RURAL AMERICA TO RECEIVE MORE THAN $15.7 MILLION IN JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FUNDS TO ADDRESS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Women and children affected by domestic violence in 53 rural jurisdictions in 26 states will receive improved services as the result of more than $15.7 million in grants announced today by the Justice Department. The Department's Violence Against Women Office (VAWO) provides these funds to rural communities to improve the investigation and prosecution of domestic violence and child abuse cases and increase victims' access to treatment and counseling.

"It can be very difficult for abused women and their children to gain ready access to safe shelter, treatment and counseling in rural areas," said Attorney General Reno. "These funds will help police officers, prosecutors and victim advocates provide timely and improved services for rural victims."

"These funds are allowing us to encourage cooperative efforts to develop comprehensive strategies that draw on rural jurisdictions' unique characteristics," added Laurie Robinson, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), which includes VAWO. "While there is much about life in a rural community that makes service delivery difficult, there is also much in the traditions of rural America where community support is strong in times of need."

This year, VAWO is awarding funds to 53 new grantees under the Rural Domestic Violence and Child Victimization Enforcement Grant Program. In addition, VAWO awarded almost $5 million in funding to 15 jurisdictions to continue projects begun with Fiscal Year 1996, 1997 and 1998 grant funds, which brings the total to approximately $20 million.

"As I travel throughout the country, I am struck by the difference these funds are making in the lives of so many abused women and children," said Bonnie Campbell, VAWO Director. "Rural communities from coast to coast are coming together in new ways to address domestic violence and child victimization."

In Minnesota, 76 primarily rural counties and 11 tribal governments will use these funds to form local, multidisciplinary teams to respond to families with both domestic violence and child abuse. Similarly, the State of Louisiana will support domestic violence services and establish coordinated community response teams, including law enforcement officers, victim advocates, medical personnel, child welfare workers and clergy, in five rural parishes, Rural program funds will be used by Northern New Mexico Legal Services in Santa Fe to establish a state program of pro bono lawyers and domestic violence advocates to provide legal services and referrals. The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Michigan will offer more services to victims, including emergency financial assistance and transportation and programs for children who witness violence.

Funds will be used to establish a supervised visitation center for offending and non-offending parents and their children in Gafton County, NH. In Reno, Nevada, funds will be used to develop and implement a statewide court monitoring project, which will gather and evaluate data on the prosecution and adjudication of domestic violence cases. In Montana's Yellowstone, Richland and Lake Counties, funds will be used to provide services to migrant and seasonal farmworker women.

Congress appropriated $25 million for this year's rural program. Local jurisdictions within 19 rural states (as defined in the law: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont and Wyoming.) are eligible to apply directly for funding. If a state is classified as non-rural, the state is eligible to apply on behalf of its rural jurisdictions.

Attached is a list of the specific new grant awards. More information about the rural program and other violence against women efforts can be found at VAWO's Website at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/VAWGO or OJP's Website at www.ojp.usdoj.gov, or call the National Criminal Justice Reference Service toll-free on 1-800/851-3420.

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After hours contact: Linda Mansour on 202/616-3534 or page on 202/516-6843

STATE	JURISDICTION	GRANTEE	AMOUNT
ALASKA	Juneau	Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault	$267,543
	Kodiak	Kodiak Area Native Association	$105,766
	Sitka	Sitka Tribe of Alaska	$364,325
ARKANSAS	Jasper	Harmony House	$287,267
ARIZONA	Phoenix	Arizona Justice Institute	$567,428
	Bisbee	Cochise County Adult Probation	$160,520
	Chinle	Home for Women and Children	$709,705
	Prescott	Prevent Child Abuse, Inc.	$220,682
CALIFORNIA	Redwood Valley	Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians	$39,104
COLORADO	Durango	Violence Prevention Coalition of Southwest Colorado	$67,043
DELAWARE	Wilmington	Delaware Criminal Justice Council	$69,001
FLORIDA	Tallahassee	Florida Department of Community Affairs	$370,612
HAWAII	Honolulu	Department of the Attorney General	$472,160
IOWA	Mount Ayr	Ringgold County Coalition Against Domestic Violence	$91,456
LOUISIANA	Baton Rouge	Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement	$599,864
MICHIGAN	Sault Ste. Marie	Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians	$272,176
MINNESOTA	St. Paul	Minnesota Department of Public Safety	$749,080
MONTANA	Helena	Rural Employment Opportunities	$99,902
	Hamilton	Supporters of Abuse Free Environment	$203,393
	Glasgow	Women's Resource Center of Glasgow	$198,952
NEBRASKA	Columbus	Center for Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Survivors	$65,516
NEVADA	Reno	Nevada Network Against Domestic Violence	$347,231
NEW HAMPSHIRE	Concord	New Hampshire Department of Justice	$117,908
NEW MEXICO	Albuquerque	New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence	$744,233
NEW MEXICO	Chama	North Central Community-Based Services	$241,297
	Santa Fe	Northern New Mexico Legal Services, Inc.	$475,000
NORTH DAKOTA	Trenton	Trenton Indian Service Area	$102,948
	Belcourt	Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians	$150,197
OKLAHOMA	Ada	Chicksaw Nation	$145,084
	McAlester	District Attorney of Pittsburg and Haskell Counties	$299,997
	Tulsa	Domestic Violence Intervention Services, Inc.	$290,380
	Tahlequah	Help-In-Crisis, Inc.	$476,298
	Holdenville	Hughes County Commissioners	$285,780
	Enid	YWCA of Enid	$300,035
OREGON	Burns	Burns Paiute Tribe	$294,277
	St. Helens	Columbia County	$295,125
	Newport	Crossroads - Lincoln County Community Nonviolence Program	$300,000
	Bend	Deschutes County District Attorney	$297,489
OREGON	Pendleton	Domestic Violence Services	$347,274
	Heppner	Morrow County	$291,732
	Ontario	Project DOVE	$224,856
	Florence	Siuslaw Area Women's Center	$299,973
PUERTO RICO	San Juan	Commission for Women's Affairs	$560,901
SOUTH CAROLINA	Columbia	South Carolina Department of Social Services	$568,201
UTAH	West Valley City	West Valley City	$167,089
	Ogden	Your Community Connection	$134,083
WASHINGTON	Usk	Kalispel Tribe of Indians	$161,926
	Bellingham	Lummi Nation	$161,766
	Shelton	South Puget Intertribal Planning Agency	$420,795
	Wellpinit	Spokane Tribe of Indians	$271,362
WISCONSIN	Hertel	St. Croix Indians of Wisconsin	$213,178
	Madison	Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance	$510,000
WYOMING	Douglas	Converse County Coalition Against Family Violence	$266,460
TOTAL	53	53	$15,744,370

September 1999