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 awarded a $600,000 Project Grant under the Grants for Outreach and Services to Underserved Populations program (CFDA 16.889) to Rainbow Access Initiative, Inc. (doing business as Prism Counseling and Advocacy) in Albany, NY. The grant will fund the organization's efforts to provide counseling and advocacy services for LGBTQIA+ individuals who face complex health disparities related to factors such as race, poverty, and disability. Key activities include hiring a program coordinator, case manager, and administrative assistant to expand outreach and provide population-specific training to staff on dismantling bias. The grant will also support the delivery of reduced or no-cost services to LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC survivors of violence to address barriers to accessing quality care and support. The project period runs from October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2027.

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 vision of prism is to provide counseling and advocacy services for lgbtqia+ individuals navigating complex health disparities such as race, poverty, and disability. Because of factors such as cost, bias, and lack of culturally competent providers, lgtbqia+ and bipoc individuals face additional barriers towards receiving quality care and support. To address these barriers, prism will hire a licensed program coordinator, a case manager, and an administrative assistant to the in our own voices office to further outreach to clients and training for staff on dismantling bias. Prism will also provide reduced or zero cost services to lgbtqia+ and bipoc survivors of violence so that the barrier of cost does not prevent ability to connect to services.