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) awarded a $750,000 Rural Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking Assistance Program (CFDA 16.589) grant to the Ion Center for Violence Prevention, Inc. This 36-month project aims to: 1) increase victim services by 50% across 5 rural Kentucky counties; 2) expand domestic/dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking education and prevention services; 3) develop a Sexual Assault Response Team to improve community response; and 4) increase awareness and access to Sexual Assault Forensic Exams (SAFE) and hospital advocacy in rural areas. Key partners include county sheriff and attorney offices, legal aid providers, community action agencies, and healthcare organizations. The project will deliver tailored victim services, collaborative law enforcement efforts, and community education programs to address the unique challenges of interpersonal violence in rural communities.

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 continuation OVW rural program project, ION center for violence prevention, in partnership with carroll county sheriff , carroll county attorney, gallatin county sheriff, gallatin county attorney, grant county sheriff, grant county attorney, owen county sheriff, owen county attorney, pendleton county sheriff, pendleton county attorney, legalaid of bluegrass, northern kentucky community action commission, ST. Elizabeth healthcare, carroll county hospital, thrive empowerment, and fiesta (families, inclusion, education, society, tradition, access) of northern kentuckywill implement the rural intervention and prevention services in northern kentucky project. This project addresses purpose areas 1, 2, 3, and 4 for carroll, gallatin, grant, pendleton, and owen counties.specific activities include: 1) increasingvictim services provided in five rural counties by 50%; 2) expanding domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking education and prevention services; 3) developing a sexual assault response team to improve community response; and 4) increasingawareness and access to sexual assault forensic exams (safe) and hospital advocacy in rural counties. Deliverables developed under this project include marketing materials for services provided through the project, serving rural counties powerpoint for adapted hospital advocacy for rural populations and translated materials for spanish speaking population including resource guide, updated rack cards, hospital pictorial guide, and green DOT bystander training. The timing for performance of this award is 36 months.