Grants Awarded Yesterday for the Domestic Violence Homicide Prevention Demonstration Initiative

The Domestic Violence Homicide Prevention Demonstration Initiative is a Department of Justice project aimed at monitoring high-risk domestic violence offenders and identifying potential victims and was modeled after several state wide and local projects including the Maryland Lethality Assessment Project which

“enlists police, health clinics and faith groups to identify women at the most risk of abuse and connect them to domestic violence services. The homicide rate linked to domestic violence in Maryland has fallen 34 percent in the past five years, the official said.”

The Initiative started taking grant submissions in 2012 from non-profit national, tribal and state wide agencies across the nation with the aim to:

“identify women who may be in potentially fatal abusive relationships and connect them with law enforcement officers, prosecutors, court personnel and other service providers in a position to protect them. Twelve jurisdictions will get one-year grants of as much as $200,000.”

Yesterday, Vice President Biden and Attorney General Holder Jr. unveiled the winners of the 12 grants. Here are the 12 award winners:

Contra Costa County, Calif.

Miami-Dade County, Fla.

Palm Beach County, Fla.

Rockdale County, Ga.

Winnebago County, Ill.

Boston, Ma.

Brooklyn, N.Y.

West­chester County, N.Y.

Pitt County, N.C.

Cuyahoga County, Ohio

North Charleston, S.C.

Rutland, Vt.

These grant winners will work with the Initiative to assess domestic violence and domestic violence prevention in their areas over the grant period, at the end of which up to 6 sites will gain additional funding to implement a prevention system. The process is evidences based and rigorous  and  the role of social workers will undoubtedly be huge.

Written by Georgianna Dolan-Reilly, LMSW
SJS Staff Writer