The Van Wert County Courthouse

Thursday, Mar. 28, 2024

YWCA gets crime victims grant funding

VW independent/submitted information

COLUMBUS — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost on Friday completed the final review of groups that will receive $59 million in federal grant money to help crime victims in Ohio.

There are 343 awards to programs totaling $55.5 million in grants from the federal Victims of Crime Act fund and 188 programs receiving a total of $3.5 million from the State Victim Assistance Act fund.

Dave Yost

“The organizations receiving these grants provide vital resources to families during one of the most difficult times of their lives,” Attorney General Dave Yost said. “It is important that every dollar go to support these victims and help them recover.”

A local organization receiving Victims of Crime Act funding is the YWCA of Van Wert County, which was awarded $227,983.08 for its domestic violence and sexual assault services.

The grant funding for 2021 provides services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking, as well as children and elderly victims of crime and crime victims with disabilities.

Attorney General Yost has made it a priority that the funds, provided mostly by the federal government, go to groups that have direct, frontline interactions with victims of crime including sexual assaults, domestic violence and other violent crime with traumatic effects on peoples’ lives.

Despite the reduction in grants, the attorney general remains committed to these vital programs in Ohio as a majority of groups will still receive at least two-thirds of the funding they received the previous year. The funding is effective for these programs which include crime victim services in county prosecutor’s offices, family shelters and children advocacy groups across Ohio.

Earlier this year Yost joined attorneys general from all 50 states in calling on members of Congress to increase funding for crime victims. The fund has dwindled significantly from $112 million in 2018 to $55.5 million this year.

The federal grant money comes from the Victims of Crime Act of 1984. Deposits to the fund come from criminal fines, penalties and assessments from the U.S. Attorneys’ Office, forfeited bail bonds and other fees collected by federal courts and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

POSTED: 09/26/20 at 12:06 am. FILED UNDER: News