The recipient entity's physical address:
           2000 Lakeshore Drive
UNO Trac Building 228
New Orleans LA 70148

The recipient entity's mailing address (if different):
           2000 Lakeshore Drive
UNO Trac Building 228
New Orleans LA 70148

Type of Entity (for instance, a nonprofit corporation):  Non-Profit Corporation

If the entity is a corporation, list the names of the incorporators:
          

The last four digits of the entity's taxpayer ID number:  3685

What is the dollar amount of the request?  $50,000

What type of request is this?  General Appropriation

Is this entity in good standing with the Secretary of State?  Yes

Provide the name of each member of the recipient entity's governing board and officers:
           Board of Directors:
Olivia Woollam, Board Chair: Attorney
1325 Josephine St Unit B, New Orleans LA 70130
Maureen Loughran: Producer, American Routes
6823 St. Charles Ave., 202 Alcee Fortier Hall, New Orleans, LA 70118
Stephanie Minto: Director of Crime Victims, Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office
2800 Perdido St., New Orleans, LA 70119
Baty Landis: Executive Director, Longue Vue
7 Bamboo Road, New Orleans, LA 70124

Executive Director & Key Staff:
Tamara Jackson: Executive Director, SilenceIsViolence
2000 Lakeshore Drive
UNO Trac Building 228
New Orleans LA 70148

Provide a summary of the project or program:
           SilenceIsViolence (SIV) was founded in early 2007 amid a surge of gun violence in New Orleans, as a grassroots outcry for stronger actions by city leadership. Now, we work directly with individuals and families suffering the aftermath of a homicide, mitigating trauma, promoting healing, and pursuing justice.
SIV addresses the trauma and alienation experienced by those touched by homicide. SIV challenges violence as a default form of expression and interrupts cycles of violence. SIV addresses a lack of public awareness of and intervenes with support where there is lack of trust in the criminal justice process.
SIV delivers services for homicide victims and their families: immediate grief support, emergency assistance and safe housing in partnership with criminal justice agencies. We heal families through trauma-informed therapy and guide them through justice systems for legal resolution. SIV increases mental health and helps break the cycle of violence.
With alarming increases in violent crime and perpetrators come correspondingly larger numbers of Survivors/Witnesses. Survivors/Witnesses are at high risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which can occur when an individual has experienced, witnessed, or been confronted with a terrible event, especially when the victim does not receive support grounded in their dignity and humanity. Support and counseling help alleviate these overwhelming emotions and prevent further incidences of violence. Such support is extremely rare and SIV is one of the only providers of such programming in Louisiana. Low-income survivors, particularly those who lose a breadwinner, experience financial stress and need immediate financial help for rent, utilities, groceries, childcare, crime scene clean up and burial expenses. Witnesses need safe housing since they become targets of perpetrators. Families who have lost a loved one seek justice, but they face a criminal justice process that can be complex, confusing, and frustrating. Sometimes families seek retribution for the crime that killed their loved one because they have little faith in the criminal justice system. Law enforcement agencies and courts need witnesses to prosecute crimes successfully, but they do not have the protocols and dedicated resources to protect them with safe housing and financial resources, nor do they have the resources to help victims’ families. Families requesting funds from the federal Crime Victims Fund undergo an onerous process that can take up to two years. SIV addresses all of these gaps in existing systems and agencies’ ability to deliver services. The demand for SIV’s services from law enforcement agencies shows the importance of SIV’s services and the need for government support for these programs.
SIV is grounded in evidence-based practices to mitigate trauma, promote healing, pursue justice and meet an increased need for its services, which are free for Survivors/Witnesses. With staff and program resources, we provide a full wraparound program of direct services and advocacy for hundreds of clients per year: emergency housing and material support; victim/witness relocation assistance; grief and trauma counseling; life skills training; and, logistical guidance and coordination as families engage with the criminal justice system.
The target population is Survivors and Witnesses of violent crime, mainly homicide, and their families, in Orleans and Jefferson Parishes. SIV serves, on average, three individuals per violent crime incident.
All criminal justice agencies in Orleans and several in Jefferson Parish partner with SIV, which has become an essential liaison between community and government. These agencies refer clients to SIV, totaling 25% of client referrals.

What is the budget relative to the project for which funding is requested?:
          Salaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . $319,380
          Professional Services. . . $26,000
          Contracts . . . . . . . . . . . $0
          Acquisitions . . . . . . . . . $0
          Major Repairs . . . . . . . $0
          Operating Services. . . . $27,996
          Other Charges. . . . . . . $52,500

Does your organization have any outstanding audit issues or findings?  No

If 'Yes' is your organization working with the appropriate governmental agencies to resolve those issues or findings?
          

What is the entity's public purpose, sought to be achieved through the use of state monies?
          The mission of SilenceIsViolence is directly in line with the public purpose as articulated by this legislature, in regards to the public duty towards victims of crime. The mission of Silence Is Violence is to work toward a safe and equitable New Orleans. We provide direct victim services, creative youth engagement, and public advocacy, working with clients and partners from every sector to achieve safe, just, and thriving communities. Our primary purpose and the sole thrust of our programming in 2023 is to serve clients in the aftermath of a traumatic crime, most commonly a shooting ending in a homicide. The state government has already made the ongoing public care of crime victims a public purpose through the Crime Victims Reparations Act (La. R.S. 46:1801-63). As stated in that Act, the legislature specifically articulated its intent: “to ensure that all victims and witnesses of crime are treated with dignity, respect, courtesy, and sensitivity, and that the rights extended in this Chapter to victims and witnesses of crime are honored and protected by the law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and judges in a manner no less vigorous than the protection afforded the criminal defendants.” La. R.S. 46:1841 (“Legislative Intent”). The work that SIV does is a direct delivery of the intention of the Louisiana legislature, done in an extremely cost-efficient way to achieve the desired outcomes of dignity, respect, courtesy and sensitivity – descriptions that fit our services and which would match the positive feedback we have received from existing clients.
In addition, SIV goes above and beyond by not only treating clients in the aftermath of the crime, but supporting them through case management and guidance through the police investigation and criminal prosecution processes, which also advance articulated public purposes in state law La. R.S. 46:1841. SIV also provides mental health services which, although not currently articulated in state law as a priority of the legislature, is of clear benefit to the community and therefore serves a public purpose. The data on mental health is clear: treatment and support through counselling yields major improvements in all measures of outcomes, including but not limited to economic participation and crime reduction. SIV provides emergency grief counseling and partners with ongoing therapeutic providers to ensure that victims receive the mental health treatment that they need to heal and move forward.

What are the goals and objectives for achieving such purpose?
          The target population is Survivors and Witnesses of violent crime, mainly homicide, and their families, in Orleans and Jefferson Parishes; 53% of VAP’s clients are youth under the age of 24. VAP serves, on average, three individuals per violent crime incident.
All criminal justice agencies in Orleans and several in Jefferson Parish partner with VAP, which has become an essential liaison between community and government. These agencies refer clients to VAP, totaling 25% of client referrals.
For specific program evaluation, SIV collects data on our evidenced-based, trauma-informed interventions and counseling, along with case management services with Licensed Clinical Social Workers and credentialed advocates who methodically monitor and evaluate clients. Activities include: in-depth needs assessments; material, logistical and emotional support; and, individual and group counseling. These changes are tracked and progress is measured using the PCL-C trauma scale for post-traumatic stress disorder and Beck’s Depression Inventory to establish baselines for economic, social, physical, emotional, and mental stability. Monthly reassessments measure personal safety; stable food, housing, and childcare; reliable communications and transportation; employment status and financial stability; and access to physical and mental healthcare.
These are all obvious barometers of victims’ ability to move forward while being “treated with dignity, respect, courtesy, and sensitivity” as articulated as the goal by the state legislature.
In particular reference to clients who suffer post traumatic stress disorder, we use the PCL-C tool multiple times after diagnosis to assess the change in PTSD symptoms over time. A reduction of 5 points suggests a reliable reduction in symptoms; a 10-20 point reduction reflects clinically significant change. The point at which counseling is terminated is used for data collection on outcomes. Of 1800 [average 3 inds per incident x600 inds x 3yrs) individuals affected by homicide and other violent crime in Orleans and Jefferson Parishes over three years, VAP services will reduce the impact of trauma on the mental health of at least 65% of Survivors/Witnesses within 6-8 months, improving their economic, social, physical, emotional, and mental stability; 40% of our clients will have engaged with the court system to pursue justice.
A second significant outcome of VAP’s work is that Survivors/Witnesses seek resolution of the violence that affected their families through the criminal justice system. VAP’s follow up case management services, after client counseling is concluded, may last for the length of the criminal justice process or longer, based on need. VAP staff contact clients every three months to measure their progress through the criminal justice system by collecting case investigation updates and data on their contacts with the district attorney’s office. Our clients have increased participation with criminal justice agencies, which strengthens relationships between communities and the criminal justice system, leading to increased confidence in criminal justice. In the long term, we seek to cultivate a sense of safety and stability for victims and witnesses and contribute to increased community confidence in the criminal justice system.

What is the proposed length of time estimated by the entity to accomplish the purpose?
           12 months

If any elected or appointed state official or an immediate family member of such an official is an officer, director, trustee, or employee of the recipient entity who receives compensation or holds any ownership interest therein:
     (a) If an elected or appointed state official, the name and address of the official and the office held by such person:
                
    
     (b) If an immediate family member of an elected or appointed state official, the name and address of such person; the name, address, and office of the official to whom the person is related; and the nature of the relationship:
                

     (c) The percentage of the official's or immediate family member's ownership interest in the recipient entity, if any:
                

     (d) The position, if any, held by the official or immediate family member in the recipient entity:
                 

If the recipient entity has a contract with any elected or appointed state official or an immediate family member of such an official or with the state or any political subdivision of the state:
(a) If the contract is with an elected or appointed state official, provide the name and address of the official and the office held by such person: 
               

(b) If the contract is with an immediate family member of an elected or appointed state official:
          Provide the name and address of such person:
              

          Provide the name, address, and office of the official to whom the person is related:
               

          What is the nature of the relationship? 

(c) If the contract is with the state or a political subdivision of the state, provide the name and address of the state entity or political subdivision of the state:
                

(d) The nature of the contract, including a description of the goods or services provided or to be provided pursuant to the contract:
               


Contact Information
name:  Olivia Woollam 
                                       address:  1325 Josephine St, Unit B
New Orleans LA 70130
                                       phone:  504-520-9695
                                       fax: 
                                       e-mail:  owoollam@gmail.com
                                       relationship to entity:  Chair of Board of Directors