View Research by Author - Lauren E. Bennett

Citation URL: http://www.urban.org/LaurenEBennett

This study was done to gain more knowledge about ways that STOP funds are being used to improve services to women in historically underserved communities (STOP grants are provided to assist units of local government to develop and strengthen effective law enforcement and prosecution strategies to combat violent crimes against women). Through interviews with sub-grantees, the study obtained information about the groups served, the services provided , and their perceptions about the impact of their projects. Finally the report examined the strategies that sub-grantees believe have been most successful in reaching out to women in underserved communities.

Since the STOP program began in 1995, the states have made great strides in implementing their own strategies for developing community responses to domestic violence and sexual assault. In telephone interviews, state STOP administrators are unanimous in their agreement that STOP money is achieving important things in the community. Some administrators say that without these funds, many of the violence against women programs that currently operate in their states would not exist; as one stated: "The VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) money is some of the most valuable funding our state receives."

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