The grants to indian tribal governments program assists tribal governments, and authorized designees of tribal governments, to 1) decrease the incidence of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual…

The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians was awarded a $900,000 Project Grant under the Violence Against Women Discretionary Grants for Indian Tribal Governments program (CFDA 16.587), administered by the U.S. Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women. The 36-month grant will enable the tribe's Family Violence and Victims Program to: 1) maintain a 24-hour domestic violence/sexual assault crisis line; 2) provide emergency shelter services; and 3) offer cultural healing services for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, and stalking within the tribal community. The project aims to decrease the incidence of these violent crimes, strengthen the tribe's sovereign authority to respond, and hold perpetrators accountable. This federal grant award supports the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians' comprehensive efforts to address violence against American Indian/Alaska Native women through culturally appropriate, trauma-informed services.

The grants to indian tribal governments program assists tribal governments, and authorized designees of tribal governments, to 1) decrease the incidence of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, SEX trafficking, and stalking in tribal communities; 2) strengthen the capacity of tribes to exercise their sovereign authority to respond to these violent crimes; and 3) ensure that perpetrators of these violent crimes are held accountable for their criminal behavior. The mississippi band of choctaw indians is a federally recognized tribe located in the east central part of mississippi in neshoba county. The family violence and victims program, an agency of the mississippi band of choctaw indians tribal government, works to address violence against american indian/alaska native women by providing culturally appropriate shelter services. With this funding, the family violence and victims nittak himmona (a new day) program will: 1) maintain a 24-hour domestic violence/sexual assault crisis line; 2) provide emergency shelter services; and 3) offer cultural healing services for victims. The mississippi band of choctaw indians has partnered with the choctaw women's coalition, a community advisory group which includes women from the community to be served by the project, to plan this project. The timing for performance of this new award is 36 months.