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 U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Office on Violence Against Women awarded a $575,000 Project Grant to Black Women's Blueprint, Inc. under the Culturally and Linguistically Specific Services Program (CFDA 16.016). The funding will support Black Women's Blueprint, Inc., a minority-owned and woman-owned non-profit organization, in providing culturally relevant services to Black/African American survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking in New York City and rural areas of central New York.

Key activities include 24-hour hotline counseling services, telehealth counseling, healing circles, mutual aid support groups, culturally specific counseling through methods like quilting, storytelling, theater, song, and African dance. The project aims to increase community capacity for culturally specific resources, enhance traditional victim services through the leadership of culturally focused programs, and address the safety, economic, housing, and workplace needs of Black/African American victims. The award supports a 3-year project period from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2026.

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, black womens blueprint incorporated will implement a project addressing the following purpose areas: increasing communities capacity to provide culturally specific resources and support for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking crimes and their families; enhancing traditional services to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking through the leadership of culturally specific programs offering services to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking; and providing culturally specific resources and services that address the safety, economic, housing, and workplace needs of victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, including emergency assistance. The project will also address the following priority area: priority area 2 - strengthening efforts to prevent and end sexual assault. The black womens blueprint incorporated culturally specific services project will serve black/african american survivors of sexual assault in the five boroughs of new york city (brooklyn, queens, manhattan, staten island and the bronx) and rural areas of central new yorks oneida and herkimer counties. Specific activities will include: telehealth and 24-hour hotline counseling services, community-based mutual aid support, healing circles on intergenerational gender-violence, culturally specific counseling services for african american victims in the form of healing and sister circles, quilting, storytelling, theater, song, and african dance.