WA State Department of Commerce 9/25/2017

Activities that Compromise Victim Safety and Recovery The applicant agrees that grant funds will not support activities that compromise victim safety and recovery. The following activities have been found to jeopardize victim safety, deter or prevent physical or emotional healing for victims, or allow offenders to escape responsibility for their actions: 1. Procedures or policies that exclude victims from receiving safe shelter, advocacy services,counseling, and other assistance based on their actual or perceived sex, age, immigration status, race, religion,sexual orientation,gender identity, mental health condition, physical health condition, criminal record,work in the sex industry, or the age and/or gender of their children; 2. Procedures or policies that compromise the confidentiality of information and privacy of persons receiving OVW-funded services; 3. Procedures or policies that impose requirements on victims in order to receive services(e.g. seek an order of protection, receive counseling, participate in couples counseling or mediation, report to law enforcement,seek civil or criminal remedies, etc.); 4. Procedures or policies that fail to include conducting safety planning with victims; 5. Project design and budget that fail to account for the access needs of participants with disabilities and participants who have limited English proficiency or who are Deaf or hard of hearing; 6. The use of pre-trial diversion programs without prior OVW review and approval of the program or the automatic placement of offenders in such programs; 7. Couples counseling,family counseling or any other manner or joint victim-offender counseling as a routine or required response to sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking, or in situations in which child sexual abuse is alleged; 8. Offering or ordering anger management programs for offenders as a substitute for batterer's intervention programs; 9. Procedures or policies that deny victims and non-abusing parents or caretakers and their children access to services based on their involvement with the perpetrator; 10. Requiring survivors to meet restrictive conditions in order to receive services (e.g. background checks of victims, clinical evaluations to determine eligibility for services.) or other screening processes that elicit information that is not necessary for services,such as questions about immigration status,gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, physical or mental health, and work or criminal history that the service provider does not need to know about to provide services safely; 11. Relying on batterer intervention programs that do not use court monitoring to hold batterers accountable for their behavior; 12. Policies and procedures that fail to account for the physical safety of victims; 13. Enforcing or promoting nuisance abatement ordinances, crime-free housing ordinances, or crime-free lease addenda (often associated with crime-free housing programs)that require or encourage the eviction of tenants or residents who may be victims of domestic violence,sexual assault,dating violence or stalking. See also the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for guidance on how such ordinances and addenda may violate the Fair Housing Act; and 14. Policies or procedures that require testing of sexual assault forensic evidence in cases where the victim obtained a medical forensic exam but has not chosen to participate in the criminal justice system 15. Seeking a material witness warrant for a victim without consultation with the victim and exploring alternative actions;or arbitrarily refusing to sign U visa Certifications when a STOP Grant qualifying crime has occurred and the victim was, is being, or is likely to be helpful in the investigation or prosecution of the qualifying crime.