Enhancement to StrongHearts Native Helpline

The purpose of this award, funded under the OVC FY 2019 Field-Generated Program to Improve Services for Victims of Crime, will support an innovative, field-generated approach to address gaps in the availability of resources for crime victims. This award is made under Purpose Area 1: Innovative Programs to Fill Gaps in Tribal Crime Victim Services. Awards made under this purpose area will support broader programs that have the potential to impact victim services for multiple tribes.

The National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center (NIWRC), through the efforts of StrongHearts Native Helpline, will use this award to expand and enhance services for sexual assault survivors. To accomplish this, the project will focus on two goals. The first will be to provide additional training to phone advocates to enhance their understanding of, and response to, incidents of sexual assault or violence. NIWRC will also update its current database to include culturally appropriate sexual assault resources to which advocates will be able to connect callers. To ensure that communities are aware of the expansion of services, NIWRC will seek to employ a Marketing Assistant to develop an advertising campaign specifically for sexual assault survivors. The multimedia campaign will include print and digital materials to ensure that survivors have access to this information, wherever they may be.

CA/NCF