(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – The Office of Criminal Justice Services (OCJS) today released the 2023 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Culturally Specific request for proposals to support efforts to develop and strengthen effective responses to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
Services that are culturally specific are community-based that include culturally relevant and linguistically specific services and resources to culturally specific communities.
The VAWA Culturally Specific program assists non-profit community-based organizations in administering justice for racial and ethnic minority groups and in strengthening services to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. VAWA funds contribute toward developing effective responses to violence against women through activities that include direct services, crisis intervention, transitional housing, legal assistance to victims, court improvement, and training for law enforcement and courts.
An organization is eligible to receive the culturally specific set aside if it is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that serves a specific geographic community in any of the following ways that:
- focuses primarily on domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
- has established a specialized culturally specific program primarily directed toward racial and ethnic minority groups that addresses domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
- has a primary focus on underserved populations (and includes representatives of the populations) and domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
- obtains expertise or shows demonstrated capacity to work effectively, on domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking through collaboration.
The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 defines “culturally specific” as “primarily directed toward racial and ethnic minority groups (as defined in section 1707(g) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300u-6(g)).” 42 U.S.C. 13925(a)(6). Under this section of the Public Health Service Act, “racial and ethnic minority groups” are defined as “American Indians (including Alaska Natives, Eskimos, and Aleuts); Asian Americans; Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders; Blacks; and Hispanics.”
The deadline to respond to the RFP is July 13 at 5 p.m. A bidder’s training webinar to review the application processes for the programs is scheduled from 10-11:30 a.m. on June 12. Please register for the webinar here https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/378457830082874199.
OCJS is a division of the Ohio Department of Public Safety. By statute, OCJS is the lead justice planning and assistance office for the state, administering millions of dollars in state and federal criminal justice funding every year. OCJS also evaluates programs and develops technology, training, and products for criminal justice professionals and communities.