Underserved Technical Assistance Project (UTAP)
What is UTAP?
The Underserved Technical Assistance Project (UTAP) is funded through a cooperative grant agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women (OVW). A project of the Alliance of Local Service Organizations (ALSO), UTAP serves as the comprehensive technical assistance (TA) provider for the Grants for Outreach and Services to Underserved Populations Program (Underserved Program).
What is technical assistance?
Technical assistance here refers to custom support to enhance programming intended to reach and serve survivors from underserved populations having experienced domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and dating violence. This assistance is provided directly through sharing resources, offering training and peer-to-peer learning opportunities, and serving as a thought-partner in issue-spotting and troubleshooting related to program development and delivery. It can also be provided indirectly, such as when connecting grantees to other resources. Technical assistance can be an excellent resource for strengthening programs by recognizing strengths and areas of improvement. This type of assistance is offered at no cost to grantees of the Underserved Program.
UTAP as a technical assistance (TA) provider
UTAP offers both direct and indirect technical assistance to Grantees. As Grantees work to develop and implement theri grant project, UTAP’s technical assistance is available to:
- Provide guidance and support to grantee organizations to effectively reach underserved communities;
- Increase grantee organization’s capacity to address sexual assault and domestic violence;
- Provide direct and brokered subject matter expertise; and
- Offer knowledge, skill-building, and peer-to-peer learning and sharing opportunities.
OVW and UTAP are united by a common goal
Enabling communities nationally to provide equitable, responsive services to underserved survivors of violence.
