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, hope house, in partnership with the 16TH circuit court and independence, missouri police department, 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 assistance for the kansas city, MO metropolitan area, which includes the missouri counties of jackson, clay, cass, and platte. This project will address priority area 3: expand economic justice and financial advocacy. Specific activities will include: 1) supporting a 0.75 FTE program coordinator and 1.0 FTE contract visitation supervisors to provide supervised visitation and safe exchanges; 2) continuing a .45 FTE legal advocate to provide case management and coordinate legal services; 3) implementing a compliance docket for active orders of protection where respondents were ordered to apip programming; and 4) funding a contract attorney to provide civil legal services. This is a continuation of 15JOVW-21-GG-00224-jffx.