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 U.S. Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women awarded a $600,000 Project Grant under the Justice Systems Response to Families Program (CFDA 16.021) to Safe Horizon, Inc. to implement a comprehensive project addressing domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking in Kings County, New York. The grant supports the following key activities over a 3-year period from October 2024 to September 2027:

1. Providing advocacy services, including safety planning, court accompaniment, and referrals, for victims and survivors with cases in the Integrated Domestic Violence (IDV) Court, through 1.0 FTE Senior Case Manager and 0.60 FTE Senior Case Manager.

2. Funding part-time supervised visitation monitors to facilitate safe, supervised visits between parents impacted by domestic violence.

3. Conducting at least 12 presentations on civil and criminal justice remedies and available services for families experiencing domestic violence.

4. Training at least 75 advocates and partner staff on electronically filing family offense petitions for orders of protection in Family Court.

This grant award enables Safe Horizon and its collaborative partners, including the Brooklyn Family Court, Brooklyn Supreme Court, and various victim service providers, to enhance the justice system's response to families affected by domestic and gender-based violence in Kings County.

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, safe horizon and its collaborative partners, the brooklyn family court, brooklyn supreme court, the new york city mayors office to end domestic and gender-based violence, the healing center, new york legal assistance group, shalom task force, the childrens law center, arab american family support center, the kings county district attorneys office, and barrier free living (collectively, the brooklyn family court consulting committee), will implement a standard project addressing the following purpose areas: 1) supervised visitation and safe exchange; and 5) court and court-based programs and services for family court litigants in kings county, new york. Specific activities include: 1) supporting 1.0 FTE senior case manager and 0.60 FTE senior case manager to provide advocacy services for victims and survivors with cases in IDV court, including safety planning, court accompaniment and links to other victim service; 2) funding part-time supervised visitation monitors to facilitate supervised visits with families impacted by domestic violence; 3) conducting at least 12 presentations on civil and criminal justice remedies and available services for families experiencing domestic violence; and 4) training at least 75 advocates and partner staff on electronically filing family offense petitions for orders of protection in family court. This is a continuation of 15JOVW-21-GG-00228-jffx.