Office for Victims of Crime Announces $141,783 Grant to Support Victims in Dale County, Ala.

WASHINGTON, June 20, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today the Office of Justice Programs' Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) announced a $141,783 Antiterrorism and Emergency Assistance Program (AEAP) grant to provide the Southeast Alabama Child Advocacy Center, Inc. (CAC) funding to assist the victims of the January 29, 2013, Midland City, Ala. school bus shooting. 

On January 29, 2013, Jimmy Lee Dykes kidnapped a 5-year-old boy from a school bus in Midland City, Ala., killing the bus driver in the process.  The boy was taken hostage to a nearby underground bunker and held for six days before being rescued.  Many other children were also traumatized—35 lost their bus driver and 20 witnessed the bus driver's murder. These events occurred in a small, rural community with limited resources.  The Southeast Alabama CAC will provide trauma counseling as well as appropriate emotional and psychological services for the child victims impacted by this tragedy. 

In 1995, following the Oklahoma City bombing, Congress authorized OVC to set aside and administer up to $50 million annually from the Crime Victims Fund from the Antiterrorism Emergency Reserve Fund to assist victims in extraordinary circumstances. Following an act of terrorism or mass violence, jurisdictions can apply for an AEAP grant award for crisis response, criminal justice support, crime victim compensation and training and technical assistance expenses.  OVC has also provided AEAP funds and assistance following the shootings in Aurora, Col. (2012); Tucson, Ariz. (2011); Binghamton, N.Y. (2009); and at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (2007). 

More information on the AEAP program is available at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/AEAP/index.html.

The Office of Justice Programs (OJP), headed by Assistant Attorney General Karol V. Mason, provides federal leadership in developing the nation's capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice, and assist victims.  OJP has six components:  the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Institute of Justice; the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; the Office for Victims of Crime; and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking.  More information about OJP can be found at http://www.ojp.gov.

SOURCE Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs

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