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 Office on Violence Against Women awarded $600,000 to County of Cuyahoga for a Justice Systems Response to Families Program grant effective October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2028.

County of Cuyahoga, in partnership with Journey Center for Safety and Healing and Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, will deliver training to court staff, judges, magistrates, and civil justice system personnel on domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. The project will hire a court-based domestic violence case manager to improve coordination of the dedicated domestic violence docket and will fund an advocate to provide court-based advocacy for domestic violence survivors. The work addresses coordinated systems and community approaches to domestic violence court cases and focuses on keeping victims and their children safe while holding offenders accountable.

Place of performance is Cleveland, Ohio.

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, county of cuyahoga, in partnership with journey center for safety and healing and legal aid society of cleveland, will providetraining to court staff, judges, magistrates, other court-related staff, and civil justice system personnel on matters related to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking; hire a court-based domestic violence case manager to improve coordination of the dedicated domestic violence docket; and fund anadvocate to provide court-based advocacy for survivors of domestic violence in cuyahoga county, ohio. The project will address the following special statutory considerations: coordinated systems and community approach to domestic violence court cases.