STOP Violence Against Women Act Grant

The Services Training Officers Prosecutors (STOP) Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Formula Grant Program (STOP Program), promotes a coordinated, multidisciplinary approach to improving the criminal justice system’s response to violent crimes against women. The STOP Program encourages the development and strengthening of effective law enforcement and prosecution strategies to address violent crimes against women and the development and strengthening of victim services in cases involving violent crimes against women. The STOP Program is administered at the federal level by the Office on Violence Against Women, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice and at the state level by the Missouri Department of Public Safety, Office of the Director.

The STOP Program Funds are to be distributed to public and nonprofit agencies to carry out programs and projects specified under the eligible statutory purposes. States must allocate at least 25 percent of each year’s grant award to law enforcement programs, at least 25 percent to prosecution programs, at least 5 percent for court programs, and at least 30 percent to nonprofit, nongovernmental victim service programs. The remainder of the funds may be spent at the discretion of the state to address the statutory program purposes of this program.

Statutory Purpose Areas

• Training law enforcement officers, judges, other court personnel, and prosecutors to more effectively identify and respond to violent crimes against women
• Developing, training, or expanding units of law enforcement officers, judges, other court personnel, and prosecutors specifically targeting violent crimes against women
• Developing and implementing more effective police, court, and prosecution policies, protocols, orders, and services specifically devoted to preventing, identifying, and responding to violent crimes against women
• Developing, installing, or expanding data collection and communication systems, including computerized systems, linking police, prosecutors, and courts or for the purpose of identifying, classifying, and tracking arrests, protection orders, violations of protection orders, prosecutions, and convictions for violent crimes against women
• Developing, enlarging, or strengthening victim services and legal assistance programs, developing or improving delivery of victim services and legal assistance to underserved populations, providing specialized domestic violence court advocates in courts where a significant number of protection orders are granted, and increasing reporting and reducing attrition rates for cases involving violent crimes against women
• Supporting formal and informal statewide, multidisciplinary efforts, to the extent not supported by state funds, to coordinate the response of state law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, courts, victim services agencies, and other state agencies and departments, to violent crimes against women
• Training of sexual assault forensic medical personnel examiners in the collection and preservation of evidence, analysis, prevention, and providing expert testimony and treatment of trauma related to sexual assault.
• Developing, enlarging, or strengthening programs to assist law enforcement, prosecutors, courts, and others to address the needs and circumstances of individuals 50 years of age and over, individuals with disabilities, and Deaf individuals who are victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking
• Providing assistance to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in immigration matters.
• Maintaining core victim services and criminal justice initiatives, while supporting complementary new initiatives and emergency services for victims and their families, including rehabilitative work with offenders.
• Supporting the placement of special victim assistants (to be known as “Jessica Gonzales Victim Assistants”) in local law enforcement agencies to serve as liaisons between victims and personnel in local law enforcement agencies in order to improve the enforcement of protection orders.
• Providing funding to law enforcement agencies, victim services providers, and state, tribal, territorial, and local governments to fund victim services personnel, to be known as “Crystal Judson Victim Advocates,” to provide supportive services and advocacy for victims of domestic violence committed by law enforcement personnel;
• Developing and promoting state, local, or tribal legislation and policies that enhance best practices for responding to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
• Developing, implementing, or enhancing Sexual Assault Response Teams, or other similar coordinated community responses to sexual assault.
• Developing and strengthening policies, protocols, best practices, and training for law enforcement agencies and prosecutors relating to the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault cases and the appropriate treatment of victims.
• Developing, enlarging, or strengthening programs addressing sexual assault against men, women, and youth in correctional and detention settings.
• Identifying and conducting inventories of backlogs of sexual assault evidence collection kits and developing protocols and policies for responding to and addressing such backlogs.
• Developing, enlarging, or strengthening programs and projects to provide services and responses targeting male and female victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, whose ability to access traditional services and responses is affected by their sexual orientation or gender identity.
• Developing, enhancing, or strengthening prevention and educational programming to address domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or female genital mutilation or cutting, with not more than 5 percent of the amount allocated to a state to be used for this purpose.
• Developing, enhancing, or strengthening programs and projects to improve evidence collection methods for victims through funding for technology that better detects bruising and injuries across skin tones and related training.
• Developing, enlarging, or strengthening culturally specific victim services programs to provide culturally specific victim services and responses to female genital mutilation or cutting.
• Paying any fees charged by any governmental authority for furnishing a victim or the child of a victim with any of the following documents:
  • A birth certificate or passport of the individual as required by law.
  • An identification card issued to the individual by a State or Tribe, that shows that the individual is a resident of the State or a member of the Tribe.

Match Requirements

State and Local units of government must provide 25% of the total project cost in cash or in-kind match.

Subgrantee Organization Eligibility Requirements

• Be a public or nonprofit organization, or a combination of such organizations.
• Comply with the applicable provisions of STOP, the Program Guidelines, and the requirements of the OJP Financial Guide.
• Maintain statutorily required civil rights statistics on victims served.
• Grantees and subgrantees shall develop a plan for implementation.
• Applicants and grantees must certify that its laws, policies, and practices do not require that the victim bear the costs associated with the filing of criminal charges against the offender, or the costs associated with the filing, issuance, registration, or service of a warrant, protection order, petition for a protection order or witness subpoena, whether issued inside or outside the state.
• Applicants are discouraged from proposing projects that include activities that may compromise victim safety.

Eligible Subgrantee Organizations

State and local units of government and public and private nonprofit organizations are eligible to receive STOP funds.

Allowable Services

In general, STOP Program funds may support personnel, training, technical assistance, evaluation, data collection, and equipment costs to enhance the apprehension, prosecution, and adjudication of persons committing violent crimes against women, and enhance services that meet the needs of women victimized by violence.