The tribal sexual assault services program (TSASP), which is authorized by 34 U.S.C. 12511(E), is one of five grant programs funded within the sexual assault services program (SASP)

This Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women provides $675,000 in funding over 3 years to the Seneca Nation of Indians to strengthen and expand their existing sexual assault services programming. The award supports the Tribal Sexual Assault Services Program (CFDA 16.024), which aims to create, maintain, and expand sustainable intervention, advocacy, accompaniment, support services, and related assistance for adult, youth, and child victims of sexual assault within Indian tribal lands.

The Seneca Nation will use the grant to hire two additional staff members, which will allow them to better serve sexual assault victims by increasing their ability to provide timely and specialized support. This project will support the Seneca Nation's efforts to deliver comprehensive, culturally-sensitive services to their communities across the tribe's five territories in western New York. The award begins on October 1, 2024 and runs through September 30, 2027.

SASP was created by the violence against women and department of justice reauthorization act of 2005 (vawa 2005) and is the first federal funding stream dedicated solely to the provision of direct intervention and related assistance for victims of sexual assault. Overall, the purpose of SASP is to provide intervention, advocacy, accompaniment (e.g., accompanying victims to court, medical facilities, police departments), support services, and related assistance for adult, youth, and child victims of sexual assault, non-offending family and household members of victims, and those collaterally affected by the sexual assault. TSASP supports projects to create, maintain, and expand sustainable sexual assault services provided by tribes, tribal organizations, and nonprofit tribal organizations within indian country and alaska native villages. With this funding, the seneca nation of indians holds title to five territories in western new york, an area of the state where communities are primarily rural and are at considerable distances from services and amenities available in urban locales. The aggregate acreage of tribal territorial land is 53,106 acres, or 82.9 square miles, but the territories are not contiguous, and each parcel is unique in its economic, social, and environmental profile. The allegany and cattaraugus territories are primarily residential; IT is on these two territories where approximately 52% of seneca members reside. Tribal administrative and other community-based programs, functions, and services are also housed on both the allegany and cattaraugus territories. Through TSASP funding the proposed project will strengthen and expand existing programming in the area of sexual assault services by hiring two staff members, which will allow SNI to better serve sexual assault victims by increasing the ability to provide timely and specialized support. This awardwill be a three-year project.