The grants to prevent and respond to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, and SEX trafficking against children and youth program supports comprehensive, community-based…

The Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women awarded a $500,000 Project Grant under the Consolidated And Technical Assistance Grant Program to Address Children and Youth Experiencing Domestic and Sexual Violence and Engage Men and Boys as Allies (CFDA 16.888). The 36-month grant funds a comprehensive, community-based project implemented by Citizens Against Physical And Sexual Abuse Inc. (CAPSA) to address the needs of children and youth impacted by domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, and sex trafficking in rural Cache County, Utah. Key components include: 1) identifying, referring, and providing direct trauma-informed services to youth survivors, with a focus on inclusive support for high-risk and underserved youth, including immigrant and refugee populations; 2) training school-based professionals on creating trauma-informed environments and responding appropriately to youth survivors; 3) training community members and youth-serving professionals on bystander intervention, recognizing trauma indicators, and providing referrals; and 4) developing youth-led prevention programming that addresses abusive behaviors, online harm, and bystander intervention. CAPSA is partnering with the Cache County School District and Cache Refugee And Immigrant Connection on this project.

The grants to prevent and respond to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, and SEX trafficking against children and youth program supports comprehensive, community-based projects that develop or expand prevention, intervention, treatment, and response strategies to address the needs of children and youth impacted by domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, and SEX trafficking, including support for their non-abusing parents, caregivers, and legal guardians. With this funding, CITIZENS against physical and sexual abuse (CITIZENS), in partnership with the cache county school district, and cache refugee and immigrant connection, will implement a project to address purpose area 3, serving youth ages 519 with a specific target of 119 year-olds in rural cache county, in northern utah. This continuation project takes lessons learned from the past funding and to expand the focus to the immigrant and refugee community and will: 1) identify, refer, and provide direct services for youth who have experienced domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, and SEX trafficking that addresses the emotional, cognitive, and physical effects of trauma on youth victims with emphasis on inclusive and relevant services for high-risk youth and underserved youth, including immigrant and refugee youth; 2) develop and deliver training to assist school-based professionals in: a.) creating and maintaining trauma-informed environments, B.) responding to youth survivors appropriately; 3) develop and deliver trainings to assist community members, professionals, and programs serving youth in: a.) upstanding bystander intervention training as primary prevention, B.) identifying signs of trauma in youth and responding appropriately, including providing appropriate referrals if youth-serving capacity allows; and 4) develop and deliver prevention programming for youth, including those at high risk for victimization that are inclusive of youth-led strategies, assist youth in understanding and recognizing abusive behavior, and address by-stander intervention and online harm and abuse. This project addresses OVW priority 5, underserved communities, by focusing on the refugee and immigrant community. Also, this projectaddresses the program specific priority of online abuse by providing support to survivors of online abuse and provide education about the harm and violence that occurs as well as how to appropriately respond to the situation. The project period for this award is 36 months.