Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault

Sexual Violence Justice Institute: The Sexual Violence Justice Institute provides expertise in criminal justice and community response to sexual violence. Systems changein protocol, procedures, and routine practiceis a key element in improving the response to sexual violence. We work with communities to create a comprehensive, victim-centered response through multidisciplinary collaborations, leadership development, training, and technical assistance. As a state and national technical assistance provider for Minnesota Office of Justice Programs and the Office of Violence Against Women, we share our decades of experience to increase knowledge and improve how responders work with victims/survivors and each other. We provide specialized support across the nation and US territories for sexual assault response teams, rural grantees, and sexual assault specific funding for STOP Administrators, teams considering Case File Review, Minnesota SART Collaboration Project, and leaders conducting evaluation or needs assessment.

Prevention: MNCASA is a key leader in the primary prevention of sexual violence in Minnesota. We utilize three key strategies: providing training and technical assistance to build statewide capacity to prevent sexual violence, informing policies and practices at both the state and local levels, and mobilizing community members to help make the prevention of sexual violence an urgent priority. Members have access to sexual violence primary prevention funding, evaluation assistance, tools, resources, and other strategies to enhance their programming. MNCASA has decades-long partnerships with the Minnesota Department of Health and Minnesota Office of Justice Programs to implement and build statewide capacity for the primary prevention of sexual violence. Primary prevention support includes implementation of the Rosemary Project, 12 sub-grant recipients part of the Community Prevention Partnerships Program, cohosting statewide Sexual Violence Prevention Network meetings, assistance in statewide health standards development, prevention mini-grants for membership, the Messaging Report for advancing sexual violence prevention education, and overall prevention and evaluation capacity building expertise.