A Pathway to Justice, Healing and Hope: Addressing Polyvictimization

OVC released the Vision 21: A Pathway to Justice, Healing, and Hope: Addressing Polyvictimization in a Family Justice Center Setting Solicitation to establish a demonstration initiative focused on developing a special polyvictimization program model within Family Justice Centers (FJC) and other comprehensive co-located services for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Through this initiative, a specialized trauma-informed polyvictimization screening tool will be developed and offered to both adults and children receiving services at the FJC’s, followed by the provision of the wide range of services needed to address survivors’ complete history of current and past experiences with violence.

With this award, the New Orleans Family Justice Alliance (NOFJC) will participate as one of six demonstration sites to develop models for addressing polyvictimization within FJCs or similar co-located services models with the goal of developing a new screening tool and expanding services for polyvictims in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOFJC partners include: the City of New Orleans, including the New Orleans Police Department, the Orleans Parish District Attorney, Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans, the New Orleans Child Advocacy center, Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, the Louisiana Bar Foundation, and Sexual Trauma Awareness and Response (STAR). Through this demonstration project, the NOFJC will partner with the Institute on Women and Ethnic Studies (IWES), a local non-profit organization who focuses their research efforts on addressing the needs of marginalized and disadvantaged people. IWES will serve as the local research partner and evaluator on the project. CA/NCF