Funding awarded to 29 agencies and organizations that provide victim services and seek justice for Kentuckians
FRANKFORT, Ky. (Nov. 20, 2025) – Today during the Team Kentucky Update, Gov. Andy Beshear and First Lady Britainy Beshear awarded $2,110,702 in federal grant funding through the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) to 29 agencies and organizations across Kentucky to help prevent sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking in the commonwealth.
“Too many Kentuckians have faced the trauma of being a victim of domestic violence in Kentucky, which is why it’s been my mission since my time as attorney general to make sure fewer families know that pain,” Gov. Beshear said. “This grant funding is vital to providing services and seeking justice, and I am proud to work with the organizations who are providing support directly to victims and their families.”
The federal VAWA Services, Training, Officers, Prosecution (STOP) Formula Grant Program requires administrating state agencies to allocate grant funding for law enforcement, prosecutors, victim service organizations, and state and local courts. It also allows for a smaller number of discretionary awards and encourages a focus on projects that serve victims of intimate partner violence.
Gov. Beshear recognized recipients of this year’s funding, including:
The Baptist Health Foundation Hardin has been awarded $80,475 to support the hospital’s Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner and Forensic Team program in Elizabethtown.
The Daviess County Attorney’s Office has been awarded $74,569 to partially fund two assistant county attorney positions to prosecute domestic violence and related offenses in Daviess County District Court.
Springhaven, the designated domestic violence shelter serving the eight counties in the Lincoln Trail Area Development District has been awarded $51,019 to employee a victim advocate to provide outreach services, including assistance filing emergency protective orders, court advocacy and support groups.
Bethany House, which is the designated domestic violence shelter that serves the 10 counties in the Lake Cumberland Ara Development District, has been awarded $35,506 for a court advocate to provide services to victims of domestic violence in the emergency shelter, courts and the communities served by the agency.
“These organizations are helping save lives, protect families and ensure a safer future for so many of our fellow Kentuckians,” said First Lady Beshear. “I am grateful to these organizations for their commitment to ending domestic violence in Kentucky, and I know this funding will help ensure we continue to make progress.”
For a full list of 2025-2026 subaward recipients, click here.
Since taking office, the Beshear-Coleman administration has awarded more than $162 million in grant funding to victim service agencies across the commonwealth. Gov. Beshear has also signed legislation to make sexual extortion a felony and strengthened statutory language to include other forms of abuse and sexual exploitation of minors.
Gov. Beshear has championed delivering justice and relief to victims of crime and sexual abuse since his first day as attorney general. As attorney general, Beshear’s office created the Office of Child Abuse and Human Trafficking Prevention and Prosecution, created the Survivors Council, and arrested a historic number of child predators.
In April 2023, the Governor signed into law Senate Bill 319, increasing emergency award amounts for victims of crime and their families, expanding reimbursement categories and adding caregivers to the persons eligible for reimbursement from the Crime Victims Compensation Fund. The maximum amount for compensation increased from $30,000 to $50,000; lost wages awards increased from $300 per week to $500 per week; and funeral expense reimbursement increased from $7,500 to $10,000.
In 2023, Gov. Beshear signed Senate Bill 79, creating the Safe at Home Program, which is administered by the secretary of state. The program protects the residential address of survivors of domestic violence and other sexual crimes as well as the addresses of those who reside in the same household as the victim. To gain this protection, the crime victim or the individual residing in the victim’s home needs to apply to the secretary of state’s office to have the address protected.
Get Help Now
Kentucky’s domestic violence programs and shelters are open 24/7 and are safe for survivors and their families to receive emergency shelter and supportive services. If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence and needs assistance, please reach out to the National Domestic Violence Hotline by calling 800-799-SAFE or by clicking here.
You can reach out to the 24-hour Rape Crisis Line at 800-656-HOPE (800-656-4673) to connect with a sexual assault service provider near you or contact your local KSP Post to connect with a victim advocate.
###