STATE OF NEW MEXICO

CRIME VICTIMS REPARATION COMMISSION

2003 STOP Violence Against Women Formula Grant Implementation Plan

I. INTRODUCTION

The State of New Mexico’s 2003 STOP Violence Against Women Grant Program’s implementation plan builds upon the initiatives and successes of previous years and presents effective strategies for increasing the safety of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking victims and for promoting offender accountability. The plan provides an overview of the context of violence against women in New Mexico and demonstrates the needs of victims as well as of providers. Accomplishments and directions of the past year are highlighted and the planned initiatives for 2003 and beyond are identified.

II. DESCRIPTION OF THE IMPLEMENTATION PLANNING PROCESS

The New Mexico Crime Victims Reparation Commission (NMCVRC) is the state agency administering the STOP Violence Against Women Formula Grant Program for the State of New Mexico. The Commission facilitates meetings of multidisciplinary experts in the field of gender specific violence to collaborate on the development of the State Implementation Plan.
The New Mexico STOP Violence Against Women Implementation Team is composed of members from prosecution, law enforcement, victim services, the court, survivor community, health care, and the New Mexico VAWA Rape Prevention Coordinator. Non-profit, non-governmental victim services organizations participating on the planning team include the NM Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs, the NM Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and Enlace Comunitario (representing the needs of battered immigrant women). A national leader representing the rights and needs of victims with disabilities also serves on the planning team. Tribal interests are included in the planning process through the participation of a representative from the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women and the Pueblo of Acoma Chief of Police. Please see Appendix A to view the complete list of team members.
In addition to the input of team member experts, data driven evidence from the New Mexico Interpersonal Violence Data Central Repository (Appendix B), the Intimate Partner Death Review Team (Appendix C), and the VAWA Grant Administrator’s monitoring reports, influence the Implementation Team’s collaborative decision-making process regarding the priority given to projects and the equitable distribution of funds, taking into account geographic area and populations to be served. As in previous years, information and recommendations from the community were solicited through the statewide NM Crime Victims Reparation Commission newsletter, the statewide Violence Against Women electronic newsletter, and local and regional violence against women task force meetings. Additionally, the nature and geographic locations of the Department of Justice Discretionary VAWA Grant awards and the Victims of Crime Act Grant awards were also reviewed to ensure that services are not being duplicated.

III. NEEDS AND CONTEXT

New Mexico is the fifth largest state in the country with a widely dispersed rural population. According to the US Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 27.1% of the 1,829,146 population resides in a rural region of the state. The 2000 US Census Bureau reports that 7.2% of the population is under the age of 5, 28% of the population is under the age of 18, and 11.7% of the population is over the age of 65. Females comprise 50.8% of the population.
New Mexico has the most culturally diverse population, in relation to total population, of any state in the country. According to the 2000 U.S. Census Bureau statistics, 44.7% of the population is non-Hispanic white, 42.1% is Hispanic, 9.5% is Native American, 1.9% is African American, and 1.1% is Asian. There are twenty-three Indian nations in New Mexico and each nation operates under its own sovereign governmental system. 80% of the 173,483 Native Americans residing in New Mexico live in Indian country. New Mexico borders Mexico and has a large immigrant population. In addition, poverty and unemployment permeate the state with 19.3% of the population living below the federal poverty level and a jobless rate of 6.0%.
New Mexico is the third most dangerous state in which to live, according to a 2002 annual report compiled by Morgan Quitno Press of Lawrence, Kansas, using crime information compiled from Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) records. Factors used to rank the states are the rates for murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and motor vehicle theft. New Mexico ranks fourth among states with growing rates of violent crime and second in aggravated assault. Additionally, according to the 1996 Uniform Crime Report, New Mexico ranks second in the nation in rape.
The primary source for obtaining New Mexico’s domestic and sexual violence data is the annual analysis of domestic violence and sex crimes of the New Mexico Interpersonal Data Central Repository. The 2002 Incidence and Nature of Domestic Violence in New Mexico IV, includes a special supplemental section this year that estimates the healthcare and lost productivity costs of domestic violence in the state and identifies who pays for these costs. It is estimated that the minimum combined costs of medical care, mental health care and lost productivity in New Mexico is $19.2 million. The data in this section should prove invaluable when educating our lawmakers that making decisions that promote victim safety are ultimately cost effective.
In 2002 in New Mexico there were 15.8 reported incidents of domestic violence for every 1000 persons, which is a slight increase over the 2001 rate of 15.5. Bernalillo County, the largest county in New Mexico where more than half the population resides, ranked first in reported domestic violence offenses at a rate of 22.7 per 1000 persons, a slight decrease from the 2001 rate of 23.9. While the New Mexico rate does not differentiate by gender, our rate of 15.8 per thousand is significantly higher than the national female/male combination rate of 8.9 per thousand reported in the National Crime Victimization Survey, 1992-1996.
According to the 2002 Interpersonal Violence Data Central Repository, 29 law enforcement agencies documented stalking on their reports in 2002, representing a 93% increase over the number of agencies that reported stalking in 2001. However, of the 14,713 reports represented by these agencies, there were only 104 stalking incidents reported of the total number of domestic violence cases representing less than 1% of the total domestic violence cases. This figure is inordinately low, signifying the need for increased training initiatives to address stalking.
As reported in Getting Away with Murder II: Violence Against Women Homicide Deaths in 1997-1998, 43% of the female homicides in New Mexico involved a perpetrator who was an intimate partner. An additional 3% of the female homicide deaths involved sexual assault. Please see Appendix C for a summary of the key findings of this report. Getting Away with Murder III; Violence Against Women Homicide Deaths in 1998 – 2000, will be available in the early fall of 2003.
The next phase of this intimate partner death review project will be supported by 2001 reverted funds, and will evaluate non-reported intimate partner violence in New Mexico. By matching the records of emergency department patients treated for injury caused by intimate partner violence, to the records generated by law enforcement and prosecution, the lack of intimate partner violence reporting will be evaluated and described. The information gained from this evaluation could be used to plan strategies on the part of emergency department personnel, as well as law enforcement and victim advocates, to address the issues of non-reporting of intimate partner violence.
It is important to note that the Office of the Medical Investigator (OMI) reviews deaths of Native American intimate partner homicides that occurred outside tribal land, as these deaths are investigated by the State and are routinely autopsied. However, the FBI investigates deaths that occur on tribal land. Typically, the FBI contracts with the OMI for autopsy consultations, but these records are not public due to jurisdictional issues. We do know that between 2000 and 2002 the OMI database indicates that there were 90 federally investigated deaths and at least 12 of those deaths have intimate partner homicide indicators. The death review team project staff is planning to contact tribal representatives to determine if tribes would find it beneficial to have the OMI information released and reviewed, and if so, to obtain guidance on the way that the review should be conducted in the most meaningful manner.
Law enforcement agencies have been reporting on rape and attempted rape of women via the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report (UCR) since the 1930’s. The UCR represents a severe underreporting of sexual assault incidents as the data does not include sexual assaults that were not reported to police and did not include most types of sexual assault incidents when reported to police. The FBI limits its definition of rape to penis to vagina penetration or attempted penetration of women. It excludes anal and oral sex crimes and penetration with an object or finger, and does not include assaults on males. In addition, the UCR cannot specify the nature of the rape, i.e., drug-facilitated, statutory, spousal or gang. Sex crimes that did not include penetration were not counted. In order to get a clearer picture of the problem in our state, New Mexico has begun to do its own accounting of this problem.
In 2001 there were 2,646 sex crimes reported by the 73% of NM law enforcement agencies that participated in collecting data for the New Mexico Interpersonal Violence Data Central Repository. Based on the data submitted to the central repository by twenty-six sexual assault service provider agencies in 2001, 1,447 clients received services for sexual assault victimization. It is difficult to make a meaningful comparison between the number of sexual assault cases reported by service providers per county and the number of sex crimes reported by law enforcement per county, because only 35% of all survivors who sought treatment in 2001 experienced the sexual assault in 2001. However, making a comparison simply based on a twelve month interval basis, the number of survivors seen by service providers represents 56% of the number reported by police in the same time frame. Of the 87% of cases that documented the type of sexual offense, 63% experienced criminal sexual penetration. The second annual publication on sexual violence, Sexual Crimes in New Mexico: An analysis of 2002 Data from the New Mexico Interpersonal Violence Data Central Repository, will be available in the early fall of 2003. This will be the second annual sex crimes report and it is supported by the STOP Violence Against Women Formula Grant Program, the NM Department of Health’s Injury Prevention and Emergency Medical Services Bureau and the Behavioral Health Services Division of the Department of Health.
It is important to note that although we are able to get a glimpse of the picture of violence against women in Indian country when reviewing the statistics of counties with significant tribal populations, we are not able to report a true and accurate picture of violence against women in Indian country. Unfortunately, only seven tribal law enforcement agencies participated in the domestic violence repository project and only three tribal law enforcement agencies participated in the sexual crimes repository project. The repository’s project staff will continue to encourage the participation of tribal agencies so that a true reflection of Indian country occurrences can ultimately impact service delivery and prevention efforts.
Of the criminal sexual penetration cases that were identified, 46% were Caucasian, 29% Hispanic, 12% Native American, 8% other, 3% African American, less than 1% Asian. Caucasian represented the highest percent of victims (almost equal to their representation in the state), the proportion of Hispanic victims is less than their representation in the state, the proportion of African American victims is 1.5 times their representation in the state and Native American victims have an elevated proportion to their representation in the state.
Of the 807 reports that documented disability of the sexual assault survivor, 30% of the victims had a disability prior to the victimization. The highest reported disability among the 239 (77%) survivors with disability was emotional/mental disability prior to the sexual offense. 12% (30) of reported cases had a physical disability and 5% (12) had a hearing disability.
Domestic violence history among survivors was documented in 76% of the sexual offense reports. Of these reports, 61% of the survivors reported a history of domestic violence.
The need for domestic violence and sexual assault services in New Mexico remains great. Although STOP funds have been used creatively, productively and cost effectively, it is unrealistic to think that one million dollars would be able to significantly reduce crimes against women in all regions of the state.
Sexual assault services are largely unavailable in the eastern and southern portions of the state and, with the exception of the town of Shiprock, they are non-existent in Native American communities. Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Units in New Mexico have emerged as extremely effective programs to increase offender accountability and promote victim safety and subsequent involvement in the criminal justice process. A University of New Mexico research study, Impact of a SANE Unit on Emergency Services in Albuquerque, New Mexico, indicates that the Albuquerque SANE program increased the number of charges filed against a perpetrator, that conviction rates increased, and that the initial and final charges were more likely to be the same. The Albuquerque SANE Unit data shows that nearly 75% of sexual assault victims treated at the unit file a police report at the time of the exam, a rate higher than the national average of 50%.

IV. PRIORITIES AND APPROACHES

The 2003 STOP Violence Against Women Formula Grant Program Implementation Plan continues to build upon the previous plans to work towards reducing and preventing violence against women in the following ways:

SPECIALIZED UNITS OF PROSECUTION AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
Although most regions of the state have prosecutors to handle sexual assault, domestic violence, and stalking cases, the majority of offices do not have the resources to fund specific prosecution staff dedicated solely to prosecuting crimes against women. STOP Violence Against Women subgrant awards have funded specialized prosecution units in rural and urban areas. State funds to support these types of initiatives are scarce and these services would not exist without the STOP Program.
Examples of STOP funded Specialized Prosecution Unit successes that would not have been implemented without STOP funding, are as follows:
The Special Sexual Assault Unit of the Second Judicial District Attorney’s Office coordinates their efforts with the Albuquerque Police Department, Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, UNM Campus Police, Albuquerque SANE Collaborative and the Albuquerque Rape Crisis Center. The unit continues to decrease the average length of time it takes an adult sexual assault case received by the DA’s office to reach final disposition and has significantly increased the annual number of sexual assault cases that the office is able to prosecute. In addition, there has been a significant increase in the number of victims willing to participate in the prosecution process.
The Fourth Judicial District Attorney’s Office is serving as a state model for a comprehensive rural violence against women prosecution unit and adheres to an evidence-based prosecution protocol. An excellent partnership with law enforcement includes providing training on a monthly basis for all area law enforcement agencies to address proper domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking evidence collection techniques. In addition, the unit continues to monitor compliance of domestic violence offenders that have been court mandated to treatment. Most recently, a new STOP funded prosecutor from another region spent a week shadowing the team, demonstrating effective grantee support and collaboration.
The Twelfth Judicial District Attorney’s Office had an 89% domestic violence rate of conviction, of which approximately 90% of the cases were misdemeanor. In addition, their collaborative efforts with the Otero County Magistrate Court resulted in a new protocol whereby the Court defers domestic violence offender sentencing for three weeks to allow the District Attorney’s office to provide information that might impact sentencing.
2003 STOP dollars will continue to fund specialized violence against women prosecution units.
Due to the rural, isolated regions in New Mexico the majority of law enforcement agencies have less than thirty sworn officers. There is a lack of state resources to support specialized Violence Against Women units of law enforcement, in the areas that need them the most. We have seen STOP law enforcement funding positively impact the successful multidisciplinary response to gender specific violence in a few communities and as a result of the successful ongoing law enforcement training programs, we have recently expanded this initiative to additional law enforcement agencies that now have the expertise to implement specialized units. In addition, we have seen a significant increase in law enforcement projects that involve community collaboration.
The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department has contracted with a bilingual (Spanish/English) domestic violence victim advocate and is establishing an advisory committee that includes domestic violence and rape crisis advocacy groups including representatives from organizations that serve Native American and battered immigrant victims. Protocols will be enhanced and all officers responding to crimes against women cases will receive ongoing training and oversight on responding to and investigating domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking,
The City of Bloomfield Police Department has hired a full-time victim advocate that will provide on the scene services to domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking victims and will eventually recruit and train volunteers to respond to victims throughout San Juan County.
The Otero County Sheriff’s Department has hired a full-time violence against women deputy and has entered into an agreement with the Alamogordo Department of Public Safety to develop universal protocols and policies, in collaboration with the Otero County Violence Against Women Community Council. All officers in both agencies will be trained on the effective response and investigation of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. The violence against women STOP funded deputy will respond to cases as well as supervise all deputies in the specialized unit.
The Taos Police Department has hired a domestic violence and stalking investigator that will be based at the Taos County Magistrate Court and will be available to all law enforcement agencies in the county. The investigator is cross-commissioned and has jurisdiction throughout the county, including Taos Pueblo.

TRAINING
Providing in-service Violence Against Women law enforcement training to remote areas is also an ongoing challenge. Lack of sufficient staff often prevents personnel from attending in-service training while available state training funds are insufficient. Developing and strengthening specially trained Violence Against Women law enforcement response teams and appropriate law enforcement protocols is critical to the State’s effort of reducing the incidence of gender specific violence and STOP training funds are being targeted to address this goal. Compliance with the Full Faith and Credit provisions of VAWA is included in STOP funded law enforcement training programs with written protocol included in the STOP funded Responding to Sexual and Domestic Violence: A Guide for Law Enforcement in New Mexico.
Rural state and tribal law enforcement officers are currently benefiting from the third year of STOP funded training in their respective regions of the state. This highly successful training program, based upon Colorado’s Ending Violence Against Women training model, has consistently been well received. Last year, almost 600 rural state and tribal law enforcement officers received specialized training in their respective regions of the state on domestic violence and sexual assault investigations. (Please see Appendix D to review the evaluation report of this project.) Due to the success of this project, funding for this training initiative will be increased with 2003 funds to add ten training sessions devoted to investigating the crime of stalking, and special attention will be paid to recruiting attendance by law enforcement supervisors and managers. In addition, the issues regarding responding to crime victims with disabilities will also be included.
A statewide conference on stalking was held in May 2003 for the purpose of increasing the skill level of state and tribal providers of services to victims of gender specific violence. National and local presenters provided comprehensive information on laws, on appropriately responding to stalking victims and on effective investigation and prosecution of stalking crimes. Scholarships and travel assistance were provided to participants that typically would have been unable to attend. Please see Appendix E to review the conference agenda.
In the upcoming months, the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women (CSVANW) will use their STOP Grant to partner with the Eight Northern Indian Pueblos’ Peacekeepers program to implement a three day project to provide domestic violence response and investigation training to tribal law enforcement officers and prosecutors from all over the state. In early 2004, the Pueblo of Acoma will partner with CSVANW to implement a two-day training program for tribal law enforcement officers and prosecutors on responding to and investigating sexual assault in Indian Country.
The New Mexico Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs presented a very successful two-day statewide conference for state and tribal prosecutors and investigators on prosecuting sexual crimes. The conference was supported by STOP Grant funds as well as funding from the Department of Health’s Behavioral Health Services Division. Please see appendix F to review the conference evaluation report.
The New Mexico Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs also used STOP dollars to bring George McClane, M.D., and Gael Strack, JD, to New Mexico to provide a one day advanced workshop to state and tribal law enforcement officers and prosecutors on documenting, investigating and prosecuting strangulation cases. Please see Appendix G to review the conference evaluation report.
The New Mexico Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs partnered with the New Mexico Judicial Education Center to increase the number of state, tribal and federal justices in the state that are educated on sexual assault in order to more appropriately adjudicate such cases. STOP Grant funds were used to provide the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund’s self-study curriculum Understanding Sexual Violence: the Judges Role in Stranger and Non-Stranger Rape and Sexual Assault Cases to 125 state and tribal justices. The New Mexico Bar Association approved five minimum continuing legal education credits and 5 continuing judicial education credits for this course. Distribution of the curriculum occurred at the New Mexico Judicial Conclave, at the Pueblo Judges’ meeting, at the Domestic Violence Commissioners’ Annual Seminar and through the University of New Mexico American Indian Law Center.
2002 STOP law enforcement dollars were used to send eligible officers to appropriate violence against women training programs outside of New Mexico as well as to fund technology enhancements to promote improved investigations of the crimes of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. In addition, 2001 reverted funds were used to send state and tribal law enforcement and court personnel, prosecutors and advocates to out of state violence against women training programs.
In coordination with the First Judicial District Attorney’s Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies project, STOP funds were used this year to supplement the NM Judicial Education Center’s web course for New Mexico judiciary and court personnel that provides a comprehensive and easily accessible training program on domestic violence criminal and protection order proceedings. Please go to the NM Judicial Education Center’s website, http://jec.unm.edu to view this course.
In response to requests by several STOP subgrantees via the VAWA Grant Administrator, the New Mexico Judicial Education Center utilized 2001 reverted STOP funds to engage a speaker recommended by the National Full Faith and Credit office to address prudent protection order practices at the annual Domestic Violence Special Commissioners’ Meeting. Please see Appendix G to review the seminar agenda.
A violence against women comprehensive conference planning project to assess the training needs (with particular emphasis on rural issues) of state and tribal law enforcement, prosecution, court and victim service providers, to develop a training agenda and to identify capable trainers with domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking expertise in New Mexico and surrounding states, will be awarded in August 2003.
The primary focus of STOP training funds for FY 2003 will be on expanding and enhancing the rural regional training initiative and to ensure that an increased number of training programs occur in tribal communities and are presented and planned by or in partnership with Native American service providers. Reverted funds will continue to be used to send violence against women providers to effective national training programs and to fund training programs within the state.
COURT INITIATIVES
The primary language of over 28% of New Mexicans is Spanish, yet Orders of Protection used to exist in English only. This had resulted in some victims being confused or uninformed. In some instances a Spanish-speaking abuser would misrepresent the contents of the Order of Protection. In an effort to address the rights of Spanish-speaking victims in the Court, STOP funds were used to translate protection order forms into Spanish and are available on the New Mexico Courts website. (www.nmcourts.com). The intention of the Implementation Team is to fund the translation of Order of Protection forms in additional languages.
The Court Compliance Monitor program in Torrance County provides strict monitoring of all domestic violence misdemeanor offenders combined with a responsive Magistrate Court judge, which has resulted in 92 %of the offenders remaining in compliance with court mandates at the end of the grant budget period. In addition, the court is collecting probation fees from convicted offenders that contribute to the project’s sustainability. It is anticipated that the success, sustainability and cost effectiveness of this project will ultimately influence the state to replicate this model in many regions of New Mexico. 2003 funds will supplement 50% of this partially self-sustaining project.
2003 court allocated STOP funds will be used to complete the second year of the Resource Coordinator for the Second Judicial District Domestic Violence Court’s centralized database two-year pilot project that will coordinate the judicial systems’ response to Domestic Violence by linking all the courts in the county. The second year of funding will add links to the Department of Corrections, the District Attorney’s Office, the Public Defender’s Office and the Children Youth and Families Department. The goal is for a strong project evaluation to demonstrate the project’s success for eventual statewide funding by the legislature.

VICTIM SERVICES
Many abused women on state and tribal land lack the knowledge of existing domestic violence and sexual assault resources, exemplifying the need for community outreach, training and collaboration. The feeling of isolation is exacerbated by a lack of services in many communities, and further compounded by distance and transportation problems. In more populated settings with a greater array of services, awareness about existing resources is increasing.
There are only three full-service rape crisis centers in our state that ranks second in the nation in rape. The remainder of the state is served by very overworked community mental health centers that have switched to managed care, and are at great risk for dropping the sexual assault response component of their centers. Rural communities are in a prime position to receive STOP funding to create and strengthen programs to help stop violence against women. Rural and urban communities in New Mexico are currently demonstrating successful outcomes of STOP funded SANE initiatives. For example, data from the Albuquerque SANE Unit shows that nearly 75% of sexual assault victims treated, file a police report at the time of the exam, a rate higher than the national average of 50%. In addition, a University of New Mexico research study, Impact of a SANE Unit on Emergency Services in Albuquerque, New Mexico indicates that the Albuquerque SANE program increased the number of charges filed against a perpetrator, that conviction rates increased, and that the initial and final charges were more likely to be the same.
The SANE unit in the northern part of the state now provides digital photo-documentation to law enforcement within seventy-two hours. A highly synchronized SANE team approach and protocol between law enforcement, victim services and the district attorney has improved services provided to the rape victim and has increased the number of plea bargains and successful prosecutions in the southern part of the state. A comprehensive training manual has been developed by the SANE program in the central part of the state that will be used for consistent SANE training throughout New Mexico.
Despite the reduction in funding for this year, the commitment to expanding sexual assault services remains a plan priority and there will be an increase in 2003 STOP dollars to be used to continue the enhancement of the state’s current Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner programs as well as to contribute to the development of new units to meet the needs of rural and tribal communities.
Victim advocates who will support, refer, and help victims navigate the criminal justice system, at the earliest possible moment, remain an important need. Early intervention by advocates continues to be a vital link to the successful prosecution of violence against women crimes, while increasing victims' access to services.
The provision of civil legal assistance to victims of gender specific violence has been a highly successful component of the victim services initiative. Not only are victims receiving assistance when obtaining orders of protection, but battered immigrant women eligible for relief under VAWA are also receiving free legal services. STOP funded civil legal assistance programs are now serving victims in Dona Ana, Grant, Luna, Otero, San Juan and Sierra counties.
2003 STOP dollars will continue to be used for civil legal assistance purposes with a continued emphasis on providing assistance to battered immigrant women. In addition, 2003 victim services dollars will continue to support the enhancement of a victim services program for Spanish-speaking victims and their children.
In response to a data-driven request by the Bernalillo County STOP Violence Against Women and Children Animal Link Multidisciplinary Team, the STOP Grant program, in collaboration with Animal Protection of New Mexico and the New Mexico Animal Humane Association, will provide a statewide emergency fund pilot project to assist domestic violence victims that will not otherwise leave a beloved pet behind to seek shelter, for fear that the pet will be injured or killed by the abuser. The funds will enable domestic violence shelters and advocacy organizations to provide limited emergency care and housing for the pets of victims who will not leave them behind, when no other resource is available. At this point, a comprehensive list of emergency care providers has been distributed to domestic violence service providers and a video and manual on accessing the services will be completed and distributed this fall. The emergency service will commence shortly thereafter. 2003 funds will assist the project with continued implementation.
In 1998 the NM Department of Health reported that 25% of New Mexico’s population have some type of disability. Crimes of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking committed against persons with disabilities are likely to go unreported. In addition, victims with disabilities face multiple barriers to accessing needed services and participating fully in the civil and criminal justice systems. Persons with disabilities are more vulnerable to victimization and lack information about available services and interventions.
As a follow-up to the enthusiastic response to the STOP funded Serving Women with Disabilities: An Advocates Guide manual, and accompanying video, 2002 STOP dollars are being used to provide on-site technical assistance to domestic violence and sexual assault organizations that will aid programs that work with victims of gender specific violence to identify and then remove barriers that limit access to victims with disabilities.
2003 STOP funds will continue to address the needs of victims with disabilities by providing training to state and tribal law enforcement officers on responding to victims with disabilities.

COORDINATED COMMUNITY RESPONSE
The STOP Grant is currently funding Prevention of Violence Against Women Coordinators in three regions (north, south and central) of the state. These coordinators facilitate multidisciplinary working groups that include law enforcement, prosecution, victim services, health care and the courts to identify and address gaps in the delivery of services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. Accomplishments of these programs include:
In San Juan County, the Coordinator assisted in the development of SANE programs in Shiprock and Farmington, NM and is currently facilitating a multi-disciplinary team that will develop SANE protocol. The San Juan County Task Force is working on a multi-disciplinary protocol to ensure appropriate enforcement of Orders of Protection.
In Otero County, the effort of the Violence Against Women Coordinating Council has resulted in local judges cooperating with the District Attorney to improve sentencing procedures for domestic violence offenders. The Coordinator facilitated the provision of a violence against women training seminar for the Mescalero Apache human services, court and law enforcement personnel.
In Bernalillo County the Coordinator facilitated the development of a water bill insert that provided information about domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse and animal abuse, which was distributed to over 188,000 homes in the county. The Coordinator provided domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking training to childcare workers, the tribal council, social workers and community members at San Felipe Pueblo.
2003 STOP funds will be used to continue Coordinated Community Response initiatives.

DATA COLLECTION
Accurate information about the incidence and nature of domestic and sexual violence in our country has implications for the criminal justice system, healthcare system, families and individual victims. Funding for the STOP initiative’s domestic violence data collection for the NM Interpersonal Violence Data Central Repository is now fully supported by the NM Department of Health following the success of the project. As previously reported, new to the 2003 report is a special supplement, Estimating the Healthcare and Lost Productivity Costs of Domestic Violence in New Mexico and Identifying Who Pays. The data in this section should prove invaluable when influencing our lawmakers that making decisions that promote victim safety are ultimately cost effective.
We are now beginning to account for the nature and incidence of sexual assault in our state using STOP Grant and NM Department of Health funds. The first report represented an analysis of 2001 sexual assault data from the New Mexico Interpersonal Violence Data Central Repository; a discussion of the implications of the findings presented; and a review of the data limitations to highlight future data needs. The second report, an analysis of the 2002 sexual assault data, will be released in the fall of 2003.
2003 STOP dollars will continue to be used to support the collection and analysis of sexual assault data in New Mexico for the New Mexico Interpersonal Violence Data Central Repository. In addition, STOP subgrantees are collecting additional data then they did in previous grant years, as the quarterly progress report has been revised to reflect the recommendations of the measuring effectiveness initiative that was presented at the 2002 STOP Administrators Meeting in Albuquerque, NM.

DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS/GRANT-MAKING STRATEGY
Programs and projects supported by STOP dollars will address one or more of the eleven eligible program purposes. The Implementation Team used all the available resources and data as previously identified, to determine the equitable distribution of funds given to projects. At least twenty-five percent of the amount granted will be allocated to prosecution purposes, at least twenty-five percent will be allocated to law enforcement purposes, at least thirty percent will be allocated to victim services purposes, and at least five percent will be allocated to the needs of courts and/or court personnel. Approximately fifteen percent will be allocated under the discretionary category. It is interesting to note that although thirty-three percent of 2002 funds were allocated to victim services projects, forty-eight percent of the projects serve victims.
Meeting the needs of underserved populations has always been a priority for the New Mexico STOP program. The 2003 plan continues to emphasize the coordination of services and training to meet the needs of sexual assault victims, victims with disabilities, Native American victims and immigrant victims.
Priority consideration for project funding is based on geographic diversity and service availability. Information is provided about the geographic locations and nature of VOCA and VAWA Discretionary Grant projects that assist proposal review committees to ensure that the geographic areas with the least amount of available services receive adequate funding. Each reviewed project is designated an individualized peer proposal review committee that is composed of statewide experts on the particular project being reviewed. Many proposal reviewers represent diverse, underserved communities within New Mexico. Applicants are required to demonstrate their knowledge of the existing services in their geographic area in their respective proposals.
STOP Grant funding is competitively awarded on an annual basis, with a possible competitive re-solicitation during the year if submitted proposals do not meet the goals and objectives of a particular allocation within the state implementation plan. Grants are awarded for a twelve-month period. The process typically gives priority to existing successful projects that are seeking continuation funding for initiatives begun in previous grant years. Solicitation announcements are included in the NM Crime Victims Reparation Commission newsletter, the Albuquerque Journal, and the Violence Against Women E-newsletter. In addition, the NM Coalition of Sexual Assault, the NM Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the Coalition to STOP Violence Against Native Women, the Administrative Office of the District Attorneys and the NM Sheriff’s and Police Association receive solicitation announcements. Please see appendix I to review the grant solicitations
This year, in an effort to continue successful projects, encourage project sustainability and also fund new projects, the 2003 implementation team developed the following funding strategy that will take effect with the 2003 application process.
All projects that were successfully implemented and managed during the grant year will be eligible for continuation funding, unless the project was a non-recurring project (such as a conference). After two successful grant years of funding the project could apply for a third year of continuation funding with a 10% reduction in the request for funds (using the initial budget). After three years of funding, the project could apply for a fourth year of continuation funding with an additional 10% reduction in the request for funds for a total of a 20% reduction (using the initial budget). Projects would be eligible to apply for a fifth year of funding as a new project in competition with all other new applicants.
A very small number of awards are sole source funded based on the proven efficacy and expediency of a grantee and state and federal procurement requirements. For example, it would not make sense to award the Data Collection Repository project to a new applicant when the current staff has formed relationships with the contributors and has produced a stellar body of work in a very cost effective manner. A proposal review committee also reviews sole source applications.
A STOP Grant writing workshop is offered approximately two weeks after the application is disseminated and ongoing grant writing technical assistance is available to all attendees until the date that the proposal is due. A post award grant management training is provided prior to the beginning of the grant budget period.

ADDRESSING THE NEEDS OF UNDERSERVED VICTIMS AS DEFINED BY VAWA 2000
The issues of poverty and cultural diversity in New Mexico pose a challenge in the effort to address the problem of violence against women. Any service seeking to decrease violence against women must accommodate the complexities of our poor, culturally diverse state. Additionally, intervention strategies must continue to be developed and implemented in conjunction with the community and the cultures represented within that community.
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As in past years, the 2003 implementation plan continues to strive to address the needs of underserved populations in the following ways:
Ý Provide access to training opportunities (including scholarships and travel assistance) to Native American providers
Ý Provide civil legal assistance to battered immigrant women
Ý Grant applications will request documentation by SANE project applicants to demonstrate a partnership and plan with tribal organizations to encourage access to SANE services by Native victims
Ý Law enforcement officers will receive training on responding to victims with disabilities
Ý An increased number of rural, regional law enforcement training programs will occur in tribal communities and will be presented and planned by or in partnership with Native American service providers.
Ý Spanish-speaking immigrant victims will have access to advocacy and counseling services
Ý A significant portion of the funding will address the needs of victims in rural communities. (59% of the 2002 STOP Grant was awarded to programs in rural communities and 16% of the projects were statewide initiatives.)
The FY 2003 STOP application guidelines include the following statement:
Applicants whose geographic area includes an American Indian population must include grant activities specifically designed to meet the needs of Indian tribes, or Indian populations in their service area. Applicants that do not have tribes or tribal lands within their service area should demonstrate good faith efforts to reach out to American Indians residing in their service area.
Applicants whose geographic area includes other underserved populations should include grant activities specifically designed to meet the needs of those populations.
Applicants should demonstrate the ways in which victims of gender specific violence will have access to linguistically and culturally appropriate community-based services.
The New Mexico Coalition of Sexual Assault Program’s “Ending Violence Against Women with Disabilities” project (2002-FW-BX-0010, Education and Technical Assistance Grants to End Violence Against Women with Disabilities) has partnered with the STOP Grant’s administering agency, the New Mexico Crime Victims Reparation Commission to present a one-day training session at the annual Advocacy in Action Conference on working with victims with disabilities. This event is scheduled for May 2004.

MONITORING and EVALUATION
It is very important to understand the impact of STOP funds on reducing the incidence of violence against women in New Mexico. The 2003 STOP application will require applicants to demonstrate the ways in which they will measure short-term outcomes that they expect their project to achieve. We would expect short-term outcomes to eventually lead to the desired long-term outcomes. However, measuring long-term outcomes is very labor and time intensive, as well as costly. New Mexico would require additional evaluation dollars to adequately examine long-term outcomes.
The STOP Grant writing workshop assists subgrantees in their efforts to effectively measure outcomes of their STOP funded projects. The one-day training, “Efficient Grant Writing: The Relationship Between the Statement of the Problem, Goals, Objectives, and Evaluation Activities and How to Write Them” will be presented shortly after the dissemination of the STOP application.
The FY 2003 STOP application will instruct the applicants to choose no more than three processes that they believe will be critical to the successful development and implementation of their project and to write three measurable objectives and corresponding evaluation activities regarding these processes. The VAWA Grant Administrator will be available to provide technical assistance to all workshop attendees.
Subgrantees will be required to submit quarterly reports addressing the project’s progress towards achieving the measurable objectives for that respective quarter. A final report that summarizes evaluation activities and outcomes will be due sixty days after the close of the grant budget period.
All projects will receive desk reviews to monitor progress and compliance and in-depth site visits are typically conducted at new sites and/or at projects that require additional technical assistance or oversight.

All STOP subgrantees are required to collect the data that was recommended by the measuring effectiveness initiative that was presented at the 2002 STOP Administrators Meeting in Albuquerque and to submit this data as part of the quarterly progress report requirement.
All subgrantees will be required to complete the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Annual Performance Report.
All eligible STOP subgrantees are required to submit data to the New Mexico Interpersonal Violence Data Central Repository.

V. CONCLUSION

The ongoing commitment and dedication of the New Mexico VAWA Implementation Team has resulted in a 2003 Implementation Plan that embraces innovation while simultaneously providing ongoing funding for critical services to reduce the incidence of violence against women. These services were not available prior to the Violence Against Women Act and the STOP Violence Against Women Formula Grant Program.
The New Mexico projects funded by the STOP Grant have introduced new concepts, developed best practices, trained numerous prosecutors, law enforcement officers, advocates and members of the judiciary and have provided much needed information to the state. In addition, collaborative efforts have brought together diverse groups that have resulted in sustaining and productive partnerships.

REFERENCES

Caponera, Betty. (2003). Incidence and Nature of Domestic Violence in New Mexico III: An Analysis of 2001 Data from The New Mexico Interpersonal Violence Data Central Repository, State of New Mexico, Injury Prevention and EMS Bureau, Department of Health.

Caponera, Betty. (2002). Sex Crimes in New Mexico: An Analysis of 2001 Data from The New Mexico Interpersonal Violence Data Central Repository, State of New Mexico, Injury Prevention and EMS Bureau, Department of Health, STOP Violence Against Women Formula Grant Program.

Crandall, C., Worthington, A., and Wilson, L. (2001) Still Getting Away with Murder: The New Mexico Female Intimate Partner Violence Death Review Team, Center of Injury Prevention, Research and Education, University of New Mexico.

Lavalley, A., Crandall, C., Fullerton-Gleason, L., Worthington, A., and Sklar, D. (2002) Impact of a SANE Unit on Emergency Services in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Center of Injury Prevention, Research and Education, University of New Mexico.

Morgan Quitno Press, (2002) 2002 Most Dangerous States, Lawrence, Kansas.

Nickell, Steven. (2002). Disability in New Mexico, 1998-2000, NM Department of Health Epidemiology Report, Volume 2002, Number 4.

Uniform Crime Reports, (2000), Federal Bureau of Investigation.

United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, “1990 Census of Population and Housing”, Summary Tape, File 3A: New Mexico

United States Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 1992-1996.

For additional information please contact:
Sheila Allen, VAWA Grant Administrator
NM Crime Victims Reparation Commission
8100 Mountain Road NE, Suite 106
Albuquerque, NM 87110
505-841-9435
sheila.allen@state.nm.us