Healing from Within

OVC’s mission is to enhance the nation’s capacity to assist crime victims and provide leadership in changing policies and practices to promote justice and healing for all victims of crime. OVC achieves this mission, in part, by administering award programs supported by the federal Crime Victims Fund (CVF) to develop innovative training and technical assistance, and to provide direct services to improve the overall quality of victim assistance.

The overall goal of the Fiscal Year 2019 Tribal Victim Services Set-Aside Program is to provide support to tribal communities to improve services for victims of crime. Under the solicitation, OVC solicited applications for funding to support a comprehensive range of activities including needs assessment, strategic planning, program development and implementation, program expansion, and other activities needed to address the needs of a wide variety of crime victims in tribal communities.

With an award under Purpose Area 2: Coordination and Expansion of Existing Victim Service Program, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe will expand the Healing from Within program, first funded under OVW, and provide direct victim services through hiring a Victim Services Navigator and shifting a part time Program Assistant to full time. Funding will support services such as shelter/transitional housing; crisis intervention; civil legal assistance; court-based advocacy; law enforcement or prosecution-based victim services; bilingual/multilingual advocacy; healing/cultural practices; other advocacy, supply provisions; and transportation for victims. Grant activities will also include intervention and support services for DV/SA victims, expanding provision of emergency services to 100% of DV/SA victims in the tribal community, training staff in victim advocacy, establishing a Community Response Team, and awareness and prevention events and publications.

(CA/NCF)