The Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) has received nearly $50 million in grants from the Department of Justice to improve the coordination of the justice systems that affect victim and family safety, give survivors of gender-based violence access to legal services, and help survivors.
With regard to the Legal Assistance for Victims Program, which caters to the needs of survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking, OVW provided a total of $35,659,296 to 59 grantees.
Additionally, OVW’s Justice for Families Program earlier this month distributed $14,191,208 to 26 projects with the goal of enhancing how the civil and criminal justice systems respond to households with a history of domestic violence.
Additionally, the Justice for Families Program is in favour of supervised visitation and secure child exchange.
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland stated that these grants “will help expand access to the services and support that are essential to bringing justice within reach for survivors of gender-based violence.”
“The Department’s Office on Violence Against Women will continue its crucial work to equip survivors with the tools they need to use our legal system, including by increasing access to legal representation, language help, and court-related programmes,” the statement reads.
The livelihood, wellbeing, and freedom of survivors and their families are significantly impacted by legal services and systems, such as family courts, according to OVW Acting Director Allison Randall.
“While meaningful representation for survivors is essential, it can be challenging to achieve after violent incidents or when someone is still looking for safety.
The recipients of grants from OVW’s Legal Assistance for Victims and Justice for Families Programs assist survivors in navigating challenging procedures and potentially hazardous crossroads, such as supervised visitation, protection orders, and divorce.
The Legal Assistance for Victims Program expands free legal aid for survivors in addition to addressing their civil and criminal legal needs.
The Justice for Families Program also supports training for court employees, child protective services workers, and others, provides legal aid to survivors, and funds court and court-related programmes.
The new Expanding Legal Services Initiative (ELSI) under the Legal Assistance for Victims Grant Program will be introduced by OVW later this year.
ELSI will help organisations that don’t already have a legal representation programme but need help setting one up. Grantees will receive specialised training to assist in developing a legal programme from the ground up while giving underserved communities and racial equity top priority.
In the fall, OVW will publish the solicitation for this new project. Nonprofit organisations and tribal governments or tribal organisations that want to start a programme that offers legal aid to people who have been the victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking are eligible applicants.
At upcoming educational virtual events, OVW will give more information and respond to participants’ inquiries. At https://www.justice.gov/ovw/events, registration for virtual events will be added as it becomes available.
Through the passage of the Violence Against Women Act and related laws, OVW takes the lead in strengthening the country’s ability to reduce violence.
OVW, founded in 1995, provides financial and technical support to local governments across the nation as they create plans, policies, and procedures to stop domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
Along with managing federal grant programmes, OVW also launches projects in response to unique requirements identified by towns suffering severe difficulties. Visit www.justice.gov/ovw to learn more.