Gerald L. Ignace Indian Health Center: Project Beacon Milwaukee

The Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2019 created a 5% set-aside to improve crime victim services in Indian country in the Crime Victims Fund receipts that the Office for Victims of Crime used to make grant awards in Fiscal Year 2019. Project Beacon: Increasing Services to Urban American Indian and Alaska Native Victims of Sex Trafficking (Project Beacon) furthers the goals of the set-aside funding by increasing the quantity and quality of holistic, victim-centered services available to assist American Indian and Alaska Native victims of sex trafficking in urban areas. By bridging the divide between American Indian and Alaska Native victims of sex trafficking and nonprofit, nongovernmental programs that serve American Indians and Alaska Natives, Project Beacon aims to provide these victims with access to services that meet their cultural, linguistic, and spiritual needs.

The Gerald L. Ignace Health Center (GLIHC) is a 501 (c)(3) healthcare facility that provides healthcare to the estimated 18,239 American Indians and Alaska Natives who reside in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1999, GLIHC offers comprehensive primary care, mental health and substance abuse counseling, preventive care, women’s health programming, prenatal care, and access to traditional cultural activities that promote wellness, such as a Native Wellness Garden, talking circles, drumming groups, and language classes. GLIHC also features an on-site dental clinic and pharmacy.

GLIHC will use the funding from this award to: (1) hire a .65 FTE Project Director, .40 FTE Project Coordinator, .10 FTE SANE Nurse/ Behavioral Health Coordinator to staff the project; (2) develop a plan to deliver comprehensive services to meet the needs of American Indian and Alaska Native victims of sex trafficking; (3) execute memoranda of understanding with key collaborative partners in order to create a seamless referral network for victims of sex trafficking; (4) revise its screening protocols, and train facility staff to increase efforts to identify victims of sex trafficking; (5) conduct community education and outreach activities to increase the community’s awareness of how sex trafficking impacts American Indian and Alaska Native victims; and (6) provide training to a multidisciplinary audience of professionals who are responsible for responding to incidents of sex trafficking in order to promote a culturally appropriate, victim-centered response to Native victims of sex trafficking.

CA/NCF