This file is provided for reference purposes only. It was current when produced, but is no longer maintained and may now be outdated. Please send an email for questions or for further information.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEVAWO
OCTOBER 2000202/307-0703

RURAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND CHILD VICTIMS BENEFIT FROM OVER $23 MILLION IN JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FUNDING

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Victims of domestic violence and their children living in 63 rural areas in 41 states will receive improved services as a result of $23.9 million in new funding announced by the Justice Department today. The grants are for improving the investigation and prosecution of domestic violence and child abuse cases and to increase victims' access to advocacy and counseling in rural areas.

"Service delivery in rural areas can be difficult," said Bonnie Campbell, Director of the Violence Against Women Office (VAWO), which administers the grants. "These funds help police officers, prosecutors, and victim advocates to develop comprehensive programs that draw on rural jurisdictions' unique characteristics, such as grassroots coalitions and community service groups, to investigate and prosecute domestic violence offenders and provide victims with safe shelter and services."

The Justice Department's Violence Against Women Office (VAWO) has awarded funds to 63 grantees under the Rural Domestic Violence and Child Victimization Enforcement Grant Program to continue projects begun with Fiscal Year 1998 grant funds.

Goals of the rural program include developing and implementing policies and services to promote the early identification, intervention and prevention of domestic violence and child victimization; increasing victims' safety and access to treatment and counseling; and enhancing the investigation and prosecution of domestic violence and child abuse cases.

"Our program helps criminal justice and social service staff to find creative solutions to some of the problems they face in their rural communities," added Bonnie Campbell. "Victim advocates, often paired up with police officers, can get victims in a remote area to court or social service providers."

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 grant awards. More information about the rural program and other violence against women efforts is available on VAWO's Website at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/vawo or OJP's Website at www.ojp.usdoj.gov, or call the National Criminal Justice Reference Service toll-free on 1-800/851-3420.

###

VAW01002

After hours contact: Linda Mansour on 202/616-3534

OFFICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAMS

FY 2000 RURAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND

CHILD VICTIMIZATION ENFORCEMENT GRANTS

STATE

JURISDICTION

GRANTEE

AMOUNT

ALASKA

Barrow

North Slope Borough

$352,611

ARIZONA

Window Rock

DNA People's Legal Services, Inc.

$344,807

Phoenix

Arizona Office of the Governor

$856,718

ARKANSAS

Fort Smith

Crisis Center for Battered Women

$70,000

Fayetteville

Project for Victims of Family Violence

$183,870

CALIFORNIA

Sacramento

Inter-Tribal Council of California, Inc.

$304,997

Eureka

Yurok Tribe

$224,997

COLORADO

Woodland Park

City of Woodland Park

$350,000

CONNECTICUT

Hartford

Connecticut Office of Policy and Management

$350,000

DELAWARE

Wilmington

Delaware Criminal Justice Council

$500,000

FLORIDA

Tallahassee

Florida Department of Community Affairs

$400,393

GEORGIA

Atlanta

Georgia Criminal Justice Coordinating Council

$500,000

HAWAII

Honolulu

Hawaii Department of the Attorney General

$498,588

IDAHO

Sandpoint

Bonner County Homeless Task Force

$399,990

Rexburg

Family Crisis Center

$192,531

Twin Falls

Twin Falls County

$162,000

ILLINOIS

Chicago

Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority

$400,000

IOWA

Des Moines

Iowa Governor's Alliance on Substance Abuse

$553,960

KANSAS

Topeka

Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence

$400,000

KENTUCKY

Frankfort

Kentucky Justice Cabinet

$230,350

MARYLAND

Baltimore

Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention

$450,000

MASSACHUSETTS

Boston

Massachusetts Bureau of Family and Community Health

$574,680

MONTANA

Bozeman

City of Bozeman

$169,773

Missoula

Missoula County

$269,591

Thompson Falls

Sanders County Coalition for Families

$138,679

NEBRASKA

Omaha

Voices of Children in Nebraska

$199,604

NEVADA

Las Vegas

Andre Agassi Foundation

$500,000

Carson City

Nevada Office of the Attorney General

$111,130

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Concord

New Hampshire Department of Justice

$386,448

NEW MEXICO

Albuquerque

American Indian Law Center

$149,761

Albuquerque

Morning Star House, Inc.

$474,776

Jemez Pueblo

Pueblo of Jemez

$143,572

Zuni

Pueblo of Zuni

$353,187

San Juan Pueblo

San Juan Pueblo

$349,314

Las Cruces

Third Judicial District Attorney's Office

$375,000

NEW YORK

Albany

New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services

$299,553

NORTH CAROLINA

Cherokee

Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians

$150,000

Raleigh

North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety

$183,320

NORTH DAKOTA

Bismarck

North Dakota Council on Abused Women

$294,000

NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS

Saipan

Criminal Justice Planning Agency

$55,305

OHIO

Columbus

Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services

$694,842

OKLAHOMA

Miami

Community Crisis Center, Inc.

$273,424

OREGON

Madras

Jefferson County

$396,834

Grants Pass

Josephine County District Attorney's Office

$419,666

OREGON

Reedsport

Lower Umpqua Victims' Services

$350,000

Vale

Malheur County

District Attorney's

Office

$234,899

Salem

Oregon State Office for Services to Children and Families

$356,418

PENNSYLVANIA

Harrisburg

Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency

$415,000

RHODE ISLAND

Providence

Governor's Justice Commission

$351,720

SOUTH DAKOTA

Kyle

Cangleska, Inc.

$350,000

Pierre

South Dakota Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault

$687,893

Mission

White Buffalo Calf Woman Society, Inc.

$225,000

TENNESSEE

Nashville

Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration

$534,161

TEXAS

Austin

Texas Office of the Governor

$670,248

UTAH

Orem

City of Orem

$110,000

Provo

City of Provo

$210,286

VERMONT

Waterbury

Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services

$799,534

Burlington

Women Helping Battered Women

$249,043

VIRGINIA

Richmond

Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services

$500,000

WASHINGTON

Olympia

Washington Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development

$618,718

WEST VIRGINIA

Charleston

West Virginia Division of Criminal Justice Services

$168,350

WISCONSIN

Madison

Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance

$612,756

WYOMING

Laramie

Wyoming Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault

$599,363

TOTAL

63

63

$23,850,288