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 Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women $591,457 Justice Systems Response to Families Program (CFDA 16.021) federal grant award will support a 3-year project focused on improving the capacity of courts and communities in King County, Washington to respond to families affected by domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, and child sexual abuse. Key project activities include: 1) developing parenting plans to increase safety for survivors and their children, 2) creating trainings and tools on implementing intimate partner violence impact assessments, 3) collecting data through focus groups and surveys to develop guidelines for parenting plans for survivors, and 4) facilitating trainings for judges, custody evaluators, and family law attorneys. The project will be implemented through a partnership between the Coalition Ending Gender-Based Violence, King County Superior Court, King County Bar Foundation, Family Law CASA Program, Lifewire, Northwest Justice Project, and the YWCA Seattle King Snohomish.

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, coalition ending gender-based violence, in partnership with king county superior court, king county bar foundation, the family law casa program of king county, lifewire, northwest justice project, and the ywca seattle king snohomish, will implement a standard project addressing the following purpose areas: 3) training for court-based and court-related personnel; 5) court and court-based programs and services; and 8) training within the civil justice system for king county, washington. Specific activities will include: 1) developing parenting plans that increase safety for survivors and their children; 2) developing trainings and tools regarding the implementation of the intimate partner violence impact assessment; 3) collection of data through focus groups, surveys, and roundtable discussions to develop guidelines related to parenting plans for survivors; and 4) facilitation of trainings for judges, custody evaluations, and family law attorneys.