Grant sought to fund ‘second responder’ team

The Ottawa County prosecutor has applied for a grant of $253,000 to create a Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Response Team to provide in-person service to victims.
The grant application was submitted to the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services and the funding would be used to hire two full-time equivalent employees to run the program and provide the services, James VanEerten, county prosecutor, said.
While the program will be led by VanEerten, it will be overseen by an advisory board of law enforcement personnel, mental health service providers, addiction treatment personnel, housing specialists and other community stakeholders.
VanEertern said the DV/SART format has been called a “second responder’ program. When law enforcement has secured the scene of a domestic/sexual assault incident, the DV/SART officer will respond to the scene to assist the victim.
He said victims often have questions that a DV/SART responder can answer and link victims with necessary services.
Police who respond to sexual offense and domestic violations situations are tasked with fact-finding and don’t have the resources to provide immediate crisis intervention to victims, VanEerten said, citing research that shows providing crisis intervention and related services increases the likelihood of conviction and lowers recidivism rates.
In many cases, he said, victims will become uncooperative with the prosecution, often recanting statements or otherwise obstructing the investigation because they feel they can’t live without the abuser or they depend on the abuser for financial support, transportation, or child care.
If the grant is awarded, the program will provide services such as emergency housing, transportation, mental health and addiction counseling, and links to social services such as Medicaid, food stamps, cash assistance and rental assistance.
Specialized support will be provided to victims of sexual assault.
“These victims are frequently in need of intensive crisis intervention and need someone to walk them through all of the processes involved in these investigations. Often times a sexual assault investigation can be traumatizing to a victim and may lead to uncooperativeness. By providing services and support to victims at these early stages, we can ensure that all of the evidence necessary for a successful prosecution is gathered and documented. Additionally, we can ensure that all efforts are made to reduce the level of trauma suffered by our victims,” VanEerten said.
The grant would fund the program budget for two years. VanEerten said if the county isn’t awarded the grant his office will search for other funding sources.