Federal Grants

You are here

Home » OUTREACH » Projects
> Previous Page

Office on Violence Against Women (OVW)

In January 2025, the Bureau of Women’s Affairs absorbed the former Governor’s Community Outreach Federal Programs Office, and in doing so, took over administration of Guam’s U.S. DOJ Office of Violence Against Women (OVW) grants. Guam, now through BWA, receives two formula grants every year: Services*Training*Officers*Prosecutors (STOP) Formula grant Sexual Assault Service Programs (SASP) Formula grant

OVW Formula grants are based on the percentage of domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, stalking (and now human trafficking) crimes per capita in a jurisdiction. Guam unfortunately has some of the highest domestic violence and sexual assault crime rates per capita (per population size) in the United States.
 

1. OVW FY 2023 Rural Grant Program # 15JOVW-23-GG-02787- RURA awarded on 9/25/2023 in the amount of $700,000.00

The Rural Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking Program (Rural Program) funds are used to support programs in Guam that:
  1. identify, assess, and appropriately respond to child, youth, and adult victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking;
  2. establish and expand victim services to child, youth, and adult victims;
  3. increase the safety and well-being of women and children, by dealing directly and immediately with domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking; and by creating and implementing strategies to increase awareness and prevent these crimes; and
  4. develop, expand, implement, and improve the quality of sexual assault forensic medical examination or sexual assault nurse examiner programs. With this grant award, the Bureau of Women’s Affairs, in partnership with Victim Advocates Reaching Out (VARO) and the Guam Police Department (GPD), implemented a victim services project in Guam that specifically included:
    1. establishing a Special Victims Unit (SVU) and providing SVU detectives with appropriate training to more effectively solve sexual assault cases in order to bring perpetrators to justice and deter sexual crimes;
    2. providing more victim-centered assistance to victims of these crimes by funding an SVU victim assistant and vehicle to transport victims to safety, exams, legal proceedings, etc.;
    3. assisting victims with longer periods of emergency housing; and
    4. strengthening education and prevention efforts through advocate presentations and production of print and video materials that effectively address positive relationships, consent, and inappropriate behavior, with a special focus on educating minors and empowering them against would-be sexual assailants.
For more information on the Rural Grant Program email the Bureau of Women’s Affairs at: info.bwa@guam.gov
BWA Director Jayne Flores at Jayne.flores@guam.gov
Victim Advocates Reaching Out (VARO) at Varo1@yahoo.com or
Guam Police Department at (671) 475-8615

 

2. OVW FY 2024 Justice for Families Program # 15JOVW-24-GG-00040-JFFX awarded on 8/7/2024 in the amount of $600,000.00

The Justice for Families Program was authorized in the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 to improve the response of the civil and criminal justice system to families with a history of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, or in cases involving allegations of child sexual abuse. The program supports activities for improving the capacity of courts and communities to respond to families affected by the targeted crimes such as, court-based and court related programs; supervised visitation and safe exchange by and between parents; training for people who work with families in the court system; civil legal services; and the provision of resources in juvenile court matters. Projects supported by the Justice for Families Program are those that focus on keeping victims and their children safe from further abuse and holding offenders accountable. Through this Justice for Families project, the Bureau of Women’s Affairs (BWA), in partnership with Erica’s House Inc, the Judiciary of Guam, and Victim Advocates Reaching Out (VARO), are implementing a project that:
  1. provides a visitation/ exchange monitor and assistant director to provide supervised visitation and safe exchanges services; and
  2. provides a Resource Coordinator to provide court-based services for victims and court-based programs and services for Guam.
For more information on the Justice for Families Grant Program email:
Bureau of Women’s Affairs: info.bwa@guam.gov
BWA Director Jayne Flores: jayne.flores@guam.gov
Erica’s House: ericahse@teleguam.net
Victim Advocates Reaching Out (VARO): Varo1@yahoo.com or
Call the Judiciary of Guam: (671) 475-3136

 

3. OVW FY 2024 Children and Youth Grant Program # 15JOVW-24- GG-01466-CY awarded on 9/19/2024 in the amount of $500,000.00

The Grant to Prevent and Respond to Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, Stalking, and Sex Trafficking Against Children and Youth Program supports comprehensive, community-based efforts to develop or expand prevention, intervention, treatment, and response strategies to address the needs of children and youth impacted by domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, and sex trafficking, including support for their non-abusing parents, caregivers, and legal guardians.

Through this grant funding, the Bureau of Women’s Affairs (BWA) in partnership with WestCare Pacific Islands, and the Department of Youth Affairs will implement the Children and Youth Project by serving children and youth ages 11-24 in Guam that have been impacted by DVDVSAS/ST.

The goals of this project are to:
  1. provide counselling services for domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking and sex trafficking (DVDVSAS/ST) to youth ages 11-24, by providing a full-time master’s degree level counselor at WestCare Pacific Islands, Inc. (WPI)
  2. develop and deliver training to DYA correctional officers who work with youth offenders, to be able to recognize offenders who are also DVDVSAS/HT victims, and be able to provide a trauma-informed approach to dealing with these victims and referring them to services.
  3. create a poster outreach program to inform youth on resources for reporting DVDVSAS in public bathroom stalls much like the human trafficking posters in stalls at airports. These posters will tell youth in age appropriate ways what to do and where to get help if someone is making them feel uncomfortable or is in fact assaulting them, and help prevent these crimes by informing youth of the warning signs of DVDVSAS and sex trafficking.
For more information on the Children and Youth Grant Program email:
Bureau of Women’s Affairs: info.bwa@guam.gov
BWA Director Jayne Flores: jayne.flores@guam.gov
WestCare Pacific Islands: www.westcare.com
Guam’s Department of Youth Affairs call: (671) 735-5010