Increasing Access to Victim Services for Victims of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Who Have a Serious Mental Illness

The primary aim of OVC's FY 2017 Vision 21 Integrated Services for Victims Program: Increasing Access to Mental Health Services for Victims of Crime (Vision 21 ISV Program) is to bridge the divide between crime victims, victim services providers, and mental health services providers so that communities are able to create a seamless network of services to assist crime victims to recover, heal, and thrive. The Vision 21 ISV Program includes five purpose areas. This project is funded under Purpose Area Purpose Area 2B: Increasing Access to Mental Health Services for Victims of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Who Have a Serious Mental Illness. This project will increase the capacity of organizations and their collaborative partners funded under Program Purpose Area 2A to meet the needs of victims of domestic violence or sexual assault who have a serious mental illness.

Since 1943, the Chicago-based nonprofit Hektoen Institute of Medicine (Hektoen) has worked to advance medical learning, education, and research. Hektoen is home to the National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma & Mental Health (NCDVTMH), a federally funded national resource center that has provided training, technical assistance, support and consultation to domestic violence and sexual assault advocates, as well as mental health and substance abuse providers since 1999. For nearly 20 years, the NCDVTMH has used its subject matter expertise in the intersection of domestic violence, trauma, substance abuse, and mental health to increase the public's understanding of these issues, develop the capacity of service providers to address the effects of trauma and abuse on victims by creating trauma-informed, victim-centered policies and practices.

NCDVTMH will use the funding from this award to: (1) plan and conduct a two-day orientation meeting and an annual two-day meeting in years 2 and 3 of the award period for grantees who received funding under Program Purpose Area 2A; (2) plan and conduct annual two-day, on-site visits with each Purpose Area 2A grantee; (3) conduct a training and technical assistance assessment and develop an individualized plan for the delivery of such assistance for each grantee; and (4) create opportunities for peer-to-peer learning among Purpose Area 2A grantees through a combination of quarterly conference calls, monthly webinars, and other activities.

CA/NCF