID * Buncombe County, NC * Circle, Incorporated, VT * City and County of Denver, CO * City and County of San Francisco, CA * City of Cheyenne, WY * City of Detroit, MI * City of Gainesville, FL * City of Indianapolis, IN * City of Lee's Summit, MO * City of Lowell, MA * City of New Orleans, LA * City of Richmond, KY * Contra Costa County, CA * Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, MI * County of Cook, IL * Cumberland County, ME * Erie County, NY * Executive Office of the State of Kansas, KS * Family Support Center of South Sound, WA * Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, MI * Iowa State Judicial Branch, IA * James City County, VA * Jersey Battered Women's Service, Incorporated, NJ * Lafayette City Parish Consolidated Government, LA * Lake County, MT * Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence, ME * Metro Government of Nashville & Davidson County, TN * Monroe County, IN * Nevada Network Against Domestic Violence, NV * New Jersey Department of Law & Public Safety, NJ * New York City Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice, NY * Oklahoma District Attorneys Council, OK * Rhode Island Public Safety Grant Administration Office, RI * Riverside County, CA * Safe Horizon, Incorporated, NY * Schuylkill County, PA * Shelby County, AL * Strafford County Commissioners, NH * Suffolk County, NY * Summit County, OH * Town of East Bridgewater, MA * Travis County Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Survival Center, TX * Winnebago County Circuit Court, IL About the Office on Violence Against Women Created in 1995, the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) provides federal leadership in developing the Nation’s capacity to reduce violence against women through the implementation of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and subsequent legislation. OVW administers financial and technical assistance to communities across the country that are developing programs, policies and practices aimed at ending domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. To learn more, visit www.justice.gov/ovw
Source: US Department of Justice
