(FY 2017 - 2018) VOCA New Initiative Victim Assistance Grant Program

Many crime victims in Virginia may not receive services and support that adequately meet their needs after victimization. Meeting victims’ needs is far more difficult when their access to services is complicated by factors such as race, ethnicity, geographic isolation, language barriers, cultural differences, disability, lack of knowledge of the criminal justice system and their rights, and/or lack of appropriate social support. There is no single way to meet the needs of all underserved populations because of the uniqueness of each group. However, programs can improve their response to these crime victims by looking carefully at specific populations, better understanding needs, and designing appropriate programs and services.

The primary purpose of these guidelines is to increase access to culturally appropriate direct victim services for unserved/underserved victims of crime. This can be accomplished by creating new programs or enhancing existing programs to commit staff time to specifically address the needs of the identified unserved/underserved victim population, hiring staff that reflects that population, training all staff on the cultural norms of the population, and increasing outreach efforts.

These Program Guidelines will aid applicants in determining eligibility and developing the itemized budget and budget narrative and other required application components, including service delivery goals and objectives. Using the guidance presented in this document, applicants should be able to efficiently and effectively prepare complete applications.

Application Development Resources