The improving criminal justice responses to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking grant program is authorized by 34 U.S.C. 10461-10465 and implemented through regulations at…

The U.S. Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women awarded a $374,836 Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies and Enforcement of Protection Orders Program (CFDA 16.590) project grant to State College Borough, Pennsylvania. Through this 3-year grant, State College Borough, in partnership with Centre Safe, the Centre County District Attorney's Office, and the Centre County Probation and Parole, will implement activities to:

1. Centralize and coordinate the county's response to victims of intimate partner crimes through ongoing monitoring, training, and advancement of the county-wide domestic violence review team involving law enforcement, advocacy, prosecution, and probation/parole.

2. Provide training for judges, magisterial district judges, probation officers, and court personnel on the Maryland Lethality Assessment Program to enhance the local criminal justice response.

3. Increase collaboration with agencies serving older individuals and those with disabilities, and identify multidisciplinary trainings to enhance services for these victim populations.

4. Train prosecutors and prosecution-related staff to integrate trauma-informed and survivor-centered best practices into the decision-making process.

5. Conduct compensated survivor focus groups to identify and address culturally or population-specific barriers to services.

The improving criminal justice responses to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking grant program is authorized by 34 U.S.C. 10461-10465 and implemented through regulations at 28 C.F.R. Part 90, subpart D. The program fosters victim safety and offender accountability in cases of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking by encouraging state, local, and tribal governments and courts to work collaboratively with community partners to identify problems and share ideas that will result in effectively responding to these crimes. An integral component of this program is the development, revitalization, or enhancement of a coordinated community response that brings together criminal justice agencies, victim services providers, and community-based organizations that respond to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. The grantee, in collaboration with its project partners, will use this continuation award to continue improving the jurisdictions criminal justice system response to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. Specifically, the project will: 1) implement activities focused on victim safety and offender accountability; 2) participate in mandated OVW training and technical assistance; and 3) work toward sustainability of project activities. Through this continuation grants to improve the criminal justice response project, state borough college, in partnership with centre safe, the centre county district attorneys office, and the centre county probation and parole, will implement a project addressing the following purpose areas: 3, 6, 8, 14, and 16. This project will be enacted throughout the county of centre. The project will address priority area 2.specific activities will include: 1) centralization and coordination of response to victims of intimate partner crimes through ongoing monitoring, training, and advancement of the county-wide domestic violence review team, which is comprised of law enforcement, advocacy, prosecution, and probation/parole; 2) training for commonwealth judges, magisterial district judges, probation officers and court personnel on the maryland lethality assessment program; 3) increased collaboration with agencies who assist older individuals and individuals with physical and mental disabilities, and the identification of multidisciplinary trainings to serve these victims, to enhance the local response; 4) training for prosecutors and prosecution-related personnel to ensure that victim safety, offender accountability, and victim consultation are incorporated into the prosecutorial response in order to integrate sound trauma-informed and survivor-centered best practices into the decision-making process by prosecutors; and 5) compensated survivor focus groups, where project partners will identify culturally and/or population-specific barriers and strategize action plans to address them to ensure that policies are non-biased and trauma informed with minimal unintended consequences to victims and to increase access to rural victims.