Washington, DC – The U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women has awarded Witness Justice a technical assistance contract to develop an innovative web-based training and education program to address key concerns of domestic violence survivors and service providers across the nation.

Under the 2-year contract, Witness Justice will join forces with the New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence and a wide range of other domestic violence and related issues experts to create a service provider training forum with three (3) initial free courses. The courses will be designed to help providers address critical and emerging concerns in victim service -- e.g. understanding trauma and creating trauma-informed services; responding to undocumented survivors; and cultural competency.

In 2002, Witness Justice convened its National Domestic Violence Task Force of approximately 40 service providers and survivors to discuss gaps in the field and how to best address those gaps. "It was directly from the work of the Task Force that the need for this program was identified," said Randy West, Chief Program Officer, Witness Justice. West, a survivor of intergenerational domestic violence, leads Witness Justice's domestic violence initiatives, including the Task Force.

"We expect that this program will serve as a starting point for a comprehensive online domestic violence service provider training academy that addresses the numerous and complex issues facing survivors and service providers," he added. "A major goal is to foster greater peer support for survivors and to facilitate effective community responses to domestic violence."

Witness Justice also provides technical assistance for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USHHS) as a managing team member of the National Center for Trauma-Informed Care (NCTIC). NCTIC is funded by USHHS' Center for Mental Health Services.