Project Support the Ocean State (SOS)

OVC’s mission is to enhance the Nation’s capacity to assist crime victims and provide leadership in changing attitudes, policies, and practices to promote justice and healing for all victims of crime. OVC achieves this mission, in part, by administering discretionary award programs supported by the federal Crime Victims Fund to develop innovative training and technical assistance, and to provide direct services to improve the overall quality of victim assistance. The purpose of the FY 2018 Enhancing Community Responses to the Opioid Crisis: Serving Our Youngest Crime Victims is to address an urgent gap in crime victim services related to the opioid epidemic and to expand upon existing or establish new programs to provide services to children and youth who are victimized as a result of the opioid crisis. The overarching goal of this program is to support children and youth who are crime victims as a result of the opioid crisis by providing direct services and support to these young victims at a community or jurisdictional level.

With this award, Family Service of Rhode Island will treat substance abuse while also bridging the fragmentation across existing systems of care by leveraging high impact partnerships. Specifically, they will partner with CODAC, RI’s foremost substance abuse outpatient treatment provider to assess and deliver high quality, trauma-informed care. The project will hire a full-time Project Director (PD) to provide oversight, supervision for all project staff and partners, and ensure that all project deliverables are met successfully. Additionally, trauma-focused treatment services will be provided to young victims; immediate responses will be provided to victims in need of crisis intervention or emergency intake; and a full-time clinician/community educator will provide support groups for children and youth, and provide training to the victims’ provider community. Project staff will develop a training curriculum and deliver a minimum of 3 in-person trainings to increase the capacity of providers to collaborate more effectively to help those affected by substance abuse.
CA/NCF