Muskie School Studies Domestic Violence Programs Nationwide
For more than a decade, the Muskie School has been at the forefront in
reviewing and improving community efforts to respond to domestic violence
both in Maine and the nation.
One of the School's most far-reaching projects is the VAWA Effectiveness
Initiative housed at the Institute for Child and Family Policy (ICFP) on
Congress Street in Portland. In December 1999, the US Department of
Justice, responding to a request from US Attorney General Janet Reno,
contracted with ICFP to document the nationwide impact of the 1994
Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). "The Snapshot Project," assessed how
VAWA funding has affected community efforts to improve responses to
domestic violence and sexual assault. These findings were presented to
Congress as they considered reauthorization of VAWA. Initially, the
project team collected data and conducted focus groups and interviews in
24 states, and later produced video documentaries on key programs in six
states - California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Vermont, and Utah.
According to Gail Sweat from ICFP's project team, "Snapshot" allowed
"grantees to stop long enough to look at their successes and to see what
they are accomplishing. The information we collected has helped VAWA and
Congress understand the value of the programs they fund."
As a result of "Snapshot's" success, ICFP researchers have
continued working with the Violence Against Women Office in
Washington, DC. The project team is currently identifying
more efficient, accurate ways to measure the effectiveness
of VAWA-funded programs in addition to a "self-reporting"
method for grantees to respond to VAWA's evaluation requirements.
The Attorney General is scheduled to report back to Congress
in October 2002.
This project represents one way in which the Muskie School is involved in research,
programs and services related to domestic violence and related
issues. To learn more about the School's activities in this
field, log on to the web site at www.muskie.usm.maine.edu
and search the publications and projects databases.
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