Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault

Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault (ICASA), a woman-owned nonprofit organization and tax-exempt corporate entity based in Springfield, Illinois, serves as the designated statewide coalition for sexual assault services in Illinois. As a coordinating body representing 30 rape crisis centers and partner organizations throughout the state, ICASA provides comprehensive services to address sexual violence through federal grant funding from the U.S. Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women and the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. The organization works to coordinate victim services, facilitate multi-agency collaboration, develop service standards, conduct public education campaigns, and implement evidence-based prevention strategies aimed at reducing sexual violence and supporting survivors across Illinois communities.

ICASA has demonstrated substantial federal funding activity through multiple grant programs that span victim services, legal assistance, and primary prevention initiatives. Under the State Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Coalitions Program (CFDA 16.556), ICASA has received consecutive formula grants from the Office on Violence Against Women, including awards of $172,076 (FY 2021), $252,846 (FY 2024-2025), and $243,213 (FY 2025-2026), which support coordination of statewide victim services, inter-agency collaboration, training and technical assistance to member organizations, and public education on violence against women issues. ICASA has also served as prime grantee on a three-year, $800,000 Legal Assistance for Victims Project Grant (CFDA 16.524) from October 2021 through September 2024, which provided holistic and trauma-informed legal services to non-intimate partner sexual assault victims in Cook County in partnership with organizations including the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation, Mujeres Latinas en Acción, Northwest Center Against Sexual Assault, Pillars Community Health, Resilience, and YWCA Metropolitan Chicago. Additionally, ICASA has received project grant funding from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control to assess and advance primary prevention capacity, including a capacity assessment grant (June 2023-June 2024) and a multi-year implementation grant (June 2024-June 2028) totaling significant funding to build infrastructure for sexual violence prevention, enhance state action plans, and implement health equity-focused, community-level prevention strategies. ICASA has also served as a sub-grantee on multiple awards from the Illinois Department of Public Health and Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, distributing funds to its network of 27-30 rape crisis centers for sexual violence prevention activities, administrative support, and services to underserved sexual assault victim populations.