The grants for outreach and services to underserved populations (underserved program) was statutorily created in the violence against women reauthorization act of 2013 (vawa 2013) to develop and…

The Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women has awarded a $600,000 Project Grant under the Grants for Outreach and Services to Underserved Populations program (CFDA 16.889) to Survivors Pathway Corporation, a minority-owned non-profit organization in Miami, Florida. The three-year grant, starting on October 1, 2024, will fund the organization's Resource, Education, Alliance, Community Building, Healing (REACH) program. The REACH program aims to develop and deliver educational resources, outreach strategies, and victim services tailored to the immigrant Latinx LGBTQI+ community in Miami-Dade County. Key activities include training for community partners, a social media campaign, and providing both digital and in-person advocacy and support services in English and Spanish to reduce barriers to accessing victim services within this underserved population.

The grants for outreach and services to underserved populations (underserved program) was statutorily created in the violence against women reauthorization act of 2013 (vawa 2013) to develop and implement outreach strategies targeted at adult or youth victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking in underserved populations, and to provide victim services to meet the needs of such populations. Grant funds may be used to: 1) work with federal, state, tribal, territorial, and local governments, agencies, and organizations to develop or enhance population specific victim services; 2) strengthen the capacity of underserved populations to provide population specific victim services; 3) strengthen the capacity of traditional victim service providers to provide population specific victim services; 4) strengthen the effectiveness of criminal and civil justice interventions by providing training for law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, and other court personnel on domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking in underserved populations; 5) work in cooperation with an underserved population to develop and implement outreach, education, prevention, and intervention strategies that highlight available resources and the specific issues faced by victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking from underserved populations; or, 6) strengthen the response of social and human services by providing population-specific training for service providers on domestic violence, dating violence sexual assault, or stalking in underserved populations. Eligible applicants are limited to: population specific organizations or victim service providers that are (1) deaf programs (2) lesbian, GAY, bisexual, and transgender (lgbt) organizations, (3) organizations serving underserved religious populations, (4) disability programs, or (5) organizations serving certain underserved racial and ethnic populations. The resource, education, alliance, community building, healing (reach) program of survivors pathway corporation justice and empowerment center specifically works with the immigrant latinx community identifying as lgbtqi+ in miami-dade county to reduce barriers that keep this population from accessing and utilizing victim services. To address these barriers, reach will develop and deliver educational resources to equip community partners, the local police department, clergy, and other nontraditional community partners with victim service information, how to screen for sexual and domestic violence, and best practices for a trauma-informed approach to serving lgbtqi+ survivors of violence. Reach will produce a social media campaign to dismantle fear and encourage individuals to access services. Individuals that contact reach, online or in person, seeking services will be assigned to either a digital or in-person advocate to assist. All planned services will be available in person or online, as well as in english and spanish to promote accessibility.