AVA/OVW Conference Call Summary – June 2016
Summary of
Monthly Conference Call between AVA& OVW
Date: Monday, June 13, 2016
Time: 10:00 AM Eastern Standard Time
OVW Staff: Associate Director Amy Loder and Program Managers Kim Galvan and Omar Mohammad
AVA Board Members: MaryEllen Garcia, Debbie Rollo, Julia Fuller-Wilson, Cecilia Miller
AVA Executive Director: Dorene Whitworth
SUMMARY OF DISCUSSIONS
VAWA Regulations:
AVA discussed with the OVW STOP team some of the areas of the VAWA regulations that AVA intends to provide public comment. These included the issue of cloud storage of records by victim service providers, clarification of when releases are necessary, language used in referring to documenting collaboration on the implementation plan, and the requirement to coordinate on the disbursement of funds with other state agencies receiving federal, state or local funds for similar purposes. AVA’s draft will be provided first to its members for additional feedback and will then be submitted before the deadline for public comments.
AVA Regional Meeting
AVA discussed the Regional Peer-to-Peer meeting held this past January in Arizona and the intent to hold an additional meeting in Philadelphia in the fall. These meetings offer administrators the benefit of casual conversation about day-to-day administration of the STOP program funds. Areas covered during these meetings include funding distribution, working with the challenging subgrantee program, reporting challenges, PREA and more. These meetings also offer the opportunity to share documentation and strategies for tracking information necessary for reporting back to OVW. Amy acknowledged the value of this type of meeting and was very supportive of AVA’s efforts in this regard.
VAWA Awards
OVW discussed that the STOP solicitation has closed and the PREA certifications have been calculated. The PREA information is handled outside OVW but is moving forward. The letters relating to the Rape Survivor Child Custody Act were also due at close of the solicitation and are currently being reviewed by OVW legal. OVW received letters from approximately 12 states. They followed up by asking for the point of contact within each of those states’ Attorney General’s offices and all states have responded. It is possible that awards could be slightly delayed for those states that applied due to RSCCA review. AVA asked that once approved, can information be shared on those states that qualified under the RSCCA so that other states could possibly seek help with the legislation.
Mass shooting – DOC
This past weekend’s tragedy in Orlando brought forth a recent conversation from a corrections training that followed a previous mass casualty event. It had been identified that there is a lack of trained advocates who are available to provide immediate assistance in these types of situations. As such, VAWA-funded advocates may be called in to assist. AVA asked that perhaps OVW and OVC could coordinate on this and provide guidance on advocacy response.
There was also a general discussion about the Go Fund Me account that has been set up and how this might impact VOCA Compensation response.
Next Call is scheduled for July 11th at 11:00 EST.