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 $700,000 Rural Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking Assistance Program (CFDA 16.589) grant to the County of Cheshire, New Hampshire. The project, titled the Compassionate Care Project, will be implemented in partnership with Monadnock Center for Violence Prevention and Cheshire Medical Center over a 36-month period from October 2024 to September 2027.

The key activities under this grant include: 1) encouraging collaboration among stakeholders such as law enforcement, victim service providers, and healthcare providers; 2) expanding victim services by providing trauma-informed advocacy support at the Cheshire Medical Center emergency department; 3) increasing community awareness of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking through outreach and education; and 4) expanding Cheshire Medical Center's medical forensic care capabilities, including services for children. The grant will also fund sub-awards to Monadnock Center for Violence Prevention and Cheshire Medical Center to support the implementation of these project components.

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 county of cheshire, in partnership with monadnock center for violence prevention and cheshire medical center, will implement the compassionate care project. This victim service program addresses the following purpose areas: 1, 2, and 3. Specific activities will include: 1) encouraging collaboration by forming a subcommittee from the regions multidisciplinary sexual assault resource team, advisory board subcommittee to serve as advisory sounding board, providing training to stakeholders, and recruiting partners; 2) expanding victim services by providing trauma-informed empathetic victim advocacy support services for victims of domestic and sexual violence who seek medical care at the cheshire medical center emergency department; 3) increasing awareness of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking by creating, producing, and disseminating knowledge products, attending and participating in outreach events, and promoting the compassionate care project through membership in community committees/coalitions; and 4) expanding cheshire medical centers medical forensic care with on-call services and by serving children. The timing for performance of this award is 36 months.