(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced today that he is awarding $111.8 million in grants to crime victim service providers across Ohio, including $29 million to help child victims.
The grants are being awarded to support more than 400 programs throughout the state through Victims of Crime Act and State Victim Assistance Act funding.
“These grants will help provide comprehensive care and critical services for victims of crime,” Attorney General DeWine said. “The funding will support and expand existing programs throughout Ohio and allow new, innovative programs to develop. This year, we placed a special emphasis on providing funding for programs that help Ohio’s youngest and most vulnerable – child victims.”
Of the total grant funding announced today, an estimated $28 million will go toward providing services to domestic violence victims, an estimated $25 million will go toward services for victims of sexual assault or human trafficking, and about $29 million will go toward programs that serve child victims. Funding also will go to programs that serve victims with disabilities, elderly victims, and other victims of crime.
Some of the children’s programs funded by the grants include:
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- University Hospitals Health System, $670,293: Grant funding will be used to provide intensive trauma-informed crisis care and holistic case management services for children who are treated for gunshot wounds and violent assaults.
- Cincinnati Children’s Hospital – Joining Forces for Children, $655,323, and Mayerson Center for Safe and Healthy Children, $319,025: Grant funding will be used for programs that help children who have experienced adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and that work to reduce ACEs and build resilience.
- YMCA of Central Ohio, $203,443: Grant funding will be used to assist students who have been identified as experiencing trauma from abuse, loss, or chronic stressors, or who have stated specifically that they have been victims of crime.
- Grant Us Hope, $239,990: Grant funding will be used to mediate the impact of crime-related trauma on students throughout Ohio, including by training school staff in trauma-informed approaches, training student peer leaders, and creating a crisis/trauma response team to respond to and support schools if a tragic or violent event occurs.
- Public Children Services Association of Ohio – Ohio START, $3 million: Grant funding will be used to expand the Ohio START (Sobriety, Treatment, and Reducing Trauma) program, which provides specialized victim services, such as intensive trauma counseling, to children who have suffered victimization due to parental drug abuse.
- Kinnect – 30 Days to Family, $1.9 million: Grant funding will be used to expand the 30 Days to Family program, a family finding and foster family recruitment program.
Additionally, some of the programs receiving new grant awards this year are:
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- Mercy Health – St. Vincent Medical Center (Lucas) $600,000: Grant funding will be used to establish a trauma recovery center at Mercy Health – St. Vincent Medical Center to provide case management and support services to victims of crime who enter the emergency department.
- Reaching Above Hopelessness and Brokenness Ministries (RAHAB) (Summit) $1.3 million: Grant funding will be used to provide safe houses and trauma-informed holistic healing and support services for female victims of human trafficking in northeast Ohio.
- Tiffin University (Seneca) $116,500: Grant funding will be used to provide trauma-informed counseling, advocacy, and support services to student victims of sexual violence, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking.
- The Linda Vista (Montgomery) $79,927: Grant funding will be used to provide case management and support services to women and families who are exiting domestic violence shelters.
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Of the total awards announced today, $108.4 million is from the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) grant funding awarded to Ohio from the U.S. Department of Justice, financed by federal settlements, fines, and fees. Another $3.4 million is from the State Victim Assistance Act (SVAA).
Today’s announcement is part of the “Ohio Attorney General’s Expanding Services and Empowering Victims Initiative,” which Attorney General DeWine created in 2015 to determine how grant funds could best be spent to serve victims of crime.
A list of agencies receiving VOCA and SVAA grants can be found on the Ohio Attorney General’s website.
