Grants available to Michigan groups to provide services to crime victims

Local organizations across the state can apply for $15 million in Victim of Crime Act (VOCA) grants to provide services to crime victims, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday.

The purpose of the funding is to expand and enhance services to victims of crime; services include responding to the immediate needs of crime victims, reducing psychological consequences of victimization, and helping restore victims' sense of dignity and self-esteem.

The MDHHS will award three- to five-year U.S. Department of Justice grants of $50,000 or more. The deadline for the first proposal is 3 p.m. on Thursday, June 8. Applicant agencies must be public or non-profit organizations including faith-based organizations and American Indian tribes that provide direct services to crime victims. Current VOCA sub-grantees applying in any purpose area must demonstrate that the application is for new and unique services.

The Crime Victim Services Commission is accepting targeted victim services proposals that identify as underserved or unserved crime victims from six purpose areas including trauma recovery centers; human trafficking intervention services; sexual assault intervention services such as core comprehensive sexual assault nurse examiners/sexual assault response teams; victims of child physical and/or sexual abuse; American Indian tribal victim assistance and elder abuse services.

This is the first of two Request for Proposals for VOCA funding. A second RFP, which will only be available to new applicants and will focus on services for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse, will be announced later this year.

For additional information or to apply, visit the MI E-Grants Website at https://egrams-mi.com/dch and click the "About EGrAM" link on the left panel to access the Crime Victims Agreement training manual. For questions, email mdhhs-cvsc-voca-grants@michigan.gov by 3 p.m. on Wednesday, May 17.

For additional information about Michigan's crime victim services, visit www.michigan.gov/crimevictims.

Published: Fri, May 12, 2017