Intervention agencies; application for a grant

Purpose

Government grants are intended to support the adequate provision of intervention centers for women affected by domestic violence and/or stalking by (ex-)partners. An intervention center should cover several local authorities (districts, independent cities).

Object

Intervention centers that are affiliated with a state-funded women's shelter or a state-funded specialist counseling center and implement the proactive counseling approach receive funding to carry out the activities described in No. 3.4.1 of the guidelines.

Recipients of funding

Recipients of funding are the providers of state-funded women's shelters and specialized counselling centres that are members of an umbrella organization of Bavaria's non-statutory welfare services.

Eligible expenditure

Eligible expenditure includes personnel expenses for the specialist staff to the extent of the number of hours per week defined as eligible, as well as material expenses.

Type and scope

The state grant is awarded as part of project funding in the form of fixed-amount financing.

The funding consists of a personnel expenditure subsidy of up to €51,130 for a full-time position, up to a maximum of 80% of the actual personnel expenditure, and a material expenditure subsidy of up to €8,000 per year per full-time specialist, up to a maximum of 80% of the eligible material expenditure.

• The activities of the intervention center must be based on the following framework conditions:
  • The intervention agency must ensure the proactive counseling approach as an accessible psychosocial counseling service for women after a police intervention in cases of domestic violence and/or stalking by the (ex-)partner. It must act as a link between the police intervention and the use of victim-oriented counseling.
  • Pro-active counseling may only be provided to women who are affected by domestic violence and/or stalking by their (ex-)partners.
  • The intervention agency must contact the women concerned by telephone immediately after receiving notification of the intervention from the police (so-called domestic violence summary report). As a rule, contact is made three times within three working days.
  • The intervention agency's counseling mandate is limited in terms of expertise and time: After the first telephone contact, the intervention agency usually provides up to three personal follow-up counseling sessions, taking into account the woman's individual situation. After that, it should refer the woman affected by domestic violence and/or stalking to the existing outpatient counseling services (e.g. specialist counseling centers, outpatient counseling centers of women's shelters).
  • The intervention agency must hold regular coordination meetings with the police inspectorates and offer them training.
  • The intervention center must network and cooperate with other specialist centers, for example marriage and family counseling centers, youth welfare services and specialist centers for perpetrator work that work according to the standards of the BAG Täterarbeit.

• Eligible professionals are social pedagogues, social workers (e.g. qualified or graduated social pedagogues, BA degree in social work) as well as persons with comparable professional qualifications or relevant experience. Specialists who do not have the formal qualification criteria must be able to perform tasks within the meaning of the guideline on the basis of professional experience and additional qualifications acquired in this context. The funding recipients are responsible for ensuring that the staff deployed are sufficiently qualified for the tasks.
• The operation of the intervention agency must be ensured for at least 10 hours per week. It is possible to divide the work between several specialists, provided that proper counseling is guaranteed.
• The number of eligible hours per week is determined as follows:
  • The decision on the number of eligible weekly hours is made on the basis of regional circumstances (in particular the number of reports received via the police).
  • Intervention centers that are newly opened are funded with ten hours per week in the first year of approval.
• To ensure effective counseling, the intervention center must conclude cooperation agreements with the surrounding police inspectorates in the catchment area. As part of the cooperation, the intervention center must also work towards deepening and expanding the cooperation.
• The recipient of the grant must contribute at least ten percent of the eligible expenditure. Donations and fines may be recognized as own funds in the financing plan, in particular if the central association of non-statutory welfare organizations to which the grant recipient belongs does not participate in the financing of the eligible expenditure.
• A grant will only be made if at least one local authority in the catchment area of the intervention agency contributes at least ten percent of its total expenditure.
• The funding of the intervention agency must be secured in the long term.

Funding is provided at the request of the intervention agency.

The provider applies to the granting authority for initial inclusion in the funding program. The granting authority forwards the application documents to the State Ministry for Family, Labor and Social Affairs. The Ministry decides on the basic acceptance of the provider into the state funding program.

The application must be submitted in writing using the forms available from the government of Middle Franconia (granting authority) by December 1 of the year prior to the start of the grant period.

• Expenditure and financing plan with overview of personnel expenses
• Articles of association, partnership agreement or corresponding contracts (in case of initial application or amendments)
• Proof of status as an umbrella organization of the Freie Wohlfahrtspflege Bayern or affiliation with an umbrella organization of the Freie Wohlfahrtspflege Bayern (initial application or changes)
• Project description or concept, if applicable with explanations of previous activities (initial application or amendments)
• Written confirmation from the executing agency on the willingness to cooperate with the respective police inspectorates (in case of initial application)
• Cost commitments from all local authorities in the catchment area.

  If it is not yet possible to obtain cost commitments from all local authorities at the time of application, a declaration from at least one local authority in the catchment area stating its intention to contribute at least ten percent of the total expenditure is sufficient.The cost commitments from all local authorities must be available at the latest by the time the notice of approval is issued.