To: Dale K. Weighill, Governmental Operations Committee Chairperson
From: Prosecutor David Leyton
title
RE: Approval a grant award from the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services, in the amount of $294,378.00, to support prosecution and law enforcement projects targeting sexual assault, domestic violence, and stalking; there is a 25% match requirement for this grant
recommendation
BOARD ACTION REQUESTED:
Authorization to accept a renewal of our STOP Violence Against Women grant for FY2026.
BACKGROUND:
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has approved our application for a fifth year of funding for our STOP Violence Against Women grant to support prosecution and law enforcement projects targeting sexual assault, domestic violence, and stalking. This program will continue efforts that are devoted to preventing, identifying, and responding to these crimes in a victim-centered, offender-focused, and trauma informed manner.
DISCUSSION:
This grant initiative supplements our existing Special Victims Unit which focuses on human trafficking, domestic violence and sexual assault cases by providing even greater resources to our office to expand our efforts in these areas. This round of funding will allow us to continue with our consortium of prosecutors, law enforcement officers, and service providers to work as partners in a concerted and coordinated manner to have a solid impact on our community by standing up for victims of these crimes and holding the perpetrators accountable for their actions. This grant will consist of two APA positions and one victim advocate.
IMPACT ON HUMAN RESOURCES:
This will continue the staffing currently in place under this grant.
IMPACT ON BUDGET:
The grant award will be $294,378. There is a 25% matching requirement which may be Cash or In-Kind, as described by the grantor, or a combination of both. Examples given by the grantor of in-kind matches include office space and utilities, staff supervision, and office supplies. The County’s 25% match has in the past and will continue to come from various line items already included in our office budget with no cash match from the general fund.
IMPACT ON FACILITIES:
None other than already existing office space.
IMPACT ON TECHNOLOGY:
None.
CONFORMITY TO COUNTY PRIORITIES:
This grant advances the priority of safe communities by adding resources to address criminal sexual assaults, domestic violence and stalking. These grant funds also tie into the County’s value of service by giving us more resources to provide prompt, efficient and competent service to victims of crime while at the same time helping secure the County’s financial stability by providing funds that otherwise would have had to come from the County’s general fund.
resolution
TO THE HONORABLE CHAIRPERSON AND MEMBERS OF THE GENESEE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS, GENESEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:
BE IT RESOLVED, by this Board of County Commissioners of Genesee County, Michigan, that the request by the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney to authorize accepting of a STOP Violence Against Women grant from, and entering into a grant agreement with, the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services, whereby the state of Michigan will fund personnel in the Prosecutor’s Special Victims Unit for the period commencing October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026, in the amount of $294,378.00 with a 25% local match coming from already existing budgeted line items, is approved (a copy of the memorandum request and supporting documentation being on file with the official records of the November 5, 2025 meeting of the Governmental Operations Committee of this Board).