OVC Fiscal Year 2019 Enhancing Language and Other Access to Services Program

The FY 19 Enhancing Language and Other Access to Services Program seeks to enhance language access services for crime victims to break down barriers that prevent many individuals from reporting crimes and accessing the services they need after crime victimization. Funding will support the provision of direct services, the development of language access plans, and will expand the capacity of community-based organizations within linguistically specific communities to address the needs of victims of all types of crime over a two-year project period.
Under this project, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Sacramento will provide crucial services for victims of crime and also build the capacity of community-based organizations to incorporate language access into services. The project will serve victims of all forms of crime with a specific focus on the linguistic-specific communities of Dari/Farsi, Pashto, and Arabic speakers. The project will serve the greater Sacramento area and will significantly benefit federally designated Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZ) within the Sacramento area. The IRC in Sacramento will: 1) develop and implement an extended Language Access Plan to identify key service gaps; 2) provide direct services to 120 victims of crime; 3) work in coordination with the OVC-funded training and technical assistance provider to develop and disseminate a resource guide and training curriculum for improving services; and 4) conduct eight trainings for community service providers and four trainings for IRC staff to improve the community response to crime victims. CA/NCF