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, the county of chatham, in partnership with legal aid of north carolina, judicial district 15B court, second bloom of chatham, and child protective services of the chatham department of social services will implement a standard project addressing the following purpose areas: 1) supervised visitation and safe exchange; and 6) civil legal assistance in chatham county, north carolina. This project will address priority area 3: expand economic justice and financial advocacy. Specific activities will include: 1) supporting one 0.375 FTE visitation supervisor and one 0.25 FTE bilingual visitation supervisor to provide supervised visitation and safe exchange services; and 2) funding a 0.50 FTE contract attorney to provide civil legal services. This is a continuation of 15JOVW-21-GG-00225-jffx.