Office of The Attorney General
- Stuart Rabner, Attorney General

Trenton – Governor Jon S. Corzine and Attorney General Stuart Rabner announced today that 54 programs providing direct services to the victims of crimes have received state and federal grants totaling $2.9 million through the Office of Victim Witness Advocacy in the Division of Criminal Justice.

“It is during the aftermath of a crime when victims and witnesses often experience the most trauma,” said Governor Corzine. “The grants we are providing today will help ensure that those victims and witnesses have the necessary support when they need it most.”

The program grants are funded through the Federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) and a $1 million state appropriation for addressing violence against women that was included in the state’s Fiscal Year 2007 budget.

The VOCA victim assistance grant program supports the services of non-profit agencies who support victims and witnesses of crime. Victim services and support include crisis intervention, emergency shelter, emergency transportation, counseling and criminal legal advocacy. Services include programs that respond to the emotional and physical needs of crime victims.

VOCA was established in 1984 and is supported by bond forfeitures and fines and penalties levied against convicted federal offenders. Thirty-five programs will share $1.9 million in VOCA funding in the upcoming year.

The $1 million state appropriation will support 19 programs specific to women victims of domestic violence or sexual assault. Services include 24-hour, seven-days-a-week hotlines, crisis intervention, emergency shelter, counseling and legal advocacy.

“VOCA funds are used to ensure that crime victims are treated with fairness, compassion, and respect,” Attorney General Rabner said. “The aim is to make sure that the criminal justice system works with and for crime victims and does not compound the trauma of the original crime.’’

The state Office of Victim Advocacy was established in 1986 and is responsible for administering federal grants to agencies that provide assistance to crime victims, witnesses and their families. The office works to ensure services are available that will help crime victims cope with the aftermath of victimization and that their participation in the criminal justice system is less difficult. Each of the state’s 21 county prosecutors has a county office of victim witness advocacy staffed with trained counselors who assist crime victims.

New Jersey non-profit agencies received more than $16.3 million in Victim Assistance Grants from 2001 through 2006. More than 32,000 victims were assisted in 2005. The grants are awarded on a competitive basis; the maximum grant for 2007 was $60,000. Reviewers are volunteers representing agencies from victim advocacy, prosecution and law enforcement groups.

Agencies and Grant Awards Funded through the Victim Assistance Grant:

• New Jersey Crime Victims’ Law Center $60,000
• Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) $41,821
• End DWI, Inc. $60,000
• Legal Services of New Jersey $44,697
• Manavi, Inc. $34,800
• Womanspace, Inc. (two programs funded) $56,950, $50,115
• Women Aware, Inc. $42,752
• UMDNJ-SOM Cares Institute $59,958
• Catholic Charities, Diocese of Trenton $51,436
• Alternatives to Domestic Violence $59,762
• Bergen Family Center $57,750
• Domestic Abuse Services, Inc. $51,693
• Strengthen Our Sisters $54,900
• Center for Traumatic Grief and Victim Services ( two programs funded) $59,814, $48,400
• Domestic Abuse and Rape Crisis Center $41,242
• Northeast New Jersey Legal Services $60,000
• Resource Center for Women and Their Families $37,016
• Jersey Battered Women’s Service, Inc.(two programs funded) $60,000, $60,000
• Partners for Women and Justice, Inc. $60,000
• Rachel Coalition $60,000
• Family Service Bureau of Newark $59,680
• Center for Family Services (two programs funded) $60,000, $58,500
• Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Essex County $60,000
• Catholic Charities Providence House - Ocean County $60,000
• CASA for Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem Counties $51,600
• CASA for Camden County $60,000
• Shelter Our Sisters $60,000
• Camden Center for Law and Social Justice $56,976
• YWCA of Bergen County $60,000
• 180, Turning Lives Around, Inc. $57,100
• Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders $60,000

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Agencies and Grant Awards Funded through the $1 Million State Appropriation:

• New Jersey Association on Correction (two programs funded) $57,440, $58,902
• Atlantic County Women’s Center (two programs funded) $53,763, 60,000
• Resource Center for Women and Their Families $60,000
• Richard Hall Community Mental Health Center $ 52,070
• Rutgers University (Dept. of Sexual Assault Services and Crime Victim Assistance) $59,936
• Family Service Association $60,000
• Women’s Health and Counseling Center $21,310
• CONTACT of Burlington County $41,638
• Center for Family Services (two programs funded) $45,000, $59,987
• Women’s Crisis Services of Hunterdon County $60,000
• Cumberland County Women’s Center $44,000
• Domestic Abuse Services, Inc. $60,000
• Womanspace, Inc. $57,515
• Morris County Sexual Assault Center $59,746
• YWCA of Eastern Union County $39,625
• Domestic Abuse and Rape Crisis Center $49,068

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