The legal assistance for victims (LAV) grant program, authorized by 34 U.S.C. 20121, is intended to increase the availability of civil and criminal legal assistance needed to effectively aid victims…

The Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women awarded $400,000 to Saahas For Cause on October 1, 2025, under the Legal Assistance for Victims (LAV) Expanding Legal Services Initiative (CFDA 16.524), a project grant intended to establish comprehensive legal services for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking ages 11 and older.

Saahas For Cause will plan and implement a legal services program delivering representation in family law cases to victims and survivors in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, California. The program encompasses legal assistance in family, immigration, employment, housing matters, protection or stay-away order proceedings, criminal justice investigations and prosecutions, and post-conviction relief proceedings where the conviction is related to or arising from domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or sex trafficking. The LAV Expanding Legal Services Initiative targets eligible organizations that do not currently offer legal services, enabling them to establish new legal representation capacity for this victim population.

Performance runs from October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2027, with place of performance in Cerritos, California. Saahas For Cause is a woman-owned, tax-exempt nonprofit organization headquartered in Santa Ana, California, that specializes in culturally specific victim support services, particularly for the South Asian community across Los Angeles and Orange Counties.

The legal assistance for victims (LAV) grant program, authorized by 34 U.S.C. 20121, is intended to increase the availability of civil and criminal legal assistance needed to effectively aid victims (ages 11 and older) of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking by providing funds for comprehensive direct legal services to victims in legal matters relating to or arising out of that abuse or violence. Legal assistance includes assistance to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking in: a) family, tribal, territorial, immigration, employment, administrative agency, housing matters, campus administrative, or protection or stay away order proceedings, and other similar matters; b) criminal justice investigations, prosecutions, and post-trial matters (including sentencing, parole, and probation) that impact the victims safety and privacy; c) alternative dispute resolution, restorative practices, or other processes intended to promote victim safety, privacy, and autonomy; and d) post-conviction relief proceedings in state, local, tribal, or territorial court where the conviction of a victim is related to or arising from domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or SEX trafficking. 34 U.S.C. 12291(a)(24)(c). The LAV grant programs expanding legal services initiative (elsi) is intended to enable eligible organizations that do not currently offer legal services to establish a program that provides legal representation to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. Through this new legal assistance for victims expanding legal services initiative project, saahas for cause will plan and implement a comprehensive legal services program to provide representation in family law cases to victims and survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and/or stalking in LOS angeles and orange counties in california.