Award Information
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2008, $84,963)
The Edward Byrne Memorial Discretionary Grants Program (Byrne Discretionary Program) helps local communities improve the capacity of local justice systems and provides for national support efforts. This project is authorized and funded through a line item in the FY 08 Congressional Budget. Funds should be used for purposes recommended by Congress.
The Vermont Protection and Advocacy, Inc. will implement their Communication Support Project's to maintain and improve support services to individuals with disabilities that have communication deficits. They have created a unique approach to assisting people with cognitive disabilities to enable them to participate more fully in the court proceedings. They will hire Communication Support Specialists who are well trained to determine eligibility for services and assure the quality of the work being done by the independent contractors. The Vermont Protection and Advocacy will increase the number of intakes and the number of individuals they provide support to and demonstrate the project's ability to respond to requests for services from all parts of Vermont and for a variety of situations where individuals with communication deficits need assistance.
NCA/NCF