The grants to support families in the justice system program (referred to as the justice for families program) was authorized in the violence against women reauthorization act of 2013 to improve the…

This $700,000 Project Grant awarded on October 1, 2023 by the U.S. Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women under the Justice Systems Response to Families Program (CFDA #16.021) will support a comprehensive initiative in DeKalb County, Georgia led by Women Moving On Inc. to improve the civil and criminal justice system's response to families affected by domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. Key activities include:

Providing a full-time legal advocate to deliver court-based victim advocacy services; continuing a full-time supervised visitation and safe exchange center supervisor and monitor; training judicial officers, court staff, and other court-related personnel on best practices for handling relevant cases; and offering limited civil legal assistance to domestic violence victims. This initiative aims to enhance coordination between the courts, law enforcement, legal services, and domestic violence service providers to better protect victims and their children while holding offenders accountable.

The grants to support families in the justice system program (referred to as the justice for families program) was authorized in the violence against women reauthorization act of 2013 to improve the response of the civil and criminal justice system to families with a history of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, or in cases involving allegations of child sexual abuse. The program supports the following activities for improving the capacity of courts and communities to respond to families affected by the targeted crimes: court-based and court-related programs; supervised visitation and safe exchange by and between parents; training for people who work with families in the court system; civil legal services; and the provision of resources in juvenile court matters. Projects supported by the justice for families program are those that focus on keeping victims and their children safe from further abuse and holding offenders accountable. Through this justice for families project, women moving on, INC. (DBA womens resource center to end domestic violence), in partnership with magistrate court of dekalb county, the dekalb county sheriffs office, and the office of the dekalb county solicitor-general, will implement a comprehensive project addressing the following purpose areas: 1) supervised visitation and safe exchange; 5) court and court-based programs and services; and 6) civil legal assistancefor dekalb county, georgia. Specific activities will include: 1) providing a 1.0 FTE legal advocate to provide court-based victim advocacy for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking; 2) continuing a 1.0 FTE supervised visitation and safe exchange center supervisor; 3) continuing a 1.0 FTE visitation monitor to facilitate supervised visits and exchanges; 4) training judicial officers, court staff and other court-related personnel on topics such as domestic violence, dating violence, sexual abuse, and stalking, including victim and perpetrator behavior, best practices through civil litigation, domestic violence and firearms, supervised visitation and exchanges; and 5) providing limited civil legal assistance to victims of domestic violence.