Violence Against Women Grant Is Here To Stay Another Year, Fort Bend County Commissioners Court Renews Fund

The Violence Against Women Grant Fund which has been given to the Fort Bend County community for years and years was renewed this Nov. 2 by commissioners at a meeting. 

As reported by CI, Fort Bend County receives $182,607 from Gov. Greg Abbott’s office, while the county does a cash match of $222,746, according to court agenda documents. The grant comes from the Office on Violence Against Women, which falls under the U.S. Department of Justice.

According to Wesley Wittig, the executive assistant district attorney at the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office, the grant dictates how much money is distributed to each department, usually paying for a prosecutor and a couple of investigators that only work with the county’s domestic violence unit.

“The state has to allocate a certain percentage to certain areas—25% of the overall federal grant funds to law enforcement, 25% to prosecution, 5% to courts and 30% to victim services,” he said. “Now, there is a remaining 15% that is discretionary, as long as it’s within the parameters of the Violence Against Women Act.”