COM 0521.017 2002-2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Stalking investigation training has been addressed in one project (with Kauai Police Department), but was also been a part of the FY 2000 Subgrant to the Judiciary under its Victims and Children Exposed to Violence Project, and a part of their FY 2003 Examining Best Practices in Services Project. These projects include a multidisciplinary training for criminal justice and victim service providers on responding to victims, in addition to investigation of stalking cases. Extensive training and the development of a statewide protocol for law enforcement, victim advocates and the Judiciary is being completed under a FY 2002 Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies Grant to the Department of the Attorney General. C. Addressing the FY2001 Priorities 0- Data System: Improve data system infrastructure, especially for access, safety, and dissemination. Funding in the current plan does not include improving data system infrastructure, an area that has been consistently supported in the past years, and was identified as new priority for the discretionary funding for FY 2001. The Victim Information Management System (VIMS) project had been managed for the past four years by the Department of the Attorney General, on behalf of the twenty domestic violence and sexual assault victim services agencies at their request. The intent was to have one of the non-profit agencies eventually manage the collection of aggregate data from participating providers, and the Department of the Attorney General would analyze the data for evaluation and planning purposes. Numerous attempts to equip and train the victim service agencies with a specialized software program failed to produce adequate participation and data input. Agencies cited reasons that included inadequate staffing, difficulty interfacing with existing data systems, and inability to commit long-term resources (of time and maintenance) for continued participation. In March 2002, the VIMS Project was terminated with the concurrence of the service providers, and the balance of FY 2000 funding reallocated for victim services. The VAWA State Planning Committee had earlier been prepared to allocate a portion of the FY 2001 discretionary funds for maintenance of the Victim Information Management System (VIMS) upon completion of the FY 2000 award. It will need to review implementation of this priority in light of the closure of the VIMS project. ►Outreach to Underserved: Increase and fund outreach to underserved communities that are culturally and linguistically appropriate and competent. The Salvation Army Family Treatment Services was awarded a FY 2001 grant in December 2002 for the Pulama Na Wahine Ola Hou Project to develop outreach and advocacy services for female victims of domestic violence living on the north shores of Oahu. The project utilizes outreach staff indigenous to the community to serve as translators and victim advocates. A community-based steering committee has been developed to guide all aspects of the work including the ongoing training of volunteers and university interns to increase their understanding of domestic violence and their ability to interact effectively with victims and legal/social services personnel. A unique feature of this project is assistance to women for whom addiction to alcohol and/or other substances is an additional barrier to utilization of victim services. A second year continuation is pending satisfactory completion of the first year project. 20