Four Vermont Organizations To Receive More Than $600,000
In Federal Funds For Victims Assistance
And Crime Reduction

Senator Patrick Leahy has announced that the U.S. Department of Justice has awarded grants totaling $623,009 to five Vermont programs aimed at reducing violence and assisting victims of domestic violence.

The Justice Department’s Violence Against Women Office has awarded the Vermont Network Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault two grants totaling $383,414. The local grant, $190,822, will be used to expand the capacity of the local rape crisis centers in Chittenden and Washington counties to help victims with legal protection and to make informed decisions about their safety. Providing legal assistance to victims of domestic violence is a main objective for the use of this grant. The state grant, $192,592, will go toward coordinating a statewide Sexual Violence Task Force and hiring a Sexual Violence Specialist and a Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Training Specialist.

The Corrections Program Office in the Department of Justice has awarded $189,595 to the Vermont Department of Development and Mental Health Services. The grant will be used to formulate a data management system, improve community supervision, and train individuals with developmental disabilities about the law.

The Justice Department’s State Justice Statistics Program for Statistical Analysis Centers has granted the Vermont Center for Justice Research $50,000 to develop data and analysis for the Vermont Crime Report: 2001, using incident-based crime data.

Leahy chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees the Department of Justice.

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