Leahy Announces $1.5 M.
For Vermont Programs To Combat Domestic Violence

Grants Awarded Through Leahy-Authored Program

MONTPELIER, Vt. (TUESDAY, August 29) – Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced Tuesday that three Vermont organizations will receive more than $1.5 million in grants under a federal program authored by Leahy.

The Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services, Women Helping Battered Women and the Vermont Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing will receive the funding through the Department of Justice’s Rural Domestic Violence and Child Victimization grant program.  Leahy authored the program to aid rural areas in treating domestic violence as a serious violation of criminal law, and was part of Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 1994.  Leahy worked to reauthorize the program in 2000 and to renew it this past January as part of VAWA 2005.  The program awards grants to organizations to help strengthen the safety of survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, and child abuse through the cooperation of criminal justice agencies, victim service providers and community organizations.

“In a small state like Vermont, rural communities battle domestic violence in a setting where isolation can make receiving and providing help more difficult for both victims and law enforcement,” said Leahy.  “The recent tragic events in Essex are a sad reminder of the impact of domestic violence.  Targeted responses by these organizations, in coordination with county and local law enforcement agencies, will help assist Vermont’s victims as we all work to eliminate domestic violence in our communities.”

The Vermont Center for Crime Victims will receive $900,000 to develop new projects in six of Vermont’s most rural counties.  The projects will focus on expanding close, working relationships between the Vermont Department of Children and Families and local domestic violence programs.  The Center for Crime Victims will also establish case consultation services, hire advocates to address the needs of children exposed to domestic violence, and support educational outreach in schools.

Women Helping Battered Women will receive $448,000 to continue work in Chittenden County, where it will offer support to the Bosnian and Herzegovinian communities by providing interpreter services in cooperation with the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program and by providing legal advocacy services to victims.

The Vermont Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing will receive $155,000 to continue projects in four counties, including providing workshops for American Sign Language interpreters, efforts to increase understanding of the deaf and hard of hearing culture and will provide training to members of Vermont’s criminal justice system.

Leahy is the Democratic leader of the Senate Judiciary Committee and is a senior member of the Appropriations Committee. Since the 2000 reauthorization of VAWA, Vermont organizations have received more than $6.5 million in grants through this program to aid rural areas in treating domestic violence as a serious violation of criminal law.

# # # # #