In 1994 Congress passed the VAWA as Title IV of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. One part of the VAWA, the Law Enforcement and Prosecution Grants, provides grants "to assist States, Indian tribal governments, and units of local government to develop and strengthen effective law enforcement and prosecution strategies to combat violent crimes against women, and to develop and strengthen victim services in cases involving violent crimes against women." The Office of Justice Programs within the Department of Justice administers these grants as the "STOP Violence Against Women" grants program. This report assesses the progress and accomplishments of this program as of the end of December 1995, covering the first year of STOP program authorization. The first chapter addresses the background of VAWA and factors that led to passage of the legislation. It briefly describes current statistics on violence against women, the legislative and policy precursors to VAWA in the areas of domestic violence and sexual assault, the legislative mandate for the STOP grants program, the detailed purposes of this report, the important place given to accountability and evaluation in the VAWA and by the Department of Justice, and the role of the Urban Institute as independent STOP grant evaluator. The second chapter describes the accomplishments of the program during its first year at the Federal level and the anticipated timing of Federal actions during the second year. The third chapter describes how States have implemented the STOP program, focusing on State-level planning and application processes. The fourth chapter examines the development of State implementation plans and considers the planned distribution of resources across the seven legislatively mandated purposes; the three priority areas (law enforcement, prosecution, and victim services); and the three major types of violence against women specified in the Act (domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking). The final chapter describes the more extensive and detailed information that is likely to be available for the 1997 report after States have had more than a full year to implement their programs and conduct an initial assessment of their effects. 38 references