Technological Capacity for Victim Service Providers

Violence Free Minnesota, Minnesota’s domestic violence coalition and the Office of Justice Programs, a division of the Minnesota Department of Justice and the State’s Administrating Agency of VAWA/VOCA funding is submitting an application to enhance Minnesota’s use of technology to support victim service providers and crime victims requesting $600,000 over 36 months.  The goal of this project is to increase the number of crime victims served with a specific focus on culturally specific victims of crime and those needing housing resources by reducing barriers related to data collection and reporting. The project is designed and will be implemented in three phases.

    In phase one, VFMN will develop and implement a needs assessment to assess both OJP funded and non-funded victim service providers’ technological needs/gaps. To begin, VFMN will hire a full time employee (Project Manager) to implement the project. A needs assessment will be designed with feedback from stakeholders to identify victim service providers’ technological needs and potential solutions to meet programs' needs. While feedback from all victim service providers will be essential, VFMN and OJP will ensure culturally specific programs, housing providers, and those not funded by OJP are included in this work and the feedback gathered. Phase one is anticipated to begin in October of 2021 and end with a final Need Assessment Report being produced in May of 2022.

    Phase two will begin in spring or summer of 2022. Development of a plan to implement the identified technological solutions and then actually implementing these solutions are the objectives for phase two. The strategic plan will be based on information received during the needs assessment. Once finalized, this plan will be implemented by VFMN as proscribed by the strategic plan. The phase is anticipated to last until September 2024.

    The last phase will include a comprehensive assessment to evaluate the project and innovation implemented. Each phase and accompanying deliverable will assessed and evaluated for achievement of identified goals. VFMN and OJP will seek victim service provider feedback on strengthens, weaknesses, and effectiveness of the project, including whether the project successfully reduced administrative barriers associated with data collection and reporting for victim service providers, especially for culturally specific and crime victim housing providers.  A final Assessment and Evaluation Report will be created and distributed.