U.S. SENATOR PATRICK LEAHY

Leahy Announces $2M. For Vermont Crime Victims
. . . Funds For Domestic And Dating Violence Training Programs Across Vermont 

(TUESDAY, September 14) – Programs that assist Vermont’s victims of domestic and dating violence, sexual assault and stalking will receive more than $2 million in Department of Justice (DOJ) grants to continue to provide their vital services, Senator Patrick Leahy announced on Tuesday. 

The Vermont Center for Crime Victims Services will receive $1,148,699 and the Town of St. Johnsbury will receive $642,207 through DOJ’s Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies and Enforcement of Protection Orders Program said Leahy, the ranking Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees DOJ and all federal law enforcement programs.  The grants would fund projects that provide comprehensive legal services through representation and victim advocacy to increase victims’ safety and security.  Leahy worked with others in the Senate to write the charter for this program into the Violence Against Women Act of 1994.  The program was reauthorized by the Violence Against Women Act of 2000.

Leahy also announced a separate award of $239,283 which Vermont Legal Aid will use to provide legal assistance to victims of sexual assault, stalking and domestic violence through innovative, collaborative programs.  This grant was awarded through DOJ’s Legal Assistance for Victims Grant Program.  

“We need to pay as much attention to supporting crime victims as we do to prosecuting criminals,” said Leahy, a former prosecutor.  “For a victim, courts are dreaded places where horrible experiences have to be relived and retold.  These services are vital to helping victims cope with the pressure and pain.  Advocacy groups and law enforcement agencies in Vermont are effectively using these grants to help interrupt the cycle of violence, to reduce the number of victims and to treat victims with the care and compassion they deserve.”

The Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services, based out of Waterbury, offers help with medical expenses, provides security devices -- like peepholes and deadbolts -- and, in some cases, helps pay for funeral expenses.  The Center also acts as an outlet for neighbors to offer assistance in helping victims in their own communities. 

Through this grant, the Center will be able to expand legal services to battered women, increase access to offender information statewide, and improve coordination, technical assistance and training to law enforcement, prosecutors and advocates by hiring a full-time prosecutor in the Attorney General’s Office.  Since 1998 the Center has received $3,742,984 under this program to combat domestic violence and to help provide services to victims throughout Vermont.

St. Johnsbury will use the funds to hire two part-time Domestic Violence Task Force coordinators in neighboring jurisdictions; continue to fund six full-time advocates in various regions; provide domestic violence training to law enforcement and court personnel and health care and human service providers; and purchase specific Domestic Abuse Information Network tracking software.  Since 1999 St. Johnsbury has received $1,490,255 to combat domestic violence and help provide services to victims through this grant program.

Vermont Legal Aid, in Burlington, has led a unique collaborative that includes the Vermont Law School’s South Royalton Legal Clinic (SRLC), Battered Women’s Service and Shelter (BWSS), and Umbrella Inc.  The collaborative serves low-income victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and/or stalking throughout Vermont by using intensive service teams that each include an attorney and a domestic violence advocate; clinical law student teams; and a statewide training project.  The teams provide coordinated advocacy to stabilize victims and increase their safety and financial security.  With these funds, Vermont Legal Aid will continue the project, with a special emphasis on providing services to battered immigrants, refugees and victims with disabilities.  Since 1998 Vermont Legal Aid has received $1,272,618 in federal funding to support its efforts to provide legal services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking.

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