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$1 million in federal grants available to public and nonprofit groups in Upper Peninsula to develop Children's Advocacy Centers RFP announced today, applications due June 21

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 23, 2018

CONTACT: Lynn Sutfin, 517-241-2112

LANSING, Mich. – Public and nonprofit organizations in the Upper Peninsula will be able to apply for $1 million in federal grants to develop a children’s advocacy center (CAC), the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) announced today.

The MDHHS Division of Victim Services has posted its fourth of five Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding. MDHHS will award three-year U.S. Department of Justice grants of $50,000 to $1 million.

CAC’s are child-focused, community-based programs with representatives from many disciplines working together to effectively investigate, prosecute and treat child abuse. When a child discloses abuse, instead of traveling from agency to agency recounting their abuse multiple times, the child is brought to a friendly, neutral facility where their needs come first. Agencies involved in the investigation convene at the CAC where they can hear the child tell their story one time and where they can share information amongst themselves and determine the next course of action.

Michigan has 31 CAC’s accredited by the National Children’s Alliance. However, the Upper Peninsula does not have any nationally accredited centers. The purpose of the Children’s Advocacy Center Development Grant is to provide funding to support staff to work with communities to develop a CAC and to gain national accreditation or meet similar state standards. This RFP has a three-year funding cycle in order to provide sufficient time to develop new regional CACs and/or new mobile initiatives.

Questions about the RFP can be emailed to MDHHS-CVSC-VOCA-GRANTS@michigan.gov and must be submitted by Monday, June 4 by 5 p.m. The deadline for proposals is Thursday, June 21 by 3 p.m.

For more information or to apply, visit the MI E-Grants website and select the “About EGrAMS” link on the left panel to access the Crime Victims Agreement training manual. The RFP is located under Legal and Policy Affairs in the Current Grants section.

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