The office on violence against women (OVW) training and technical assistance (TA) initiative provides OVW grantees, subgrantees, and potential grantees and subgrantees with the expertise and support…

The Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women awarded a $900,000 Cooperative Agreement to the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault on August 1, 2026, under the OVW Technical Assistance Initiative (CFDA 16.526).

MNCASA will develop and revise resources and provide basic and intermediate training and technical assistance to grantees and potential grantees under OVW's Rural and Grants to Improve the Criminal Justice Response programs on the development, implementation, coordination, and sustainment of Sexual Assault Response Teams (SARTs). The award funds continuation of MNCASA's Training and Technical Assistance for Sexual Assault Response Teams project, which supports Purpose Area 18 of the FY 2025 TA Initiative.

The period of performance runs from August 1, 2026, through July 31, 2029. Work is performed in St. Paul, Minnesota. This is a continuation award following Cooperative Agreement 15JOVW-22-GK-04025-MUMU.

The office on violence against women (OVW) training and technical assistance (TA) initiative provides OVW grantees, subgrantees, and potential grantees and subgrantees with the expertise and support they need to develop and implement successful state, local, tribal, and campus projects; increase victim safety; and bolster offender accountability. Through cooperative agreements, OVW supports educational programming and resources, conferences, peer-to-peer learning, and targeted assistance that allows current and potential grantees and subgrantees to learn from experts and one another about how to overcome obstacles and incorporate promising practices in their efforts to address violence against women. In addition, OVW is focused on building the capacity of the criminal and civil justice systems and victim service providers to respond effectively to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking and to foster partnerships between organizations that have not traditionally worked together to address violence against women. With FY 2025 TA initiative funding, the minnesota coalition against sexual assault (MNCASA) will continue its training and technical assistance for sexual assault response teams (SARTS) project. MNCASA will develop and revise resources as well as provide basic and intermediate training and technical assistance to grantees and potential grantees under ovws rural and grants to improve the criminal justice response programs on the development, implementation, coordination, and sustainment of SARTS. This project supports FY 2025 TA initiative purpose area 18: training and technical assistance for sexual assault response teams. This award is a continuation of 15JOVW-22-GK-04025-mumu.