The research and evaluation (r & e) initiative is authorized by 34 USC 12291(b)(7), which permits OVW to set aside up to three percent of available funds from most OVW programs to conduct…

This Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) under the OVW Research and Evaluation (R&E) Program (CFDA 16.026) will evaluate trauma-informed art workshops for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated survivors of gender-based violence. The $492,200 award to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) will fund a waitlist randomized controlled trial to examine outcomes related to self-efficacy, hope, problem-solving, motivation to change, resilience, interpersonal trust, well-being, emotional regulation, mental health, and social connectedness. The findings will inform planning and delivery of trauma-informed programming that leverages art to foster expression, healing, and personal growth for survivors in correctional settings.

The research and evaluation (r & e) initiative is authorized by 34 USC 12291(b)(7), which permits OVW to set aside up to three percent of available funds from most OVW programs to conduct evaluations of promising practices for combatting domestic/dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, and to research issues emerging in the field. By generating more knowledge about strategies for serving victims and holding offenders accountable, communities that benefit from violence against women act (vawa) funding will be better equipped to align their work with practices that are known to be effective, and they will be more capable of building empirical knowledge on the efficacy of new and promising ways of making communities safer. This project will evaluate trauma-informed art workshops for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated survivors of gender-based violence. After conducting fidelity assessments (meaning measuring the extent to which the program is implemented as intended) and focus groups with participants and staff, the research team will, through a waitlist randomized controlled design, examine outcomes related to self-efficacy, hope, problem-solving, motivation to change, resilience, interpersonal trust, well-being, emotional regulation, mental health, and social connectedness. Findings will inform planning and delivery of trauma-informed programming that leverages the therapeutic potential of art to foster expression, healing, and personal growth for survivors in correctional settings.