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

The Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women awarded the Battered Women's Justice Project (BWJP) a Cooperative Agreement totaling $400,000 on August 1, 2026, under the OVW Technical Assistance Initiative (CFDA 16.526). BWJP will develop and revise resources and provide basic and intermediate training and technical assistance on responding effectively to domestic violence cases involving custody and visitation determinations. The assistance targets attorneys, advocates, judicial officers, mediators, guardians ad litem, custody evaluators, and court staff. This award funds the continuation of BWJP's Custody and Visitation Determinations: The Safer Approach Project, which supports the OVW TA Initiative's Purpose Area 12. Performance occurs in St. Paul, Minnesota, with a period of performance from August 1, 2026, through July 31, 2028. The OVW TA Initiative provides OVW grantees, subgrantees, and potential grantees with expertise and support to develop and implement successful state, local, tribal, and campus projects; increase victim safety; and bolster offender accountability through educational programming, conferences, peer-to-peer learning, and targeted assistance.

The office on violence against women (OVW) training and technical assistance (TA) initiative provides OVW grantees, subgrantees, and potential grantees 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 programming and resources, conferences, peer-to-peer learning, and targeted assistance that allows 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 providers 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 2025 TA initiative funding, the battered womens justice project (bwjp) will continue its custody and visitation determinations: the safer approach project. Bwjp will develop and revise resources as well as provide basic and intermediate training and technical assistance to attorneys, advocates, judicial officers, mediators, guardians ad litem, custody evaluators, and court staff on responding effectively to domestic violence cases involving custody/visitation determinations. This project supports FY 2025 TA initiative purpose area 12: custody and visitation determinations: the safer approach. This award is a continuation of 15JOVW-23-GK-05127-mumu.