Four local organizations received grants totaling nearly $287,000 for victim services programs in Douglas, Franklin and Jefferson counties, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced Thursday.

The grants awarded will fund the following programs:

• Douglas County Court Appointed Special Advocates received $9,090 to help volunteers advocate for the educational and medical needs of child victims of abuse and neglect while they live in foster care and other out-of-home placements.
• GaDuGi SafeCenter, Inc. received more than $91,000 to expand therapeutic services for those affected by child sexual abuse, fund a support-group coordinator to provide programming to sexual violence victim-survivors in Douglas, Franklin and Jefferson counties and support a community engagement program providing training, awareness and internships.
• The Willow Domestic Violence Center received $78,000 to help law enforcement agencies to implement lethality assessment programs, aid domestic violence survivors in Jefferson County and expand community awareness. Willow also received $70,000 to fund a full-time staff position to develop and facilitate a community coordinated response, training of a first responder team, crisis intervention and support of victims of human trafficking.
• Lawrence child exchange and visitation center TFI Family Services, Inc. received $38,000 to provide safe and quality supervised visitation and exchange services for the city of Lawrence and surrounding communities.

The State Crime Victims’ Assistance Fund, the Protection from Abuse Fund, the Human Trafficking Victim Assistance Fund, State Child Exchange and Visitation Centers Fund and the State Crime Victims’ Assistance Fund for Child Abuse and Neglect awarded the grants, Schmidt said.