The office on violence against women (OVW) training and technical assistance (TA) initiative provides OVW grantees and subgrantees with the expertise and support they need to develop and implement…

The office on violence against women (OVW) training and technical assistance (TA) initiative provides OVW grantees and subgrantees with the expertise and support they need to develop and implement successful state, local, tribal, and campus projects; increase victim safety; and bolster offender accountability. Through cooperative agreements, OVW supports educational initiatives, conferences, peer-to-peer consultations, and targeted assistance that allow current and potential grantees and subgrantees to learn from experts and one another about how to overcome obstacles and incorporate promising practices in their efforts to address violence against women. In addition, OVW is focused on building the capacity of the criminal and civil justice systems and victim service organizations to respond effectively to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking and to foster partnerships between organizations that have not traditionally worked together to address violence against women. With FY 2023 TA initiative funding, the center for justice innovation (CJI) will implement the mentor court enhancement project. This project will continue to build the capacity of OVW-funded mentor courts to serve as promising practice court models for other jurisdictions. This project will build the capacity of mentor courts, foster peer mentorship for specialized domestic violence courts, and build the national network of mentor courts in the domestic and sexual violence field. Over the course of the project period, CJI will host a mentor court coordinator meeting, release a call for proposals for mentee court sites, select and pair mentees with mentor courts, build mentor courts facilitation and training skills, and promote opportunities for mentor courts to present at national events. This project supports FY 2023 TA initiative purpose area 20: mentor court enhancement project. This award is a continuation of 15JOVW-22-GK-03989-mumu.