Victims service agencies awarded grants

VW independent/submitted information

COLUMBUS — Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced that he is awarding $111.8 million in grants to crime victim service providers across Ohio, including $29 million to help child victims.

Agencies receiving grants in Van Wert and Paulding counties include the YWCA of Van Wert County, $363,760.88; Crisis Care Line, $149,894.70; and Van Wert County Crime Victims Services, $46,885.15, all in Van Wert County; and the Paulding County Prosecutor’s Office, $55,614.60, in Paulding County.

The grants are being awarded to support more than 400 programs throughout the state through Victims of Crime Act and State Victim Assistance Act funding.

“These grants will help provide comprehensive care and critical services for victims of crime,” Attorney General DeWine said. “The funding will support and expand existing programs throughout Ohio and allow new, innovative programs to develop. This year, we placed a special emphasis on providing funding for programs that help Ohio’s youngest and most vulnerable – child victims.”

Of the total grant funding announced, an estimated $28 million will go toward providing services to domestic violence victims, an estimated $25 million will go toward services for victims of sexual assault or human trafficking, and about $29 million will go toward programs that serve child victims.

Funding also will go to programs that serve victims with disabilities, elderly victims, and other victims of crime.

Of the total awards announced today, $108.4 million is from the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) grant funding awarded to Ohio from the U.S. Department of Justice, financed by federal settlements, fines, and fees. Another $3.4 million is from the State Victim Assistance Act (SVAA).

The grant announcement is part of the “Ohio Attorney General’s Expanding Services and Empowering Victims Initiative,” which Attorney General DeWine created in 2015 to determine how grant funds could best be spent to serve victims of crime.

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