Grant for Victims of Sexual Assault

Justice Program

The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), among the seven divisions forming part of the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Justice Programs, sees to the administration of Crime Victims Fund set up in 1984 under the Victims of Crime Act for financially assisting victims, as well as providers of victim services with program funds, as per the annual Program Plan of OVC (Office of Victims of Crime, n.d).

The successful grant selected is Legal Advocacy for Victims of Sexual Assault; it offers legal advocacy, helping sexual assault victims to take part in criminal justice, which facilitates the improvement of public safety. If victims fail to raise their voice against the crime done with them then no case will be filed, and offenders will be free to roam society. The proposed initiative's goal is sustaining and strengthening Legal Advocacy for sexual assault victims. Eight full-time posts will be preserved, and one created, while offering critically required services to roughly 2,200 sexual assault victims over an interval of two years (Legal advocacy for victims of sexual assault, n.d).

Legal advocacy services increase access of victims to criminal justice authorities, increasing the probability of victims filing cases, and of offenders being convicted (thereby lowering chances of further offense by them, and keeping society free from the threat they pose).Furthermore, legal advocates significantly reduce detectives' and prosecutors' burden by offering direct emotional support, as well as information, to sexual assault victims and non-offending members of their family. If the same services were to be provided by county personnel, costs incurred (at county-level salaries) would double, at the least. Moreover, legal advocacy helps victims gain easy access to other treatment and support services, leading to added economic benefits, like reduced chances of mental health problems ensuing from the encounter and other such complications that may result in unemployment and other problems in the life. (Legal advocacy for victims of sexual assault, n.d).

Sections on formulation and implementation of the program, legal advocacy capability and competence are well-worded, as are coordination plans that as certain legal advocates synchronize their services with the 3 courts and 31 jurisdictions of law enforcement, and are deemed as key criminal justice members contributing to justice for the sexually assaulted. Formulation and Implementation of program aims at sustaining and strengthening Legal Advocacy for the sexually assaulted:

By continuing with eight full-time posts in Legal Advocacy, which would have otherwise been terminated, as of 1/1/2010.

By forming one full-time position of Court Watch Specialist for devising and executing a volunteer program for improving services.

By supporting economic recovery through maintenance of current legal advocacy service levels to around 500 victims of sexual assault for each quarter, in addition to increasing service depth via a newly-created Court Watch Initiative.

By fostering economic recovery through sustaining existing collaborative relationships with 31 authorities in law enforcement, and forming new collaborations with community-based organizations for providing volunteers (Legal advocacy for victims of sexual assault, n.d).

The legal advocacy program reveals that existing legal advocates deal with roughly 500 primary sexual assault victims at a time, providing information on the process of criminal justice; accompanying victims to every interview; securing protection orders; troubleshooting cases; and aiding with trial preparation, court as well as sentencing accompaniment, including helping victims with their impact statements. Legal advocates conduct their work in partnership with 31 police and 3 court authorities, offering an unrivaled service complexity and scope. They are a unique force, specializing in addressing special client bases, which include Spanish-speakers, adult victims of rape, youth/child victims, victims of cybercrime, and vulnerable populations (physically, developmentally, and mentally disabled, and the elderly). The mission of the organization is lending a voice to sexual assault victims, their family members, and the overall community; creating attitude-, behavior- and belief- change with regards to violence; and instilling in people the courage to come forward with sexual assault complaints. Services are available in two languages- English and Spanish- and include a round-the-clock crisis line; support to victim and family; crime prevention; and legal advocacy (Legal advocacy for victims of sexual assault, n.d).

Grant writers, just like other company employees, have to fit into company culture. The standard questions that may be asked in interviews should go along the lines of- "What are your weaknesses and strengths?" And "How do you manage conflicts with coworkers, in the workplace?." These questions help in ascertaining whether the prospective employee possesses the requisite interpersonal skills. Specific questions on job experience must be asked for clarifying and filling gaps in the resume of candidates; e.g. "How many grants written by you have been successful?" And "For which entity types were you more inclined to apply for grants. Why?" Such questions enable one to ascertain range of candidate experience, while separating a great and successful grant writer from a writer who has limited experience in the field. Open-ended, process-related questions that I would put forth, for discerning whether the grant writer has a thorough understanding of grant writing, would be along the lines of "In general, describe the grant writing process from start to end." Seek critical details, like references to organizational needs and deadlines (Applegate, n.d).