The grants to enhance culturally specific services for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking program is authorized by 34 U.S.C. 20124

The Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women awarded a $450,000 Project Grant under the Culturally and Linguistically Specific Services Program (CFDA 16.016) to Vietnamese Initiatives in Economic Training (VIET), a non-profit organization in New Orleans, LA. Through this 3-year grant, VIET will provide culturally and linguistically specific resources and services to address domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking within the Asian and Vietnamese communities in the New Orleans metropolitan area. Key activities include community outreach, prevention programming, counseling, and advocacy tailored to the unique needs of these populations. The grant enables VIET to enhance access to traditional victim services, strengthen criminal justice responses, and address the safety, economic, housing, and workplace challenges faced by survivors. VIET has also received sub-awards from the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Criminal Justice to further support its victim service and advocacy efforts.

This program supports the maintenance and replication of existing successful community-based programs providing culturally specific services to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, as well as the development of innovative culturally specific strategies to enhance access to services and resources for victims who face obstacles to using more traditional programs. Culturally specific services means community-based services that include culturally relevant and linguistically specific services and resources to culturally specific communities which are statutorily defined as american indians (including alaska natives, eskimos, and aleuts); asian americans; native hawaiians and other pacific islanders; blacks; and hispanics. Projects must address at least one of the programs statutory purpose areas. Through this new culturally specific services program project, vietnamese initiatives in economic training (viet) will implement a project addressing the following purpose areas: increase communities capacity to provide culturally specific resources and support for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking crimes and their families; strengthen criminal justice interventions, by providing training for law enforcement, prosecution, courts, probation, and correctional facilities on culturally specific responses to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking; enhance traditional services to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking; work in cooperation with the community to develop education and prevention strategies highlighting culturally specific issues and resources regarding victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking; and provide culturally specific resources and services that address the safety, economic, housing, and workplace needs of victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, orstalking, including emergency assistance for the asian and vietnamese communities in orleans & jefferson surrounding parishes of louisiana. The project will also address the following priority area: priority area 1 - advancing racial equity. Specific activities will include: community outreach awareness, prevention services, counseling, and advocacy as IT relates to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking in culturally sensitive communities.