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VICTIMS OF CRIME ACT VICTIM ASSISTANCE GRANT PROGRAM 2002 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA STATE WIDE ASSISTANCE REPORT Prepared By: District of Columbia Office for Public Safety and Justice 1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite 327 Washington, DC 20004-0000 tel: (202)727-0941
STATE FUNDING INFORMATION
A. THE ANNUAL AMOUNT ALLOCATED TO THE VICTIM ASSISTANCE PROJECTS: 1. Appropriations $ 0 2. Criminal Fines and Penalities $ 0 3. Assessments $ 0 4. Other $ 0 TOTAL:$ 0
B. TOTAL NUMBER OF AGENCIES FUNDED FROM THE FEDERAL GRANT: 0
C. NUMBER OF SUBGRANTS FUNDED FROM THIS FEDERAL GRANT: 14
VICTIM STATISTICS
A. THE NUMBER OF VICTIMS SERVED BY TYPE OF VICTIMIZATION:
NO. OF NO. OF VICTIMS SERVED VICTIMS SERVED 386 1. Child Physical Abuse 998 7. Adults Molested as Children 403 2. Child Sexual Abuse 688 8. Survivors of Homicide Victims 0 3. DUI/DWI Crashes 0 9. Robbery 1,174 4. Domestic Violence 10 10. Assualt 1,713 5. Adult Sexual Assault 202 11. Other 0 6. Elder Abuse TOTAL: 5,574
B. THE NUMBER OF VICTIMS WHO RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING SERVICES:
NO. OF VICTIMS SERVED 2,083 1. Crisis Counseling 857 2. Followup 412 3. Therapy 413 4. Group Treatment/Support 113 5. Shelter/Safehouse 790 6. Information/Referral (in-person) 574 7. Criminal Justice Support/Advocacy 21 8. Emergency Financial Assistance 637 9. Emergency Legal Advocacy 533 10. Assistance in filing Compensation Claims 3 11. Personal Advocacy 2,576 12. Telephone contact Informational/Referral 155 13. Other TOTAL: 9,167
A. EFFORTS TO PROMOTE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE AID TO CRIME VICTIMS: Program(s) reported the following: 1. Public service announcements were aired on television and radio stations to reach out to victims and promote a coordinated approach between legal and social service interventions and remedies. 2. Participate actively and hold leadership roles with Victim Access Now and Breaking the Silence East of the River Committee, both, which are committed to dialogue between domestic violence and sexual assault service providers to ensure coordinated, not duplicated, services in our community. 3. CAC has a coordinated and collaborative working group of professionals that respond jointly to child and adolescent sexual assault victims.
B. EFFORTS TAKEN TO SERVE FEDERAL CRIME VICTIMS: Program(s) reported the following: 1. CAC works in tandem with a team of professional including the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the children that their Sex Offense Unit serves. 2. Continues to provide outreach to federal agencies to encourage referrals for services. Also works collaboratively with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to provide services to individuals when the crime occurred on federal property.
C. ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE THE DELIVERY OF VICTIM SERVICES: Program(s) reported the following: 1. Offered training to staff at twenty human service agencies on assessing and supporting victims of Domestic Violence. The Domestic Violence Support Center staff at six social service agencies provided direct services on-site. 2. CAC led a systemic change in the MPD to create a centralized unit within the MPD to investigate child physical and sexual abuse cases only. This new Unit was formed in June 2000. The CAC testified on Capital Hill on May 5th 2000 to improve the response to child victims.
D. WAYS VOCA FUNDS HAVE BEEN USED TO ASSIST CRIME VICTIMS: 5 Case histories of services provided to domestic violence victims. This include an immigrant victim.
E. ISSUES OR TRENDS IMPACTING CRIME VICTIM SERVICES: Program(s) reported the following: 1. The ever-increasing cost of housing in the District, and the continuing crisis of providing an affordable and accessible health care system. 2. The need for safe havens for victims continue to grow and the shortage of safe housing impacts the overall outcome for the crime victim. 3. Insufficient attention to elder abuse, and victims of assault.
F. USE OF VOCA ADMINISTRATIVE FUNDS: The Justice Grants Administration uses administrative funds to support a grant manager who is responsible for the administration and management of grant funds. The grant manager provides monitoring that includes: a. Site Visits: an on-site visit is made to each subgrantee quarterly or more frequently as needed. This allows the program manager an opportunity to how the program operates and if the program is fulfilling sub-grant agreement requirements. The outcome of this site visit is to discuss procedures and policies as they relate to the program and the grant itself. b. Programmatic Reviews: reports are received on a quarterly basis and are reviewed for compliance with terms and conditions of the grant. If there are issues that the sub grantee brings up in the report, the grant manager works collaboratively with the sub grantee to resolve these issues. c. Financial Review: financial records are reviewed on a quarterly basis as well. The rate of spending is monitored is monitored to insure that grant funds are being spent according to schedule and that all expenditures are allowable and reasonable, and consistent with the program being funded. d. Service Delivery: While this is a part of the service review, it is important to examine the services of victims in the following areas; confidentiality of victim information, eligibility, outreach, follow-up and evaluation. The grant manager also provides information to the agencies about funding and training opportunities. Administrative funds are also used to support the administration of the competitive process. Funds are used to advertise the availability of VOCA funds to broadest the range of agencies that were knowledgeable about funds.