For Immediate Release:                                                                            For Further Information Contact:
January 7, 2008                                                                                       David Wald or Peter Aseltine 609-292-4791

Attorney General Announces $2.5 million in Victim Assistance Grants
Fifty-one programs providing assistance to crime victims receive federal and state funds
 
Trenton, NJ  –Attorney General Anne Milgram announced today that 51 programs providing direct services to the victims of crimes have received state and federal grants totaling $2.5 million through the Office of Victim Witness Advocacy in the Division of Criminal Justice.

 The program grants are funded through the Federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) and the State Victim and Witness Advocacy Fund (VWAF). Forty-three programs will share approximately $2.1 million in VOCA funding in 2008, and eight programs will share approximately $432,000 in VWAF money in the upcoming year.

“Crime victims must be treated with respect and compassion,’’ Attorney General Milgram said. “These grants will help ensure that victims and witnesses have the necessary support when they need it most, and ensure that the criminal justice system works with and for crime victims.”

The VOCA victim assistance grant program supports the services of non-profit agencies that support victims of crime.  Victim services include those that respond to the emotional and physical needs of crime victims such as crisis intervention, emergency shelter, emergency transportation, counseling and criminal legal advocacy. VOCA was established in 1984 and is supported by bond forfeitures and fines and penalties levied against convicted federal offenders.

The State Victim and Witness Advocacy Fund is legislative mandated to support services to victims of crime through funds collected from fines and penalties levied against convicted state offenders. Services include 24-hour, seven-days-a-week hotlines, crisis intervention, emergency shelter, counseling and legal advocacy.

The State Office of Victim Witness Advocacy was established in 1986 and is responsible for administering federal grants to agencies that provide assistance to crime victims and their families. The office works to ensure services are available that will help crime victims cope with the aftermath of victimization and to ensure that their participation in the criminal justice system is less difficult. Each of the state’s 21 county prosecutors has a county office of victim witness advocacy staffed with trained counselors who assist crime victims.

New Jersey non-profit agencies have received more than $19.2 million in Victim Assistance Grants from 2001 through 2007. Last year alone, approximately 19,000 victims were served by VOCA-funded non-profit agencies. The maximum grant for 2008 is $60,000. 

Grant recipients were identified through an open competitive grant process administered by the Department of Law & Public Safety, Division of Criminal Justice, and the State Office of Victim Witness Advocacy. Grant application reviewers were volunteers representing agencies from victim advocacy, prosecution and law enforcement groups.

Agencies and grant awards supported with federal VOCA Victim Assistance Grant funds:

Name         County Amount
180, Turning Lives Around, Inc. (two programs)    Monmouth $55,000
         Monmouth   55,000
Atlantic County Women’s Center     Atlantic   55,000
Bergen County Alternatives to Domestic Violence   Bergen    55,000
Camden Center for Law & Social Justice    Camden   55,000
CASA Atlantic & Cape May Counties (two programs)  Atlantic   54,810
         Cape May   54,990
CASA Bergen County      Bergen    43,290
CASA Burlington County      Burlington   20,880
CASA Camden County      Camden   55,000
CASA Cumberland, Gloucester, & Salem Counties   Cumberland   40,960
CASA Essex County       Essex    55,000
CASA Hudson County      Hudson   47,490
CASA Mercer County       Mercer    54,980
CASA Monmouth County      Monmouth   42,620
CASA Morris & Sussex Counties     Sussex    24,244
CASA Passaic County      Passaic    20,880
CASA Somerset, Hunterdon & Warren Counties (two programs) Somerset   40,800
         Warren    40,800
CASA Union County       Union    44,386
Catholic Charities Providence House     Burlington   55,000
Center for Family Services      Camden   50,357
Center for Traumatic Grief & Victim Services (two programs) Burlington   53,810         Burlington   54,840
CONTACT of Burlington County     Burlington   53,400
Cumberland County Guidance Center    Cumberland   41,933
Domestic Abuse & Sexual Assault Intervention Services  Sussex    55,000
End DWI, Inc.        Bergen    55,000
Family Service Bureau of Newark     Essex    55,000
International Institute of New Jersey     Hudson   54,757
Jersey Battered Women’s Services (two programs)   Morris    55,000
         Morris    55,000
Legal Services of New Jersey      Middlesex   40,730
Manavi, Inc.        Middlesex   55,000
Morris County Sexual Assault Center (two programs)  Morris    54,626
         Morris    54,115
New Jersey Association on Correction (two programs)  Camden   44,330
         Passaic    55,000
Partners for Women & Justice     Essex    50,000
Rutgers University, School of Law – Camden   Camden   55,000
Rutgers University, Dept. of Sexual Assault & Crime Victim Asst. Middlesex   54,945
Sussex County Children’s Advocacy Center (Ginnie’s House) Sussex    28,400
UMDNJ – SOM Cares Institute     Camden   54,982

Agencies and grant awards support with state Victim and Witness Advocacy Funds:

Name         County Amount
SAFE in Hunterdon       Hunterdon $55,000
Shelter Our Sisters        Bergen    55,000
Womanspace (three programs)     Mercer    54,630
         Mercer    54,903
         Mercer    54,731
Women’s Health & Counseling Center    Somerset   53,700
YWCA Eastern Union County (two programs)   Union    50,000
         Union    55,000
 
       

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