52:4B-43.1. Continuation of The Victim and Witness Advocacy Fund

20. a. The Victim and Witness Advocacy Fund, established in the State Treasury by section 2 of P.L.1979, c.396 (C.2C:43-3.1), administered by the Department of Law and Public Safety through the Division of Criminal Justice, pursuant to rules and regulations promulgated by the Director of the Division of Criminal Justice, to support the development and provision of services to victims and witnesses of crimes and for related administrative costs, is hereby continued.

b. The division is authorized to continue disbursing moneys deposited in the Victim and Witness Advocacy Fund to fund the operation of the State Office of Victim and Witness Advocacy, the 21 county offices of Victim and Witness Advocacy and to provide funding to other public entities as deemed appropriate for the implementation of the Attorney General Standards to Ensure the Rights of Crime Victims.

c. In addition, the division, pursuant to rules and regulations to be promulgated by the director to ensure that funds are given to qualified entities that will provide services consistent with this act, shall award grants to qualified public entities and not-for-profit organizations that provide direct services to victims and witnesses, including but not limited to such services as:

(1) shelter, food and clothing;

(2) medical and legal advocacy services;

(3) 24-hour crisis response services and 24-hour hotlines;

(4) information and referral and community education;

(5) psychiatric treatment programs;

(6) expanded services for victims' families and significant others;

(7) short and long term counseling and support groups;

(8) emergency locksmith and carpentry services;

(9) financial services; and

(10) medical testing ordered by a court pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1993, c.364 (C.2C:43-2.2).

d. Organizations eligible to apply for grants under subsection c. of this section include but are not limited to:

(1) member programs of the New Jersey Coalition for Battered Women, including but not limited to

(a) Atlantic County Women's Center;

(b) Shelter Our Sisters, (Bergen County);

(c) Providence House/ Willingboro Shelter, (Burlington County);

(d) YWCA/SOLACE, (Camden County);

(e) Family Violence Project and The Safe House, (Essex County);

(f) People Against Spouse Abuse, (Gloucester County);

(g) Battered Women's Program, (Hudson County);

(h) Women's Crisis Services, (Hunterdon County);

(i) Womanspace, Inc., (Mercer County);

(j) Women Aware, Inc., (Middlesex County);

(k) Women's Resource and Survival Center, (Monmouth County);

(l) Jersey Battered Women's Services, Inc., (Morris County);

(m) Passaic County Women's Center, (Passaic County);

(n) Salem County Women's Services, (Salem County);

(o) Resource Center for Women and Their Families, (Somerset County);

(p) Domestic Abuse Services, Inc., (Sussex County);

(q) Project Protect, (Union County);

(r) Domestic Abuse and Rape Crisis Center, Inc., (Warren County); and

(s) Ocean County Women's Center; and

(2) rape care services and programs, including, but not limited to:

(a) Atlantic County Women's Center, (Atlantic County);

(b) Bergen County Rape Crisis Center, (Bergen County);

(c) Women Against Rape, (Burlington County);

(d) Women Against Rape, (Camden County);

(e) Coalition against Rape and Abuse, (Cape May County);

(f) Cumberland County Guidance Center;

(g) North Essex Helpline and Sexual Assault Support Service, (Essex County);

(h) Gloucester County Rape Assault Prevention Program;

(i) Christ Hospital Mental Health Center, serving Hudson County;

(j) Women's Crisis Services, (Hunterdon County);

(k) Rape Crisis Program Mercer County YWCA, (Mercer County);

(l) Rape Crisis Intervention Center Roosevelt Hospital, (Middlesex County);

(m) Women's Resource Center, (Monmouth County);

(n) Parenting Center, Morristown Hospital, (Morris County);

(o) Ocean County Advisory Commission on the Status of Women, (Ocean County);

(p) Passaic County Women's Center, (Passaic County);

(q) Salem County Rape Crisis Service, (Salem County);

(r) Rape Crisis Service of Somerset and Richard Hall Mental Health Center Somerset County Coalition for the prevention and Treatment of Sexual Abuse;

(s) Project Against Sexual Assault Abuse, (Sussex County);

(t) Union County Rape Crisis Center;

(u) Domestic Abuse and Rape Crisis Center, (Warren County); and

(v) Alternatives to Domestic Violence of Hackensack, N.J. (Bergen County).

e. The Director shall report annually to the Governor and the Legislature concerning the administration of the Victim and Witness Advocacy Fund and the administration and award of grants authorized by this section.

L.1991,c.329,s.20; amended 1993,c.364,s.2.