News

SF: DA'S Office to Expand Multilingual Services to Domestic Violence Victims

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

A $700,000 federal grant will allow San Francisco prosecutors to expand domestic violence services to help residents who don't speak English, the district attorney's office announced Tuesday.

The grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Violence Against Women.

According to the district attorney's office, the money will go to the creation of a special subunit handling domestic violence cases with victims of limited English proficiency.

The office will add one full-time bilingual prosecutor and two part-time multilingual victim witness advocates to its multilingual domestic violence staff.

The office will also develop a training and policy partnership with community organizations serving Asian, Asian Pacific Islander and Hispanic residents.

The district attorney's office said that of the approximately 700 victims of domestic or dating violence it served in 2008, more than one-third were of Asian Pacific Islander or Hispanic descent, and most preferred to converse in their native tongue.

Topics:
  • Family Law