The rural domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking program (rural program) is authorized by 34 U.S.C. 12341

The Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women awarded Go33 Justice & Community Services $750,000 on October 1, 2025, under the Rural Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking Assistance Program (CFDA 16.589).

Go33 Justice & Community Services, the Justice and Community Services Division of the West Virginia Department of Administrative Services, serves as the State Administrative Agency for criminal justice programs in West Virginia and functions as a grant administrator and fiscal agent. The award funds a continuation project through September 30, 2028, with place of performance in Charleston, West Virginia.

Under the Rural Program, the recipient supports initiatives that identify, assess, and appropriately respond to child, youth, and adult victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking in rural communities; establish and expand victim services in rural areas; increase the safety and well-being of women and children by addressing these crimes and implementing prevention strategies; and develop, expand, and improve sexual assault forensic medical examination and sexual assault nurse examiner programs. Grantees must employ at least one of five prescribed strategies, including cooperative efforts among law enforcement, prosecutors, and victim service providers; provision of treatment, counseling, advocacy, and legal assistance to victims; community-based education and prevention initiatives; programs addressing sexual assault; and services targeting victims in remote and geographically isolated areas.

Rural program funds are used to support programs that: 1) identify, assess, and appropriately respond to child, youth, and adult victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking in rural communities; 2) establish and expand victim services in rural communities to child, youth, and adult victims; 3) increase the safety and well-being of women and children in rural communities, by (a) dealing directly and immediately with domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking; and (b) creating and implementing strategies to increase awareness and prevent these crimes; and 4) develop, expand, implement, and improve the quality of sexual assault forensic medical examination or sexual assault nurse examiner programs. Grantees must use at least one of the following strategies in implementing their projects: 1) implement, expand, and establish cooperative efforts and projects among law enforcement officers, prosecutors, victim service providers, and other related parties to investigate and prosecute incidents of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking; 2) provide treatment, counseling, advocacy, legal assistance, and other long-term and short-term victim and population specific services to adult and minor victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking in rural communities; 3) work in cooperation with the community to develop education and prevention strategies directed toward such issues; 4) develop, enlarge, or strengthen programs addressing sexual assault; and 5) develop programs and strategies that focus on the specific needs of victims of who reside in remote rural and geographically isolated areas. Through this continuation OVW rural program project, GO33 justice and community services/west virigina department of homeland security, division of administrative services, justice and community services in partnership with branches domestic violence shelter, eastern panhandle empowerment center , centers against violence , family refuge center , WV coalition against domestic violence; west virginia department of human services, bureau of social services, and legal aid of west virginia, will implement the serving survivors in rural communities program. This victim service project addresses the following purpose areas: 1 and 3 for morgan, randolph, greenbrier and mason counties in west virginia. Specific activities will include: 1) advocacy services by skilled domestic violence specialists (DVS) CO-located within their non-profit agency and their local department of human services office to promote ease of access to services in these rural communities; 2) implementing the west virginia model dangerous lethality assessment guide (lethality assessment, response and homicide prevention guide for west virginia), coordinated responses to victims of SEX trafficking, improve law enforcement & prosecution responses, and enhances services/responses for survivors with children; 3) providing legal consultations and legal service for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and/or stalking in rural WV counties with a focus on survivors with children and survivors also experiencing human trafficking; 4) training and technical assistance for professionals, CCR members, and human trafficking task force members; 5) participating with the west virginia human trafficking task force; and 6) providing housing advocacy to achieve safe, stable housing in rural communities.