October 4, 2006

(Phoenix)-The Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime has awarded a $50,000 grant to the Arizona Department of Corrections, Office of Victims Services as part of the federal agency’s 2006 Public Awareness Campaign for Underserved Populations.

Funded by fines, penalty assessments and bond forfeitures of convicted federal criminal offenders, the grant will support ADC in a project partnership to increase victims’ rights awareness in Arizona’s Spanish-speaking communities.

“The department remains deeply committed to the victims of crime as partners in our public safety mission,” ADC Director Dora Schriro said. “That crucial mission extends to all Arizonans and this project will help us reach out to crime victims in all communities.”

The project has four goals:

• To educate and inform Spanish-speaking victims of crime in Maricopa County about victims’ rights.
• To work with various community partners to improve and leverage the quality of educational material.
• To increase the numbers and types of materials available and assure wide distribution.
• To support the planning and development of public awareness initiatives about crime victim issues and resources in the community. Information will be disseminated by newspaper/magazine publications, full-color posters, t-shirts, public speaking engagements, and participation at local fairs and community events.

Victim’s rights are an important issue in Arizona.

The Arizona state legislature established the Victim’s Compensation Fund and in 1986 voters passed a Victim’s Bill of Rights. Lawmakers, law enforcement and social service providers from the town of Guadalupe recognized and documented the need for domestic violence outreach and education in the Spanish-speaking community.   

Over the last 15 years, Arizona has experienced growth by 40 percent growth rate and crime rate has increased similarly. The Hispanic population has grown 25.3 percent since 1990 in Arizona, compared to 12.5 percent nationally.

ADC will partner with Centro de Amistad, Inc., De Colores Domestic Violence Shelter and EnVision Project Management to develop and distribute culturally-appropriate materials in English and Spanish, to domestic violence victims, in Maricopa County.

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