Friday, September 29, 2023
9/29/2023
The North Dakota Department of Health (NDDoH) will be responsible for the management of the Rape Prevention and Education (RPE) program at the state level, using the best available evidence to prevent sexual violence. The NDDoH will oversee and monitor the activities of three sub-recipients, as well as the strategies necessary to increase statewide capacity for primary prevention. Activities include identifying and establishing public/private partnerships that can provide technical assistance and support evaluation capacity of sub-recipients; developing a state action plan for implementing approaches, with at least 50 percent of all strategies at the community/societal-level; developing a state level evaluation plan; and identifying and tracking sexual violence indicators. The selected prevention strategy is to implement the “Green Dot Violence Prevention Strategy (Green Dot) ”, in three sub-recipient communities, and increase other communities’ capacities to ultimately implement that strategy. Green Dot is centered on the goal of permanent reduction of power-based violence in communities. Green Dot appeals to members of the community to establish two important cultural norms: 1) Power-based personal violence will not be tolerated, and 2) Everyone does his/her part to maintain a safe community. After recruiting implementation teams, individuals are encouraged to engage in new behaviors through five steps: 1) Invite people to reconsider their role in prevention; 2) Inspire people to believe things can be different and their contribution matters; 3) Engage people in education that will equip them with the motivation, knowledge, and skill they need to take action; 4) Strengthen new behaviors through reinforcement, practice, and multiple exposures to key messages; and 5) Sustain changes through integrating key messages into permanent infrastructure, replenishing the pool of early adopters and providing opportunities for growth. These five steps are integrated into the programmatic components of the Green Dot Violence Prevention Strategy to seamlessly teach and model the desired behavioral outcomes. “Green Dot Community” takes the principles of the Green Dot Violence Prevention Strategy and addresses communities as a whole. Implementation teams will select and develop branding and marketing techniques, as well as recruit vital community members and create an action plan to appeal to all members of their communities with the goal of creating intrinsic motivation for behavior change. After three to five years of funding, measurable changes in the various prevention stakeholders’ prevention and evaluation capacity is expected. It is also expected to see substantial commitments by participants in eight Green Dot communities to use bystander behaviors and a substantial increase in 12 out of 20 crisis centers’ organizational capacity to do primary prevention. By the end of the program period, a substantial improvement in sexual violence attitudes by North Dakota residents and a reduction in reports of forcible rapes in Green Dot communities is expected.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
