White Earth Children's Advocacy Center Project

OVC’s mission is to enhance the nation’s capacity to assist crime victims and provide leadership in changing policies and practices to promote justice and healing for all victims of crime. OVC achieves this mission, in part, by administering award programs supported by the federal Crime Victims Fund (CVF) to develop innovative training and technical assistance, and to provide direct services to improve the overall quality of victim assistance.

The overall goal of the Fiscal Year 2019 Tribal Victim Services Set-Aside Program is to provide support to tribal communities to improve services for victims of crime. Under the solicitation, OVC solicited applications for funding to support a comprehensive range of activities including needs assessment, strategic planning, program development and implementation, program expansion, and other activities needed to address the needs of a wide variety of crime victims in tribal communities.

With an award under Purpose Area 2: Coordination and Expansion of Existing Victim Service Program, the White Earth Band of Chippewa Indians will establish the first tribal Child Advocacy Center (CAC) in Minnesota, which will expand the population to be served to include children and youth victims. The types of crime to be addressed are child abuse and neglect, physical and sexual abuse, exploitation and victimization as a result of opioid or other drug-related crisis; poly-victimization; and children and youth with problematic sexual behaviors as a result of their victimization. Funding will support the establishment of a CAC and hiring of a forensic interviewer and mental health professional. (An existing CAC Coordinator position will not be funded under this grant.) Other activities include completing MOUs, protocols and policies, data collection and reporting, and delivering evidence-based and trauma informed services for these victims.

(CA/NCF)