The rural domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking program (rural program) is authorized by 34 U.S.C. 12341

The North Coast Rape Crisis Team (NCRCT) was awarded a $500,000 Project Grant under the U.S. Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) Rural Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking Assistance Program (CFDA 16.589). The 36-month grant will support a collaborative effort between NCRCT and partners including the Crescent City Police Department, Del Norte County Sheriff's Office, Yurok Tribal Police Department, Del Norte County District Attorney's Office, and Sutter Coast Hospital. Key project activities include: establishing a continuous SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) training program, providing mentorship and leadership training for SANE nurses, developing a Child Abuse Support Team, training a forensic interviewer, and identifying a new law enforcement candidate to join the forensic interviewer team. The project aims to enhance the safety and well-being of victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking in the rural communities of Del Norte and Humboldt Counties, California.

Rural program funds are used to support programs that: 1) identify, assess, and appropriately respond to child, youth, and adult victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking in rural communities by encouraging collaboration among victim service providers, law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, courts, other criminal justice service providers, human and community service providers, educational institutions, and health care providers; 2) establish and expand victim services in rural communities to child, youth, and adult victims; 3) increase the safety and well-being of women and children in rural communities, by (a) dealing directly and immediately with domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking; and (b) creating and implementing strategies to increase awareness and prevent these crimes; and 4) develop, expand, implement, and improve the quality of sexual assault forensic medical examination or sexual assault nurse examiner programs. Grantees must use at least one of the following strategies in implementing their projects: 1) implement, expand, and establish cooperative efforts and projects among law enforcement officers, prosecutors, victim service providers, and other related parties to investigate and prosecute incidents of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking; 2) provide treatment, counseling, advocacy, legal assistance, and other long-term and short-term victim and population specific services to adult and minor victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking in rural communities; 3) work in cooperation with the community to develop education and prevention strategies directed toward such issues; 4) develop, enlarge, or strengthen programs addressing sexual assault; and 5) develop programs and strategies that focus on the specific needs of victims of who reside in remote rural and geographically isolated areas. Through this new OVW rural program project, the north coast rape crisis team, in partnership with the crescent city police department, DEL norte county sherrifs office, yurok tribal police department, DEL norte county district attorneys office, and sutter coast hospital will implement the best practices for DEL norte survivors project. This sane project will addresspurpose area 4 for DEL norte and humboldt counties in california. Specific activities include: 1) creatinga training program that allows for continuous training of sanes in DEL norte county, including working with project partners to plan a functioning sane training program; 2) sending twonurses to sart training in the first year, and an additional twonurses in the next two grant years; 3) developing and circulatingenglish and spanish california sexual assault survivor rights cards to law enforcement and medical providers; 4) creatinga mentorship program that allows for continual mentorship of sanes via telehealth software by working with project partners to execute an innovative sane mentorship program with experienced humboldt county sane nurses; 5) providingdel norte county nurses 40 hours of mentorship training from senior practicing sane providers in the first year; 20-40 hours of mentorship training from in year two and three, including leadership training for those who received mentorship in year one; 6)implementing a child abuse support team (cast) program for DEL norte county; 7) training the district attorney investigative assistant to become a forensic interviewer in year one; and 8) identifyingone new law enforcement candidate in to join the forensic interviewer team in years two and three. The project will address priority area 2: prevent and end sexual assault. This application proposes to address the rural sane initiative. The timing for performance of this award is 36 months.