Contact: Violence Against Women Office, 202-307-0703
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT AWARDS MISSOURI $2.1
MILLION
TO COMBAT VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
WASHINGTON, DC - Attorney General Ashcroft
announced today that the Justice Department is awarding $2.1? million to Missouri 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 Missouri
over $13.3 million in STOP funds since 1995, for total funding exceeding $16
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.?
The State of Missouri has used its STOP funds
to allow localities to restructure and strengthen the criminal justice system?s
response in addressing violence against women.
A task force consisting of representatives from sheriffs? departments,
police departments, prosecutors?
offices, the circuit court, domestic violence shelters and sexual
assault victim advocates was developed to address issues related to crimes
against women.
With the 2001 funding Missouri will continue
to:
?
Hire and train
law enforcement personnel;
?
Support
specialized domestic violence units within law enforcement agencies;
?
Implement a
domestic violence crisis intervention program;
?
Develop
outreach services; and
?
Hire advocates
in domestic violence organizations.????????
?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 Missouri STOP grant, contact
Vicky Scott in the Missouri Department of Public Safety at 573/751-4905.? Information about the STOP program and other
initiatives involving violence against women is available on VAWO?s Website at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/vawo or OJP?s Website at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/, or by calling the National
Criminal Justice Reference Service toll-free at 1-800/851-3420.
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?? After hours contact: Angela
Harless on 202/616-3266 or pager #888/763-8943