STATE OF VERMONT
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
VERMONT STATE POLICE
Department of Public Safety, anti-domestic-violence groups receive $1M grant to support advocacy efforts
WATERBURY, Vt. (Monday, March 1, 2021) — A nearly $1 million federal grant awarded to the Vermont Department of Public Safety will launch an innovative partnership with community advocacy organizations and a national research group aimed at reducing domestic violence in Vermont.
Grant funds will be divided among the Vermont State Police, the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, and the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center, a national nonprofit that works in all 50 states to increase public safety and strengthen communities. The three organizations have been recognized as innovative leaders in taking on domestic violence, and the three-year grant allows their critical work to expand even further.
“This grant offers us the opportunity to provide a modern response to people who cause harm in their relationships, through collaboration across law enforcement and community-based groups such as the Vermont Network that work with survivors,” said state police Maj. Ingrid Jonas, commander of the Support Services Division and a leader of the agency’s efforts to reduce domestic violence statewide.
The goals of the grant-funded initiative: Develop more effective ways to intervene with people who cause harm in their relationships; expand the focus of reducing domestic violence to be more inclusive of historically marginalized communities; and harness research to target the effort most effectively at centering the safety of survivors.
“We know we have a domestic violence problem here in Vermont,” said Karen Tronsgard-Scott, executive director of the Vermont Network. “We have an outstanding system of organizations that provide services to survivors of domestic violence, and we have a small cadre of organizations that provide domestic violence accountability programming, but we need to do more in order to stem the tide of domestic violence in the state.”
In Vermont each year, an average of 50% of all homicides are the result of interpersonal or domestic violence. In 2019, the Vermont Network reports that its 16 member organizations answered 18,921 hotline calls and helped 8,760 individuals, predominantly with issues of domestic violence and sexual assault.
Conversations in Vermont and across the country about policing reform make the timing particularly apt for this local collaboration, Network Executive Director Tronsgard-Scott said. “I’m excited to do this work with the Vermont State Police,” she said. “This grant really will help us build the kinds of relationships we need to lead to positive outcomes.”
Maj. Jonas agreed, saying, “We bring different strengths and backgrounds to this partnership. The Vermont State Police has worked for years to improve its response to domestic violence, including coordinating with community groups and working to roll out a threat assessment for use throughout Vermont. This new initiative allows us to do even more in service of survivors of domestic violence.”
The grant will enable the Vermont Network to hire a coordinator to oversee the project; support the creation of a working group to manage the initiative; cover the costs of CSG Justice Center research; and provide funding to cover a domestic violence response coordinator within the Vermont State Police.
The working group will collaborate with the CSG Justice Center to gather and process data, conduct interviews, engage stakeholders and take additional steps as needed to provide a deep examination of Vermont’s systems for domestic violence intervention and prevention. The group then will make recommendations on structural and systemic reforms, and work with policymakers to implement those reforms.
One goal is to look beyond heterosexual relationships and provide more support for people in same-sex relationships, BIPOC individuals, immigrants, refugees, and the state’s farmworker community, among others.
The project also will develop more effective and timely intervention strategies with people who cause harm in their relationships, including restorative justice and addressing abusers who also experience substance-use disorder.
“This is going to make a big difference in our state for survivors,” Executive Director Tronsgard-Scott said. “It’s going to catalyze a conversation that’s long overdue.”
The Department of Public Safety and the Vermont State Police are the formal recipients of the grant, which was sought in spring 2020 and awarded by the federal Bureau of Justice Assistance late last year. The funding breakdown includes $649,273 for the CSG Justice Center, which will dedicate a team to the Vermont project; $252,000 for the Vermont Network; and $29,127 for the Vermont State Police. The three-year grant could be extended for an additional two years if necessary.
MEDIA CONTACT
Members of the Vermont State Police and the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence are available to speak to the media regarding the grant award. Interview requests may be made to the VSP public information officer, Adam Silverman, by email at adam.silverman@vermont.gov.
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