DA’s Office receives grant

EL CENTRO — The county District Attorney’s Office has announced it has received a $203,143 federal grant to bolster its efforts to provide coordinated responses to victims of domestic violence and their children.

The monies, made possible through the Violence Against Women Act, will enhance a specialized unit within the DA’s Office by funding one investigator and one domestic violence counselor.

The three-year grant, which went into effect Jan. 1, will also allow the DA’s Office to contract with Woman Haven, A Center for Family Solutions for a counselor to respond to immediate requests for advocacy.

“We recognize that domestic violence is usually not an isolated, individual event but a pattern of behavior used against the victim,” said DA Gilbert Otero in a written statement.

The grant, administered by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women, will also focus on investigations, immediate victim advocacy, and training for patrol officers and first responders.

As part of the grant, the specialized unit’s investigator will conduct follow-up investigation, serve as a resource for local law enforcement agencies and focus on cases involving repeat offenders.

Additionally, the unit’s counselor will work with the DA’s Victim Witness Assistance Program to address the needs of crime victims.

Last year, the District Attorney’s Office filed 593 domestic violence cases. The agency also acknowledged that one in four men in the United States will become a victim of domestic violence, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The DA’s Office was among a total of seven proposals that were selected for funding.

“This grant presents another opportunity for our office to collaborate with the Center for Family Solutions to provide direct services to victims and their children,” Otero said in a written statement.