ACF and IHS award $21 million to support Tribal family violence victims and organizations

October marks National Domestic Violence Prevention Month and today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and Indian Health Service (IHS) awarded nearly $21 million to support tribal domestic violence victims and organizations in American Indian and Alaska Native communities across the nation.

ACF funding announced today is being awarded under the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) , which is the primary federal funding source dedicated to providing immediate shelter and supportive services for victims of family violence, domestic violence, or dating violence and their dependents. Grants will be awarded to 136 tribes and tribal organizations serving 274 tribes. These funds will help to strengthen tribal responses to domestic violence and emphasize public awareness, advocacy, and policy, training, and technical assistance.

In 2014, local tribal domestic violence programs, funded by FVPSA, accomplished the following:

served 30,860 victims of domestic violence and their children in their programs
answered 86,203 calls for crisis counseling and requests for shelter and other services, and
provided 5,274 education and prevention presentations to 89,441 adults and youth.

IHS funding announced today will be awarded to 56 health programs to increase access to health services and build the capacity of American Indian and Alaska Native communities to provide prevention, intervention, and treatment services to American Indians and Alaska Natives who have experienced domestic or sexual violence. Funding will go to tribes, tribal organizations, urban Indian organizations, and IHS federal government programs.

These IHS grants are a new phase in the Domestic Violence Prevention Initiative (DVPI), which previously funded 65 health programs in a five-year demonstration project to expand outreach and increase awareness of domestic and sexual violence, and expand services to victims and communities. In the first four years of the demonstration project, DVPI projects provided over 50,000 crisis interventions, victim advocacy, and counseling encounters and made more than 38,000 referrals for domestic violence services.

"Tribal domestic violence programs provide a lifeline to tens of thousands of Native women, children and men each year," said Commissioner on Children, Youth, and Families Rafael López. "For the past three decades, the FVPSA Program in the Family and Youth Services Bureau has been an integral part of our nation’s response to domestic violence by providing funding, oversight, training, and guidance to emergency shelters, crisis hotlines, prevention programs, specialized resource centers, and a wide range of federal partners across the United States."

"These new awards dramatically expand our efforts to provide community based, culturally appropriate services for domestic and sexual violence," said IHS Principal Deputy Director Robert G. McSwain. "American Indian and Alaska Native communities have called on IHS for more support to prevent domestic and sexual violence. The IHS Domestic Violence Prevention Initiative funding represents a commitment to these critical health needs."

For a list of ACF Family Violence Prevention and Services Act grantees, visit:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/fysb/resource/fvpsa-tribal-award-2015

For a list of IHS Domestic Violence Prevention Initiative grantees, visit:
https://www.ihs.gov/dvpi/includes/themes/newihstheme/display_objects/documents/dvpi2015cohort1.pdf

For Tribal Domestic Violence Statistics, Factsheets and Resources, visit
http://www.niwrc.org (National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center funded by ACF)