FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? VAWO
TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2001??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 202/307-0703
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT AWARDS THE COMMONWEALTH OF
MASSACHUSETTS $2.3 MILLION
TO COMBAT VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
WASHINGTON, DC - Attorney General Ashcroft
announced today that the Justice
Department is awarding $2.3 million to the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts to prevent and respond to violence against women, as part of this
year?s STOP (Services, Training, Officers and Prosecutors) Violence Against
Women Formula Grants Program.? This program
is funded under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).
?No American should feel outside the
protection of the law, or beyond the reach of the
law.? The STOP program supports
communities that champion victims? rights and develops
?coordinated responses to
violence against women,? said Attorney General Ashcroft.? ?The funds
will give law enforcement and victim services the resources they need
to do a better job of
investigating, prosecuting and preventing crimes against women.? We must continue to provide
our communities with the resources to hold offenders accountable and to
meet the needs of
victims.?
STOP funds are used to promote partnerships
among law enforcement, prosecution, the
courts and victim advocates to ensure victim safety and accountability
for offenders.
The Justice Department has awarded the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts over $14.7 million in STOP funds since 1995, for
total funding exceeding $24.2 million under the VAWA grant programs since the
enactment of the VAWA legislation in 1994.
In the President?s FY 2002 budget request, the Justice Department seeks
$390 million in overall VAWA funding, a $102.52 million increase over FY 2001.
Through this funding, states and communities are urged to restructure
and strengthen the
criminal justice
system response to domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking, utilizing
the
expertise of all
participants working in the system, including victim advocates.
Since
1995, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts? STOP Program has focused on strengthening
coordinated efforts among law enforcement, prosecution, advocacy and other
community organizations to curb domestic violence, sexual assault and
stalking.? Through its Executive Office
of Public Safety, Massachusetts has:
?
Supported projects that place specialized domestic
violence/sexual assault civilian advocates within law enforcement and
prosecutorial offices;
?
Provided statewide training for civilian advocates and
their supervisors; and
?
Established a statewide training institute for
prosecutors and victim‑witness advocates working on cases involving
domestic violence, sexual assault and/or stalking.?
In
addition, SAFEPLAN Massachusetts, a program providing court‑based
advocacy for victims of domestic abuse seeking protective orders in district courts
or probate and family courts, has received continued support under the
Massachusetts STOP Program.? In its
continued effort to reach out to specific underserved populations, the
Massachusetts STOP Program has also established funding priorities to support
programs that hire full‑time bilingual prosecutors and/or victim witness
advocates specializing in domestic violence, sexual assault and/or stalking;
and improving access of court services by deaf or hearing impaired victims of
domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking.
?
The STOP Program is authorized under the
Violence Against Women Acts of 1994 and
2000.? The STOP grants are
awarded by the Office of Justice Programs? (OJP) Violence Against
Women Office (VAWO) to designated state agencies, which must award 25
percent of the funds
they receive to law enforcement, 25 percent to prosecution, 30 percent
to victim services,
5 percent to courts and 15 percent at the state?s discretion for other
STOP program purposes.
For information about the Massachusetts STOP
grant, contact Michael O?Toole, Executive Director, Massachusetts Executive
Office of Public Safety, at 617/727-6300.
Information about the STOP program and other initiatives involving
violence against women issues is available on VAWO?s Website at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/vawo or OJP?s Website at www.ojp.usdoj.gov, or by calling the National Criminal
Justice Reference Service toll-free at 800/851-3420.
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VAW01128
After hours contact: Angela Harless on 202/616-3266 or pager
#888/763-8943