American Indian and Alaska Native Initiatives

As part of its longstanding commitment to serving the needs of American Indian and Alaska Native communities, OVC has established two major Indian Country initiatives: the Victim Assistance in Indian Country (VAIC) Discretionary Grant Program (recently renamed the Tribal Victim Assistance (TVA) Discretionary Grant Program), which began in 1989, and the Children's Justice Act (CJA) Partnerships for Indian Communities Discretionary Grant Program, which began in 1990. TVA has stimulated the growth of a responsive victim assistance network in Indian Country communities. TVA programs provide direct victim services such as crisis intervention, emergency services, 24-hour crisis hotlines, mental health counseling, hiring of victim advocates and recruitment of volunteers, emergency transportation of victims, court advocacy and accompaniment, and bilingual counseling services. CJA helps tribal communities improve the investigation, prosecution, and overall handling of child abuse cases—particularly cases of child sexual abuse—in a manner that increases support for, and lessens additional trauma to, the victim. To continue the growth of victim-focused programs in Indian Country, OVC funds several initiatives that explore new ways to support victims and victim service providers. Because these initiatives seek to provide culturally appropriate services for victims in Indian Country, each in some fashion supports the others.

See the box at the right for detailed information about OVC's initiatives in this area.

OVC continues to solidify its strategy for assisting victims in Indian Country by providing much-needed resources, improving and increasing services, identifying promising practices, and adapting and replicating successful programs. In addition, OVC seeks to collaborate with other federal agencies to fund demonstration programs that help tribes and tribal organizations to more efficiently serve victims in their regions. In particular, OVC continues to strengthen its efforts to assist child victims in Indian Country. We hope our collaborative efforts will result in sensitive and more complete services for all American Indian victims.

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