DOI: 10.3886/icpsr02735.v1
title: Evaluation of Victim Services Programs Funded by "Stop Violence Against Women" Grants in the United States, 1998-1999
title: Version 1

description: This project investigated the effects of Violence Against
 Women Act (VAWA) STOP (Services, Training, Officers, Prosecutors)
 funds with respect to the provision of victim services by criminal
 justice-based agencies to domestic assault, stalking, and sexual
 assault victims. Violence Against Women grants were intended "to
 assist states, Indian tribal governments, and units of local
 government to develop and strengthen effective law enforcement and
 prosecution strategies to combat violent crimes against women, and to
 develop and strengthen victim services in cases involving violent
 crimes against women." Domestic violence and sexual assault were
 identified as primary targets for the STOP grants, along with support
 for under-served victim populations. Two types of programs were
 sampled in this evaluation. The first was a sample of representatives
 of STOP grant programs, from which 62 interviews were completed (Part
 1, Criminal Justice Victim Service Program Survey Data). The second
 was a sample of 96 representatives of programs that worked in close
 cooperation with the 62 STOP program grantees to serve victims (Part
 2, Ancillary Programs Survey Data). General questions from the STOP
 program survey (Part 1) covered types of victims served, years program
 had been in existence, types of services provided, stages when
 services were provided, number of victims served by the program the
 previous year, the program's operating budget, and primary and
 secondary funding sources. Questions about the community in which the
 program operated focused on types of services for domestic violence
 and/or sexual assault victims that existed in the community, if
 services provided by the program complemented or overlapped those
 provided by the community, and a rating of the community's coordinated
 response in providing services. Questions specific to the activities
 supported by the STOP grant included the amount of the grant award, if
 the STOP grant was used to start the program or to expand services and
 if the latter, which services, and whether the STOP funds changed the
 way the program delivered services, changed linkages with other
 agencies in the community, increased the program's visibility in the
 community, and/or impacted the program's stability. Also included were
 questions about under-served populations being served by the program,
 the impact of the STOP grant on victims as individuals and on their
 cases in the criminal justice system, and the program's impact on
 domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault victims throughout the
 community. Data from the ancillary programs survey (Part 2) pertain to
 types of services provided by the program, if the organization was
 part of the private sector or the criminal justice system, and the
 impact of the STOP program in the community on various aspects of
services provided and on improvements for victims.
description: Victims of sexual assault and domestic violence
 frequently suffer intense emotional distress following the crime and
 experience the need for a multiplicity of victim services. The
 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), Title IV of the Violent Crime
 Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (P.L. 103-322), is the result
 of years of advocating for the federal government to help stop
 violence against women and assist victims who experience such
 violence. As part of the VAWA legislation, the Justice Department
 created the Violence Against Women Grants Office (VAWGO) within
 the Office of Justice Programs (OJP). The office assisted states in
 applying for STOP (Services, Training, Officers, Prosecutors)
 Violence Against Women grants that were intended "to assist states,
 Indian tribal governments, and units of local government to develop
 and strengthen effective law enforcement and prosecution strategies to
 combat violent crimes against women, and to develop and strengthen
 victim services in cases involving violent crimes against women."
 Domestic violence and sexual assault were identified as primary
 targets for the STOP grants, along with support for under-served victim
 populations. VAWA mandated that STOP grantees spend at least 25
 percent of the STOP funds in each of the following three areas: (1)
 law enforcement, (2) prosecution, and (3) victim services, while the
 remaining 25 percent was left largely to the discretion of the
 grantees. This project investigated the effects of VAWA STOP funds
 with respect to the provision of victim services by criminal
 justice-based agencies to domestic assault, stalking, and sexual
assault victims.
description: Two samples of program representatives were
 surveyed in this evaluation of STOP grant programs. The first was a
 sample of representatives of STOP grant programs. The second was a
 sample of representatives of programs that worked in close cooperation
 with STOP grantees to serve victims. The latter sample was gathered to
 gain an additional perspective on the STOP grant and its impact on the
 local service community. Once the project staff reached the contact
 person for a sampled STOP grant, project staff asked to speak with the
 person most knowledgeable about the STOP grant. When that person was
 contacted, project staff identified the purpose of the call and asked
 to schedule a time when the interviewee would be available to
 participate in a 20-30 minute survey. In about half of the cases, an
 interview was conducted on the spot and, in the other half of the
 cases, an appointment was made. Interviews consisted of primarily
 closed-ended questions. During the interviews with the STOP program
 representatives, project staff asked for information on programs that
 worked closely with the STOP grantee. Project staff then contacted the
 named staff person of these ancillary programs and administered a
 brief interview. In all, 62 interviews were completed with STOP
 program representatives (Part 1). An additional 96 interviews were
 completed with representatives of programs that worked in coordination
with the 62 STOP programs (Part 2).
description: Data collected from the STOP program survey (Part
 1) began with general questions, including types of victims served,
 years program had been in existence, types of services provided,
 stages when services were provided, number of victims served by the
 program the previous year, the program's operating budget, and primary
 and secondary funding sources. Questions about the community in which
 the program operated focused on types of services for domestic
 violence and/or sexual assault victims that existed in the community,
 if services provided by the program complemented or overlapped those
 provided by the community, and a rating of the community's coordinated
 response in providing services. Questions specific to the activities
 supported by the STOP grant included the amount of the grant award, if
 the STOP grant was used to start the program or to expand services and
 if the latter, which services, and whether the STOP funds changed the
 way the program delivered services, changed linkages with other
 agencies in the community, increased the program's visibility in the
 community, and/or impacted the program's stability. Also included were
 questions about under-served populations being served by the program,
 the impact of the STOP grant on victims as individuals and on their
 cases in the criminal justice system, and the program's impact on
 domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault victims throughout the
 community. Data from the ancillary programs survey (Part 2) pertain to
 types of services provided by the program, if the organization was
 part of the private sector or the criminal justice system, and the
 impact of the STOP program in the community on various aspects of
services provided and on improvements for victims.
description: Response Rates: Not applicable
description: Presence of Common Scales: Several Likert-type scales were used.
description: STOP grants awarded to law enforcement, prosecution, and
 court organizations to provide services for victims were selected from
 the Urban Institute's database of 1996 and 1997 Subgrant Award Reports
 (SARs). Based on the distribution of these 182 SARs across states, an
 interview quota for each state was determined that was proportional to
 the number of eligible STOP grants that each state had. Within each
 state, the eligible STOP grant programs were ordered using a random
 algorithm. Programs were called in the order of their ranking,
 starting with programs with the lowest ranks, until the quota was
 filled for that state. Ancillary programs and contact staff persons at
the ancillary programs were identified by STOP program interviewees.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Criminal Justice Victim Service Program Survey Data
DS2: Ancillary Programs Survey Data
description: STOP programs awarded to criminal justice agencies for the
 delivery of services to domestic violence, sexual assault, and
stalking victims.