CAPSA receives $750,000 grant from U.S. Department of Justice

Citizens Against Physical and Sexual Abuse, in conjunction with Fast Forward Charter High School and the Cache Youth Resource Center, has received a $750,000 grant from the United States Justice Department.

The grant came from the Office of Violence Against Women, and its goal is to train youth, particularly boys and men, to become leaders in the community, and be engaged in violence prevention.

To that end, CAPSA has hired a full-time clinical therapist whose office will be located in Fast Forward, and whose time will be devoted to the teens there.

This new therapist, Alicia Stettler, said she’s excited to begin working with the youth.

“I love that CAPSA looks at everything so holistically,” Stettler said. “They look at the children, the adults and the youth, to see how they interact with each other. I’m very excited to get to know the students and help all of their interactions improve.”

CAPSA also hired a full-time prevention educator, Bethany Balady, whose role will be to teach those attending Fast Forward about healthy relationships, personal boundaries, consent, how to prevent bullying and other strategies to assist youth in dealing with their emotions and challenges.

Fast Forward will also be adding staff to support the engagement of students within violence prevention, and to support families who are currently struggling with abuse.

Jill Lowe, the Principle of Fast Forward, said she’s excited to have these professionals and the resources they bring within the school.

“Many of our students do not have access to the resources they need to be successful,” Lowe said. “With the help of this grant, we will be bringing the resources to them and their families.”

Fast Forward’s mission is to serve students who are at-risk of not completing degree requirements and challenge them in healthy ways. Lowe believes the training students will receive will challenge them in positive, non-academic ways.

“These students are remarkable,” Lowe said. “However, similar to any other school in our valley, many have experienced trauma. If these students can gain social skills which help them interact with others and express themselves in healthy ways, as well as learning healthy coping mechanisms, that will drastically improve their lives right now and in the future.”

Jill Anderson, executive director of CAPSA, is looking forward to partnering with Fast Forward, and she’s very grateful to the Department of Justice for their support with this grant.

“We were one of only fifteen organizations to receive this grant,” Anderson said. “Other recipients were based in New York City, Cleveland and Seattle. I’m grateful the Office of Violence Against Women saw that our need in Logan, Utah is of equal importance to that of these bigger cities. Regardless of population size, we all want to do the same thing, and that’s to change and save the lives of our youth.”

CAPSA has previously received grants from the Department of Justice, and in Fiscal Year 2017, grants equated to 70% of CAPSA’s overall funding.

“We can’t do what we do without the support of the community,” Anderson said. “But we also can’t do what we do without the support of larger, national organizations who have dedicated their time and money to helping end abuse and violence.”

Learn more about CAPSA at capsa.org. Learn more about Fast Forward Charter High School at ffchs.org.

Contacts: Katie Stringham, Development Support Coordinator, Katie@capsa.org, 435-753-2500

Jill Anderson, CAPSA Executive Director, Jill@capsa.org, 435-753-2500

Jill Lowe, Fast Forward Principle, Jill@ffchs.org, 435-713-4255

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