A local organization dedicated to serving victims of domestic violence has received a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Turning Point Domestic Violence Services has been awarded a $450,000 grant from the department’s Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), which recently announced over $251 million in grant funding to bolster “coordinated community responses” aimed at ending domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking.
This included $43 million in funding for programs that provide six to 24 months of transitional housing or housing assistance to survivors of these atrocities.
Turning Point President Whittney Loyd said that this is the third three-year grant the agency has received from the justice department.
“The over-arching goal of Turning Point’s TH (Transitional Housing) programming will continue to be the provision of holistic, victim-centered TH services that move survivors into permanent housing and economic self-sufficiency,” she said. “TP’s proposed project will address this established goal by streamlining and enhancing current TH offerings while developing additional community-based housing options. The project will target residents from the Southern Indiana counties of Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur, Jackson, Johnson, and Shelby, who are survivors of dating/domestic violence, sexual assault, and/or stalking.”
In addition to its transitional housing grants, the OVW also awarded $18 million in State and Territory Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Coalitions Program funding, including $108,034 to the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence and $232,584 to the Indiana Coalition to End Sexual Assault, Inc.
According to a release from the justice department, the coalition grants will “enhance the coordination between courts, child protective services agencies, advocates, law enforcement, and community programs to encourage trauma-informed, survivor-centered responses to domestic violence and sexual assault.”
The most recent National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey indicates that about 41% of women and 26% of men experience contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner and report an intimate partner violence-related impact during their lifetime. Domestic violence rates are even higher for American Indian and Alaska Native populations, Black individuals, people of color, people with disabilities and LGBTQI+ individuals.
“Domestic violence is a pervasive and devastating crime that demands urgency and coordinated action at all levels of law enforcement,” said U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in an official statement. “As we recognize Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the Justice Department renews its commitment to building the capacity of our state, Tribal, and local partners to investigate and prosecute these crimes, pursue justice on behalf of survivors, and provide them with the support they need.”