The Van Wert County Courthouse

Friday, Mar. 29, 2024

Area victims agencies receive state funds

Van Wert independent/submitted information

COLUMBUS – Several local and area agencies will be benefit from funds being awarded to Ohio crime victim service providers.

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Ohio A-G Mike DeWine

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced Friday that he is awarding $79.5 million to 356 crime victim service providers across Ohio as part of the “Ohio Attorney General’s Expanding Services and Empowering Victims Initiative.”

Local agencies receiving funds include the following:

  • Crisis Care Line in Van Wert, a domestic violence shelter serving Van Wert and Paulding counties, received $140,573.51.
  • Van Wert County Crime Victims Services’ prosecutor program received $41,258.36.
  • The YWCA of Van Wert County, which provides a domestic violence shelter and related programs, serving five counties, including Van Wert County, received $283,081.05.

In addition, Legal Aid of Western Ohio, which serves 32 counties, including Van Wert, received $275,001 for its legal services program; Dayton Children’s Hospital, which provides child advocacy services to 21 counties, including Van Wert, received $468,756.21; Crime Victims Services of Allen County, which serves 15 counties, including Van Wert, with child advocacy services, received $1,558,305.11; Area Agency on Aging 3, which serves seven counties, including Van Wert, received $244,355.55 for its elder abuse victims advocacy program; and Paulding County received $55,745.60 for its prosecutor program.

Attorney General DeWine created the initiative in 2015 to determine how grant funds could best be spent to serve victims of crime in Ohio.

“In the aftermath of a crime, it’s critically important that victims have easy access to comprehensive care and services,” said Attorney General DeWine. “Through these grants, agencies throughout the state will be able to continue or even expand upon the ways they help victims of crime in Ohio.”

Of the $79.5 million in grants announced, an estimated $25 million will go toward providing services to domestic violence victims, approximately $20 million will go toward serving victims of sexual assault, and more than $14 million will go toward services for abused children. Additional funds will assist agencies that provide services to at-risk youth, victims with disabilities, and other victims that traditionally have not accessed victim services.

The $79.5 million in funds is being awarded from Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) grant funding awarded to Ohio from the U.S. Department of Justice. The fund is financed by federal settlements, fines, and fees.

As part of separate grant funding also announced today, Attorney General DeWine awarded 195 crime victim service agencies with $3.4 million in grants from the State Victim Assistance Act (SVAA).

A complete list of agencies receiving VOCA and SVAA grants can be found on the Ohio Attorney General’s website.

POSTED: 10/08/16 at 7:38 am. FILED UNDER: News