Inside the Office > Crime Victim Services Division

Crime Victim Assistance Grants

The mission of the Department of Crime Victim Assistance Grants (DCVAG) is to enhance South Carolina’s capacity to assist crime victims and to provide leadership in the promotion of justice and healing. Through grant funding, victims can receive services including:

  • Victim Advocacy
  • Counseling
  • Residential Shelter
  • Forensic Interviews and Forensic Nurse Examination
  • Emergency Assistance

Grant Programs

DCVAG is responsible for the administration of four grant programs:

  • Victims of Crime Act (VOCA)
    • 1984-Public Law 98-473 established the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) - Federal Fines, Fees, and Assessments
  • Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)
    • 1994- Title IV of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement, Public Law No. 103-322. 108 Statute 1796 - Federal Appropriation 
  • State Victims Assistance Program (SVAP)
    • 1986-Omnibus Criminal Justice Improvements Act (24-3-40)
    • 2017-Act 96 of 2017-South Carolina Crime Victim Services Act, Section 16-3-1095 (A)
  • Supplemental Allocation for Victims Services (SAVS)
    • 2022 – One-time appropriation from South Carolina General Assembly

How to Apply for Grant Funds

Current subgrantees and agencies interested in applying for grant funds should go to the AGO Grants Portal and register with the system. When in doubt, call the staff at the Department of Crime Victim Assistance Grants.

Applicants for the next cycle of funding, beginning October 2022, are eligible to apply during the Solicitation period if they are state agencies, units of local government such as a city or county, or a 501(c) (3) non-profit corporation, or Indian tribal organizations.

Please call any staff person in the Department of Crime Victim Assistance Grants for information on application dates, match requirements, and eligible funding areas.

Access the Grants Portal

Important Dates

January

January 15th – Q1 Reports for SAVS, SVAP, and VOCA grants due

January 15th – RFP 2 due

February

Solicitation Workshop

AGO Portal Opens for Grant Applications

February 15th – RFP 3/Q1 due

February 15th – MEI due

March

March 15th – RFP 4 due

April

April 10th – AGO Portal closes at 5:00 pm

April 15th – Q2 Reports for SAVS, SVAP, and VOCA grants due

April 15th – RFP 5 due

May

May 15th – RFP 6/Q2 due

June

June 15th – RFP 7 due

June 30th – State Fiscal Year ends

June 30th – Last day for Revisions

July

July 15th – Q3 Reports for SAVS, SVAP, and VOCA grants due

July 15th – RFP 8 due

August

August – DCVAG Present Recommendations to PSCC

August 15th – RFP 9/Q3 due

September

September – Award Contracts sent via DocuSign

September – Press Conferences

September – Implementation Workshop

September 15th – RFP 10 due

September 30th – Grant year ends

October

October 1st – New grant year starts

October 15th – RFP 11 due

October 15th – Q4 Reports for SAVS, SVAP, and VOCA grants due

October 31st – Completed Special Conditions Due

November

November 15th – 5:00 pm – All FINAL RFP’s (please include all September time worked on final RFP)

November 15th – RFP 12/Q4

December

December 15th – RFP 1 (new year)

Contact Us

Please contact us with any problems you might encounter with the AGO Grants portal or with any other matter where we may be of assistance.

Programmatic Staff

Joe Corey, Deputy Director
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 803-734-0798

Bonnie Brooks, Administrative Coordinator
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 803-734-1424

Billy House, Program Coordinator
Email:
[email protected]
Phone: 803-734-0785

Sheila Hoffman, Program Coordinator
Email:
s[email protected]
Phone: 803-734-3751

Tabitha Heck, Program Coordinator
Email:
[email protected]
Phone: 803-734-0794

Angela Meadows, Program Coordinator
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 803-734-0787

Steve Yarborough, Program Coordinator
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 803-734-0236

Accounting Grants Staff

Kelley Anderson, Grants Accounting Manager 
[email protected]
Phone: 803-734-0779

Laura Barnes, Senior Accountant
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 803-734-0788

Ashley Glivens, Fiscal Analyst 
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 803-734-0911

Guerline Pierre Fiscal Analyst 
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 803-734-1267

Faye Parks, Grant Compliance and Monitoring Manager 
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 803-734-0516

Mailing Address
1205 Pendleton Street
Fourth Floor
Columbia, SC 29201

References

Victims of Crime Act (VOCA)

The federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) was signed into law on October 12, 1984. The purpose of the Act was to enhance and expand direct services to victims of crime. The Act established within the U.S. Treasury a separate account known as the Crime Victims Fund. The fund is not supported by tax dollars but rather is generated entirely by fines, penalty assessments, and forfeited bonds collected by the federal government. The U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) makes annual VOCA crime victim assistance grants to states from the Crime Victims Fund.  In South Carolina, the Department of Crime Victim Assistance Grants (DCVAG) within the Office of the Attorney General is designated as the administering agency for subrecipient awards issued with funds from VOCA.

The primary purpose of VOCA is to support the provision of direct services to victims of violent crime. The program goal is to provide federal funding through grant awards to certified private non-profit organizations and public/government agencies for projects that will provide, enhance, improve, and expand direct services to victims of violent crime. 

According to the 2016 VOCA Program Rule, direct services or services to victims of crime are defined as those efforts that (1) respond to the emotional, psychological, and physical needs of crime victims, (2) assist victims to stabilize their lives after victimization, (3) assist victims to understand and participate in the criminal justice system, or (4) restore a measure of safety and security for the victim. Funding cannot be used for the investigation of crimes or collection of evidence to further the prosecution of crimes. 

State Victims Assistance Program (SVAP)

In 1986, the General Assembly of South Carolina passed the Omnibus Criminal Justice Improvements Act (§24-3-40 of the South Carolina Code of Laws).  Pursuant to this Section, a percentage of the wages earned by inmates participating in the South Carolina Department of Corrections’ Work Release Program must be placed on deposit with the State Treasurer for credit to a special account to support victim assistance programs established pursuant to the Victims of Crime Act of 1984, Public Law 98-473, Title II, Chapter XIV, Section 1404. 

The grant programs may be considered in the following categories:

  • Victims of Sexual Assault
  • Victims of Domestic Violence
  • Victims of Child Abuse and Neglect
  • Training Programs
  • Previously Underserved Victims of Crime

Match requirements are 80 percent Grantor/20 percent In-Kind or Cash Match.

Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)

VAWA projects should enhance the capacity of local communities 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. The purpose of VAWA is to encourage states and localities to restructure and strengthen the criminal justice system's response, to be proactive in addressing violence against women, to draw on the experience of all participants in the system, and to provide victim services. 

VAWA projects must develop and implement victim-centered trauma-focused strategies that encourage collaboration among state, local, and tribal courts (including juvenile courts); Indian tribal governments; units of local government; and nonprofit, nongovernmental victim services programs.  This includes culturally competent, community-based organizations as well as law enforcement, prosecution, the judiciary, pretrial services, probation and parole, and other critical partnering entities. Applications must include documentation showing that tribal, territorial, state, or local prosecution, law enforcement, and courts have consulted with tribal, territorial, state or local victim services programs during the course of developing their grant applications.  Further, they must continue to solicit input during implementation in order to ensure that proposed activities and equipment acquisitions are designed to promote the safety, confidentiality, and economic independence of victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and dating violence.” (42 U.S.C. § 3796gg–(d) (4).

VAWA funds may not be used to support services that focus exclusively on children or to develop sexual assault or domestic violence curricula for K-12 schools. VAWA funds may be used for an adolescent program for primary victims over the age of 11. 

Supplemental Allocation for Victims Services (SAVS)

In 2022, the South Carolina General Assembly made available through the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office, Department of Crime Victim Assistance Grants, additional funds to aid qualified applicants in enhancing victim services throughout the state. Recognizing that the reductions in VOCA funding over the past five years have resulted in many victim services agencies having to seek alternate funding, and frequently being unable to do so, the General Assembly and the State Funding Agency, Office of the Attorney General, Department of Crime Victim Assistance Grants, have allocated a portion of additional funding which will be released as a supplement to existing victims services grant programs.

The grant programs may be considered in the following categories:

  1. Victims of Sexual Assault
  2. Victims of Domestic Violence
  3. Victims of Child Abuse and Neglect
  4. Training Programs
  5. Previously Underserved Victims of Crime

Match requirements are 80 percent Grantor/20 percent In-Kind or Cash Match.