Announcement, Press Release |
This summer, the Circuit Court of Cook County’s Domestic Violence Division, along with Loyola University of Chicago, brought together members of the judiciary, legal practitioners, victim advocates, supervised child visitation and safe exchange centers, and Partner Abuse Intervention Programs (PAIP) to help develop a continuum of services aimed at achieving long-term justice for families experiencing domestic violence.
The August 21-22 Justice for Families (JFF) conference was supported by the court’s federal Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) Justice for Families Grant. The JFF award to the Circuit Court of Cook County established the free Loyola University Supervised Child Visitation Center as part of building an infrastructure to support the response to intimate partner violence cases involving shared children.
With support from Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans, the award brought together the JFF collaborative of the Domestic Violence Court, Loyola University, the Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence, and the Center for Advancing Domestic Peace. The collaboration works to ensure informed decision making by all while addressing child-related remedies in orders of protection and improving capacity to address service referral gaps for both petitioners and respondents.
The conference provided an energizing opportunity for more than 70 participants to examine and address the short- and long-term impact and causes of domestic violence. The goal was to assemble JFF partners, experts and stakeholders to review lessons learned about post-separation needs of survivors and supporting long-term safety and well-being, which includes promoting accountability for those who cause harm and fostering positive change following findings of abuse by the court. The event included an exchange of knowledge, research and insights on post-separation services for families with children affected by intimate partner violence (IPV) with safety as the guiding principle.
Researchers from Lurie Children’s Hospital and professors from the University of Michigan and Penn State University presented conference attendees with new research on how to work with people who cause harm and the stages of change. Local researchers shared results of interviews that were conducted with survivors and those who caused harm to better understand their identified need for post-separation or post-order of protection support. The Domestic Violence Division’s Child Relief Expediter program and the OCJ’s Social Service Domestic Violence unit presented information about how they work with both survivors and those who have harmed. Recognizing that safety and accountability following IPV is at the intersection of court, supervised visitation centers, victim services and PAIP program interventions, participants agreed to build toward a holistic, victim-centered response which includes accountability from the person who harmed.
“Participants explored a wide array of strategies for helping those who cause harm take accountability for their actions and find meaningful ways to bring about positive change in their lives,” said the Hon. Judith C. Rice, presiding judge of the Domestic Violence Division. “We explored different approaches to helping individuals understand the effect their actions have on their loved ones and the community and identified ways to increase services to both people who cause harm and survivors in our ongoing efforts to disrupt the cycle of violence.”
This JFF Conference is one of several initiatives by the Circuit Court of Cook County to enhance justice for domestic violence survivors. Under the Family Court Enhancement Project, the Domestic Violence Division established the Child Relief Expediter program, which aids the court and the litigants who share children to come to a safe agreement regarding access to shared children under the terms of an Order of Protection. Evaluated as a successful program, this effort is currently being replicated in two other jurisdictions nationwide, supported by OVW funding while receiving technical assistance from Cook County’s program.
Since 2022, the Domestic Violence Division After-Hours Pilot Program has heard 3,455 petitions for emergency orders of protection, allowing individuals to access justice outside of the Court’s standard hours of operation and connecting petitioners with community advocates and support services.
Individuals can access resources and learn how to file an Order of Protection or Civil Protective Order on the Court’s website: https://www.cookcountycourt.org/division/domestic-violence-division/orders-protection.
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