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…

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 continuation justice for families project, champlain valley office of economic opportunity, in partnership with franklin grand isle court - family division, vermont legal aid, and abenaki circle of courage, will implement this standard project addressing purpose areas: 1) supervised visitation and safe exchange; 3) training within the civil justice system; and 6) civil legal assistance. The project will address priority area 1: advance racial equity by partnering with a culturally specific organization, abenaki circle of courage. Specific activities will include: 1) continuing supervised visitation and safe exchange services with two part-time monitors; 2) attending final relief from abuse (RFA) hearings by a coordinator to coordinate supervised visitation services; 3) developing strategies for increasing accessibility in the court and supervised visitation services for underserved populations such as deaf or hard of hearing individuals; 4) continuing to provide a .4 FTE attorney to be present in the family court for all RFA hearings to provide advice and assistance to advocates from voices, take referrals of new clients, represent victims, and monitor and observe the court proceedings in both counties; 5) continuing to employ a .3 FTE advocate and .2 FTE legal justice coordinator (.5 FTE total) to provide additional support and advocacy services to victims; and 6) conducting two cultural competency trainings for project partners and other community partners.