CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Rape Crisis Center is among seven organizations throughout Ohio receiving a portion of $2,861,000, which was announced Monday by U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown to support survivors of domestic and sexual violence.
"The investments will provide legal assistance and crisis response programs for survivors of domestic violence, assist law enforcement with anti-human trafficking operations, support staffing at safe havens for domestic violence survivors and help connect individuals in need with addiction treatment support," according to a press release.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of Justice Programs (OJP) has awarded the funds as Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS). Brown helped secure this funding in the FY23 CDS requests he submitted.
“We have an obligation to survivors and our communities to help them recover from violent crimes, abuse, and other criminal activity,” Sen. Brown said. “I will continue to work to ensure that we are doing all we can to support victims, and to prevent violence.”
Here's an outline from Sen. Brown's office on how the money is being distributed...
- $750,000 to the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center (CRCC) in Cuyahoga County to improve and increase access to services for survivors of sexual violence and human trafficking by updating the infrastructure of the 24-hour hotline, increasing services to assist individuals with language barriers, providing medical services for trafficking survivors, and conducting a strategic marketing campaign to enhance CRCC’s outreach in the community.
- $439,000 to the Journey Center for Safety and Healing in Cuyahoga County to increase their staff and therefore their capacity to conduct professional trainings, outreach, and referrals through partnerships with other local organizations that interact with survivors of domestic violence, including health care organizations, faith-based organizations, and organizations that serve marginalized groups. This will allow the Journey Center to reach and serve more survivors of domestic violence and child abuse throughout the county.
- $335,000 to the Lake County Committee on Family Violence to support staffing and tools to assist domestic violence survivors at Forbes House, a safe haven for survivors that has provided shelter, legal advocacy, support groups, domestic violence prevention and outreach, and aftercare for clients who move on from the shelter for 45 years.
- $90,000 to Homesafe Incorporated in Ashtabula County to hire a third legal advocate and cover a portion of the cost of two more legal advocates the organization is absorbing. Legal Advocates at Homesafe Inc. assist survivors of domestic violence in navigating the legal system, individual advocacy, and understanding legal rights and protections they have, and creating and continuing safety plans.
- $323,000 to Ohio University in Athens County, in partnership with the Cuyahoga Regional Human Trafficking Taskforce and the Traffik Analysis Hub, to design a Decision Support System to better collect, analyze, and visualize relevant data information that law enforcement can then utilize in the planning and deployment of anti-human trafficking operations.
- $764,000 to Women Helping Women in Hamilton County to restructure their staffing model to meet the increased demand for crisis response services in Adams, Brown, Butler, and Hamilton Counties. The restructuring will provide survivors with access to a 24-hour hotline with text and chat capabilities, crisis intervention services, on-scene responses, hospital accompaniment and advocacy, emergency financial assistance, support groups, law enforcement advocacy, civil and criminal court accompaniment and advocacy, and legal advocacy for custody, divorce, and the pursuit of other criminal charges.
- $160,000 to the Ohio Quick Response Team (QRT) Association to launch a website to make trainings and resources on supporting individuals struggling with addiction available nationwide, facilitate continued growth and collaboration with community partners, and create a network of hospitals, first responders, public health agencies and treatment agencies to connect individuals in need to appropriate forms of service and treatment.
