The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges Announces Record $16.7 Million in Awards to Assist Children and Families
Summary
The NCJFCJ is dedicated to improving outcomes for children and families in courts across the country.The mission of the 86-year-old organization is to provide all judges, courts, and related agencies involved with juvenile, family, and domestic violence cases with the knowledge and skills to improve the lives of the families and children who seek justice.The $16.7 million in funding will support the NCJFCJ projects focused on issues in: domestic violence, child protection and custody, child welfare and foster care, military-connected families, dating violence, tribal and state court collaboration, sexual assault, domestic child sex trafficking, juvenile justice, trauma-informed justice, research and data, and more. "As judicial leaders, we have an opportunity to advance the court system and convene the community to meet the needs of the children and families we serve. Up to 20 percent of the youth in Americas juvenile detention facilities identify as LGBT, questioning, or gender non-conforming nearly three times the estimated number in the general population, according to Bureau of Justice Statistics data.The NCJFCJ is partnering with the National Center for Youth with Diverse Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity & Expression (The National SOGIE Center) to establish and maintain a new national resource center as a comprehensive hub on policies and best practices related to justice-involved LGBTQ+ and Two-Spirit youth. "This years record $16.7 million in awards reflects the expansive work we do to implement innovative practices in the complex and dynamic juvenile and family court system, giving judges, courts, and related agencies the knowledge and skills to improve outcomes for children and families. The resource center also maintains a directory, library, and calendar of OVWs training and technical assistance opportunities and resources.The NCJFCJ received $450,000 from OVW to continue its efforts to support custody evaluators, guardians ad litems, and other evaluative professionals with training and technical assistance to improve their understanding and analysis of how domestic violence impacts parenting and the safety of children supporting safer outcomes in custody cases where domestic violence is a factor.