NCJ Number
202621
Date Published
December 2002
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This report presents the results of an assessment of the West Virginia Coalition Against Domestic Violence's (Coalition) Rural Domestic Violence & Child Victimization Enforcement grant project.
Abstract
The goal of the project, which operated between October 2000 and September 2002, was to improve services for victims of domestic violence from four underserved groups: the elderly, people of color, people with disabilities, and people from the lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender community. The project also began to look at the co-existence of domestic violence and child victimization. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the project, the Division of Criminal Justice Services' Criminal Justice Statistical Analysis Center (CJSAC) collected monthly progress reports and other data on victims served, evaluated the service provider needs assessment tool, administered follow-up surveys, administered pre- and post-surveys of the training conference, and observed meetings of the Domestic Violence/Child Victimization Study and Policy Workgroup. Results indicate that, first of all, all the objectives for the project were met. The number of underserved victims of domestic violence increased by 9 percent from 2000 to 2002 as a result of the project. Readiness Guides and the follow-up surveys assisted in the evaluation of the project's impact on quality of services, which has improved somewhat but barriers still exist to reaching underserved populations. Pre- and post-conference surveys assisted in the evaluation of the rural training grant, which indicated that training participants felt more confident about their ability to serve underserved populations following the training. Finally, an overview is provided of the Domestic Violence/Child Victimization Study and Policy Workgroup. The report includes a listing of the Advisory Council Members and the members of the Domestic Violence/Child Victimization Study and Policy Workgroup. Tables, graphs