In 1994, the United States Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (codified at 42 U.S.C. 3796gg through 3796gg-5). One part of the VAWA is the STOP (Services, Training, Officers, Prosecution) Violence Against Women program. On October 28, 2000, January 5th, 2006, and March 7, 2013 Congress and the President reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act, and enacted changes in eligibility requirements, funding categories, and priority areas. The STOP program promotes a coordinated, multidisciplinary approach to improving the criminal justice system's response to violent crimes against women and encourages the development and strengthening of effective law enforcement and prosecution strategies to address violent crimes against women and the development and strengthening of victim services in cases involving violent crimes against women. The STOP grant program is known as VSTOP in Virginia and is guided by the VSTOP State Planning Team.