(COLUMBUS) – The Ohio Department of Public Safety’s (ODPS) Office of Criminal Justice Services (OCJS) has announced federal grant funding to support various components of the criminal justice system throughout Ohio.
“These grants provide critical resources to our local government and nonprofit partners, which allow them the flexibility to use the funds in ways that best support their efforts to prevent and reduce crime and violence and serve the needs of survivors using a community-coordinated approach,” said OCJS Executive Director Karhlton Moore.
The Edward J. Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program allows local and state governments to support a broad range of activities to prevent and control crime based on the needs and conditions of the jurisdictions and supports multijurisdictional drug task forces, school resource officers, drug, veteran and mental health courts, corrections projects, and justice technology initiatives in Ohio. OCJS is awarding 130 projects for a total of more than $4.3 million in funding.
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) grant program allows local governments to support a broad range of activities to reduce violence against women and administer justice for and strengthen services to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. OCJS is awarding 81 projects for a total of more than $3.4 million in funding.
In addition to providing funding specifically for courts, prosecution, law enforcement, and victim service agencies to help combat domestic violence throughout the state, OCJS also awarded $185,367 to agencies in Franklin, Hamilton, and Summit counties to assist them in providing culturally specific services such as bilingual advocates and culturally specific outreach to survivors, including the Asian American Community Services (AACS), a non-profit community-based organization whose mission is to improve the overall well-being and quality of life for Asians in Central Ohio. With this grant, AACS will address the gap in coordinated community responses for Asian, Pacific Islander, or Desi American (APIDA) victims of intimate partner violence, sexual assault, stalking, and human trafficking by providing training to providers, law enforcement, and health professionals statewide about the culturally specific challenges faced by APIDA victims as well as culturally-specific, trauma-informed responses, connecting with culturally and linguistically appropriate resources, expanding the number of advocates to provide direct client assistance, and providing culturally appropriate support groups.
All projects will run Jan. 1 – Dec. 31, 2021. For a complete list of today’s grant awards, visit www.ocjs.ohio.gov.