Domestic Violence Awareness Month featured grant and organization

New Albany – United States Attorney Josh J. Minkler announced today’s Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women featured grant and grant recipient.

The Enhanced Training and Services to End Abuse in Later Life Program 

The Enhanced Training and Services to End Abuse in Later Life Program is authorized by 34 U.S.C. § 12421. The program's purpose is to increase and strengthen training for police, prosecutors, and the judiciary in recognizing, investigating, and prosecuting instances of abuse, neglect, exploitation, domestic violence, and sexual assault against older individuals; provide or enhance services for older victims; create or support multidisciplinary collaborative community responses to older victims; and conduct cross-training for victim service organizations, governmental agencies, courts, law enforcement, and nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations serving older victims.

The Judiciary Courts of the State of Indiana (JCSI) through a collaboration among the Bedford Police and Mitchell Police Departments, the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney of Lawrence County, Hoosier Hills PACT, Hoosier Uplands, and the Solutions Center will develop a multidisciplinary approach to addressing elder abuse in their community.

Project partners will provide training opportunities to assist law enforcement, prosecutors, governmental agencies, victim assistants, and relevant officers of federal, state, tribal, territorial, and local courts in recognizing, addressing, investigating, and prosecuting instances of elder abuse; provide or enhance services for victims of elder abuse; create or support multidisciplinary collaborative community responses to victims of elder abuse; and conduct cross-training for victim service organizations, governmental agencies, courts, law enforcement, and nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations serving victims of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation, including domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, who are 50 years of age or older.

JCSI and its partners will also engage in a review of their policies and protocols and agree to put in place a body of policies and protocols, based on multi-disciplinary collaboration, designed to aid in improving in the identification, investigation, prosecution and adjudication of cases of elder abuse, exploitation and neglect, including domestic violence and sexual assault.

For more information about this grant, contact the Office on Violence Against Women at 202/307-6026 and ask for the Outreach and Communications Division.