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Cheshire County Accepts $700,000 DOJ Grant to Expand Victim Services and Forensic Nursing
Summary
The Cheshire County Board of Commissioners voted to accept up to $700,000 in Department of Justice funds over three years to expand services for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking, including funding for a hospital‑based advocate and a medical forensic program manager.
Cheshire County commissioners on Thursday approved acceptance of a Department of Justice Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) grant worth up to $700,000 spread over three years to expand victim services and medical forensic capacity.
Grants manager Suzanne Bansley told commissioners the county will subgrant most of the award to local partners and retain a small indirect share for administration. "I'm Suzanne Bansley, grants manager," she said while outlining the authorization needed to accept the award and sign subrecipient agreements.
The award will fund two primary local positions: a victim advocate embedded at a hospital and a medical forensic program manager at Cheshire Medical Center, and will pay for associated training, outreach and reporting. Nick Hirsch of the Handoff Center for Violence Prevention (MCVP) described the project as fourfold: formalizing multi‑agency collaboration, expanding service capacity (including pediatric forensic capability), increasing community awareness and growing the pool of trained medical forensic examiners. "We're gonna have an advocate embedded in the hospital working full time," Hirsch said of the continuity of care the grant is designed to support.
Lindsey, a nurse practitioner and part‑time director of medical forensic care at Cheshire, described the operational changes the funding would enable. "I'm a nurse practitioner in OB‑GYN, and then I'm also the part time director of medical forensic care at Cheshire," she said. She and colleagues plan to add examiners, pursue pediatric SANE (sexual assault nurse examiner) training and institute a call program to ensure timely forensic coverage; staff estimated the program will provide about 150 forensic encounters over three years.
The grants manager said the award carries reporting requirements and that the county will require regular outcome updates from subrecipients tied to invoices. Commissioners offered no substantive objections in public discussion; a motion to accept the award passed with the affirmative votes recorded and the chair announcing the motion carried 3‑0.
What happens next: county staff will execute subrecipient agreements and develop reporting templates to track federally required outcomes. The county and its partners plan to return periodic updates on service volumes and program metrics to the commission.
