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 new justice for families project, youth substance abuse prevention coalition, in partnership with safe house of southeast missouri and the 32ND judicial circuit court, will implement a standard project addressing the following purpose areas: 1) supervised visitation and safe exchange; and 3) training for court-based and court-related personnel for the counties of the 32ND judicial circuit court which include cape girardeau, perry, and bollinger counties. This project will address priority area 3: expand economic justice and financial advocacy. Specific activities will include: 1) supporting a 1.0 FTE project coordinator and contract visitation monitors to provide supervised visitation and safe exchanges; 2) funding .25 FTE parent resource coordinator/ advocate to coordinate services for families; 3) supporting .20 FTE safe house advocate to provide advocacy services to victims; and 4) hiring a .30 FTE safe house educator to provide training to court-based and court-related personnel.