St. Joseph County Coordinated Victim Outreach and Advocacy Project

This grant award made to St. Joseph County Police Department, is funded under OVC FY 2020 Law Enforcement-Based Victim Specialist Program Purpose Area 2: Mid-Sized Agency, which is designed to develop or enhance and sustain crime victim specialist programs within law enforcement agencies and better coordinate services to victims to more quickly and more effectively serve the victim assistance and compensation needs of all crime victims and inform them of their rights as crime victims. The St. Joseph County Coordinated Victim Outreach and Advocacy Project will expand the current coordinated efforts in St. Joseph County, Indiana to serve victims of domestic violence, sexual violence, human trafficking, and stalking by increasing resources available to the law enforcement officers responding to these crimes. This project focuses on connecting members of underserved and under-resourced communities with high-quality victim services and advocacy. The primary goals of this project are to expand existing services available to victims of domestic violence, human trafficking, sexual violence, and stalking in St. Joseph County; build capacity for the St. Joseph County Police Department to better respond to these crimes and victims; and increase training and education opportunities on the subjects of domestic violence, human trafficking, sexual violence, stalking, strangulation, safety planning, and trauma-informed response for SJCPD, other local law enforcement agencies, and community partners.