 The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) is pleased to announce that it is seeking applicants for funding under the National Field-Generated Training, Technical Assistance, and Demonstration Projects cooperative agreement solicitation. This program furthers the Department’s mission by supporting the development of national-scope training, technical assistance, and demonstration project initiatives thatstrengthen the capacity of victim service and ancillary service providers to serve victims or enhance providers’ ability to support victims in accessing needed services and rights to which they are entitled. LGBTQ Crime Victims’ Access to Mainstream Victim Services: LGBTQ victims of crime do not have consistent access to culturally competent services to prevent and address the violence against them. Too often, mainstream victim assistance agencies cannot meet the needs of LGBTQ victims of crime in culturally sensitive ways, while LGBTQ-specific anti-violence programs either lack the resources to do so or do not exist. According to the National Center for Victims of Crime (NCVC) and the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP), LGBTQ-relevant victim assistance is generally lacking in every area, including lack of outreach, lack of staff with LGBTQ expertise, and lack of access to cultural-competence training. Many mainstream service providers do not implement LGBTQ-specific victim services or include specific policies, protocols, and practices within their agencies, or do not collaborate with LGBTQ-specific service providers. In Why It Matters (2009), NCVC and NCAVP found that mainstream service providers express a strong need and willingness to receive culturally specific training and technical assistance so they can better serve this population (www.ncvc.org). Additionally, through the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, the Federal Government added sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, and disability to the categories covered under federal hate crimes laws. As a result, federal hate crimes laws now address violent crimes based on a victim's gender, sexual orientation, and/or gender identity, in addition to other factors: (www.glaad.org/reference/hatecrimes).
NCVC and NCAVP conducted a survey of mainstream service providers and found that only 6 percent of all respondents indicated that a majority of the victims they served (75 to 100 percent) identified as LGBTQ victims of crime; 69.2 to 92.9 percent reported that they lackedoutreach specifically designed for LGBTQ victims of crime; 56.4 percent said that they would be very likely to use specialized training or technical assistance to better serve LGBTQ victims of crime; and 81 percent indicated that they would be very or somewhat likely to participate.
LGBTQ individuals and communities have become more visible throughout the United States; however, these individuals and communities continue to experience significant degrees of discrimination and a wide range of crime victimization, including assault, harassment, stalking, sexual violence, sex trafficking, and homicide: (http://transequality.org/PDFs/NTDSReportonHealth_final.pdf). In 2009, NCAVP reported that the number of bias-related murders of LGBT people in 2008 was the highest seen since 1999: (www.glaad.org/reference/hatecrimes). In addition, according to a study done by Yale University’s Program in Ethics, Politics, and Economics and Center for Research on Inequalities and the Life Course, LGBTQ youth suffer disproportionate educational and criminal justice punishments (http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/peds.2009-2306v1).
OVC seeks innovative proposals that will create, test, and evaluate equal access to traditional and mainstream service providers for LGBTQ victims of crime and that can be demonstrated and then easily adapted by communities across the Nation. OVC’s goal is to forge a nationalcommitment to better serve these individuals and populations. The project model should include a plan for developing guidance on replication of the model nationally based on findings from the demonstration sites. OVC is particularly interested in proposals that seek to strengthen traditional service providers’ knowledge and skills, resulting in more effective and efficient services and fostering a better understanding among criminal and juvenile justice systems and direct service providers on the needs and rights of LGBTQ victims of crime across the nation.
OVC anticipates that the demonstration site would extend for 3 years and would include a strong evaluation component that encompasses baseline data on services to this victim population at the beginning of the project; emphasize the modification, enhancement, and extension ofexisting resources in the community; and generate a resource compendium of evidence-based training, technical assistance, protocols, and services that other communities could use to replicate similar responses to this victim population in a cost-effective manner.
Not more than $250,000 annually for a project period of up to 3 years will be made available under this focus area. Note: At least $60,000 annually must be directed to an evaluation executed by an external evaluator (approved by OVC) of all project activities and deliverables.Adequate funding must also be directed to the compilation of the evidence-based resource compendium. OVC will assume responsibility for publication and dissemination of the compendium.
Applicants are not expected to provide a detailed strategy or budget for subsequent years of the project in their application, but should outline a projected plan to carry out the continuation phases of the projects in their application narrative. Kathleen "Kaught-lane" Gless, M.A. Federal, Military & Tribal Victim Assistance Team Deadline Registration with Grants.gov is required prior to application submission. All applications are due by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on July 5, 2011. |
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