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

The U.S. Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) has awarded a $500,000 Rural Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking Assistance Program (CFDA 16.589) grant to Family Crisis Centers Inc., a non-profit organization in Sioux Center, Iowa. The 36-month project aims to:

1. Increase the safety and well-being of women and children in rural Iowa communities by providing phone and text line advocacy to address domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking.
2. Provide training to victim service providers, law enforcement, prosecutors, courts, and other stakeholders to encourage collaboration, increase awareness, and improve responses to rural survivors.
3. Develop and improve the quality of sexual assault forensic medical examination or sexual assault nurse examiner programs in rural Iowa counties.
4. Train the Iowa Victim Service Call Center staff on best practices for serving rural survivors.

This project aligns with the OVW's Rural Domestic Violence Program, which supports initiatives that identify, assess, and respond to victims in rural areas through collaborative efforts among service providers, law enforcement, and community partners.

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, family crisis centers, INC. (FCC), in partnership with the iowa attorney generals office sexual assault response training coordinator, will implement the iowa victim service call center (ivscc) rural survivors service provision and training program. This victim service project addresses the following purpose areas: 1, 3, and 4 in 87 entirely rural counties in iowa. Specific activities will include: 1) increasing the safety and well-being of women and children in rural communities by dealing directly and immediately with domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking occurring in rural communities through the ivsccs phone and text line advocacy; 2) providing training to victim service providers, law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, courts, other criminal justice service providers, human and community service providers, educational institutions, and health care providers including sexual assault forensic examiners and sart teams, to encourage collaboration, increase awareness and prevent domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking, and to improve responses to rural survivors; 3) providing training to victim service providers, law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, courts, other criminal justice service providers, human and community service providers, educational institutions, and health care providers including sexual assault forensic examiners and sart teams, to develop and improve the quality of sexual assault forensic medical examination or sexual assault nurse examiner programs in rural counties of iowa; and 4) training ivscc staff on best practices for serving rural survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. The timing for performance of this award is 36 months.