Safe Place Healing Hearts

The agency recently received a Notice of Award from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women for a FY 2017 Rural Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, and Stalking Program Grant. This grant funding will be used to directly serve victims of such crimes; build the capacity of direct service providers to better serve and protect victims; encourage reporting of these crimes; and ensure all service providers are adequately trained on how to appropriately respond, assist victims, improve the rate of prosecution of such crimes, and work together through coordinated service delivery.

The overall aim of the grant project, titled the “Safe Place Healing Hearts Program”, will be to enhance the safety of rural victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking. To accomplish this, the project will work towards the goal of expanding and more efficiently delivering appropriate services to victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking in Choctaw, McCurtain, and Pushmataha Counties, in order to meet the emotional and physical needs of victims, as well as ensure victim safety and security. Secondly, the project will work towards the goal of enhancing collaboration between and building the capacity of service providers in the target rural communities to appropriately respond, improve the rate of prosecution, coordinate service delivery, and assist victims in cases of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking. At least 75% of the total project (goals, objectives, activities, expenses) will work to meaningfully address sexual assault, with a secondary focus on domestic violence, then dating violence and stalking.

The Safe Place Healing Hearts (SPHH) Program will operate as a branch of LIFT CAA’s Victim and Youth Programs, which have a wealth of experience in dealing with victims of abuse and advocacy for such victims. There will be two full-time staff positions under the program, overseen by Victim and Youth Services Programs Director Doris Long. LIFT will partner with the following agencies to assist with the development and implementation of this project: the Choctaw County Freestanding Multidisciplinary Child Abuse Team, Choctaw County Sexual Assault Response Team/Coordinated Community Response Team, Kidz Kottage Child Advocacy Center/McCurtain County Multidisciplinary Team, McCurtain County SART/CCRT, Pushmataha County Freestanding Multidisciplinary Child Abuse Team, Pushmataha County SART/CCRT, and the Rural Health Network of Oklahoma. For more information, please call (580) 298-2921.

Download Brochure

This project is funded by Grant #2017-WR-AX-0046 awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women.  U.S. Department of Justice.  The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this publication/program/exhibition are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women.