U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten E. Gillibrand, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today announced that Brooklyn will receive $900,000 in funds from the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women through the Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies and Enforcement of Protection Orders Program. The Borough of Brooklyn will use this money in collaboration with a number of non-profit and non-governmental victims, including: New York Asian Women’s Center, Jewish Community House of Bensonhurst, Dwa Fanm, the Center for Family of Life and the Trinity Healing Center of Sunset Park. The collaborated project will target its services to meet the needs of Caribbean, Latino, Asian and Russian-speaking residents in Brooklyn and will provide a comprehensive range of services and responses that are culturally focused and sensitive to the needs of this population. Schumer, Gillibrand, Markowitz and Hynes today announced the $900,000 federal grant money will be awarded to the Borough of Brooklyn to continue its commendable efforts.
“We must do everything we can to protect women from domestic violence, and this funding will support the needs of these victims,” said Schumer. “I am pleased that such an important investment in Brooklyn is being made and that, under the leadership of Borough President Marty Markowitz and DA Hynes, this program will provide more support, advocacy and assistance to victims of domestic violence.”
“It is critical that we provide victims of sexual and domestic violence with the support and safety they need,” Senator Gillibrand said. “This federal investment will help provide the resources Brooklyn Borough President Markowitz and District Attorney Hynes need on the ground to effectively advocate, counsel, and support Brooklyn women.”
“As we prepare to mark Domestic Violence Month in October, this $900,000 grant from the Department of Justice will go a long way in helping to prevent domestic violence in Brooklyn,” said Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. “In particular, this grant will target the needs of our borough’s Caribbean, Latino, Asian and Russian-speaking residents—communities that are often without a voice in the struggle against domestic violence—and fund staffing and programming within the Kings County District Attorney’s Office to address domestic violence through initiatives such as arrest policies, enforcement of protection orders and crisis counseling. My office looks forward to working with D.A. Hynes and our community partners in the ongoing effort to stamp out violence against women.”
“This grant will help my office continue to break down the linguistic and cultural barriers that isolate domestic violence victims and protect their batterers,” said Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hynes. “I would like to thank Sen. Schumer for his work in securing this important funding.”
The Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies and Enforcement of Protection Orders Program (Arrest Program) implements certain provisions of the Violence Against Women Act, which was enacted in September 1994 as Title IV of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, reauthorized in the Violence Against Women Act of 2000 and the Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005. The program enhances victim safety and offender accountability in cases of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking by encouraging jurisdictions to implement pro-arrest policies as an effective intervention that is part of a coordinated community response. An integral component of the Arrest Program is the creation and enhancement of collaborative partnerships between criminal justice agencies, victim services providers, and community organizations which respond to sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking.
The Borough of Brooklyn intends to use the $900,000 Department of Justice award to implement a project that will provide a comprehensive range of services and responses that are culturally focused and sensitive to the needs of the immigrant population in Brooklyn as well as focus on cases involving high risk behavior. The project will include eight components. First, this project will support five victim assistants in the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office to support the needs of domestic violence victims and provide 24 hour crisis response to victims delivering information and support. The project will conduct cross trainings among project partners on project related topics and maintain the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office’s intake procedures. Additionally, the project will support a Project Coordinator to continue data collection and identify dual arrest cases and support five bi-lingual victim advocates to assist victims by providing crisis counseling and information, shelter placement, legal advocacy and referral to long-term community based services. Lastly, the project will support a prosecutor to handle dual arrest cases and support an investigator to investigate stalking and strangulation cases. Additionally, the project will conduct cross trainings among project partners, maintain the Brooklyn DA’s intake procedures, support a Project Coordinator to continue data collection, support five bi-lingual victim advocates to assist victims by providing crisis counseling, shelter placement, legal advocacy and referral to longer term community based service and support a prosecutor to handle dual arrest cases and support an investigator to investigate stalking and strangulation cases.