FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ??????????? OVC

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2001???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 202/307-0703

Justice Department Has $700,000 For Victim Advocates To Educate On Crime Victims? Issues

WASHINGTON, D.C. ? Victim advocates and allied professionals whose work affects victims can apply to the Justice Department?s Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) for a total of $700,000 in

FY 2001 discretionary grant funding.? OVC released its Discretionary Program Application Kit for Fiscal Year 2001 today.?

Two competitive discretionary grant solicitations for the FY 2001 funding cycle ? Action Partnerships with Professional and Membership Organizations and Field-Generated National Impact Projects ? are available.? The kit contains the application materials and directions necessary to apply for these grants.? Applications are due May 15, 2001.

The Action Partnerships Program invites applications from organizations representing the faith community, law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, and third-party payers of benefits, including health insurance companies, workers compensation programs and victim compensation programs. OVC plans to award $300,000 to support projects of up to $100,000 each.?

Under this program, OVC is inviting proposals from groups that represent specific constituencies to create partnerships between OVC and professional and membership organizations, resulting in activities that provide information and training to their members on crime victimization issues.? Grant funds can be used to develop and disseminate training curricula and materials such as videos, interactive CD-ROM software, handbooks and policy and procedure manuals.?

The Field-Generated Initiative seeks proposals from nonprofit and public agencies to address emerging victim issues in sexual assault, substance abuse, cybercrime, rural crime, hate crime and best practices in serving disabled victims, elderly victims and co-victims of homicide. Individual projects that demonstrate that they can provide training, technical assistance and/or information that can be packaged and made available to volunteers and professionals who work with crime victims can receive up to $100,000.? OVC has a total of $400,000 to award under this initiative.

More information about OVC and its programs and the FY 2001 Discretionary Program Application Kit are available at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc, or by calling the OVC Resource Center

toll-free at 1-800/627-6872.?

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For more information contact: Linda Mansour on 202/616-3534