Resources

Resources

The four sites engaged in a variety of activities and developed resources to improve outcomes for domestic violence survivors and their children. Some were unique to a particular site, such as Hennepin's pilot court and Multnomah's procedural fairness efforts, and several, such as training and help for self-represented survivors, occurred across all four sites, though often implemented differently. Below is a list of the activities and resources developed by the sites, with descriptions as well as materials and tools where available. If you have any questions or would like more information about any of these activities, please contact our team and we'll be happy to help.


Perseverance in the Face of Challenges to Access to Justice

A commitment to improve litigants’ access to justice emerged as a goal for all four FCEP sites. In seeking to improve the system, the teams at each site...
Access to Justice

Domestic violence-informed processes for alternative dispute resolution (Hennepin)

Hennepin was concerned that domestic violence survivors were pressured into participating in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes that may not be safe and without full information about their...

Spreading the word about FCEP (Multnomah)

Multnomah County has taken steps to increase the visibility of the Family Court Enhancement Project by making presentations about their activities and experiences at national and regional conferences...
Access to Justice

Self-represented litigants: New staff and better written info (Cook)

Like courts across the country, Cook County experiences a high percentage of self-represented litigants, which presents unique challenges when domestic violence is present. The site developed materials to...

Parenting time in protection orders: Facilitation and supervised visitation (Cook)

Cook County’s Domestic Violence Division is not a family court accustomed to making custody determinations, but instead a high-volume court hearing protection orders and domestic violence criminal matters...
Access to Justice

Self-represented litigants: Reform protection order process and better written information (Delaware)

Delaware made significant changes to its process for obtaining protection from abuse (PFA) orders. First, they redecorated the resource center to make the court environment more welcoming, used...
Training Resource

Training on custody and domestic violence, trauma, empathy, and other topics (Multnomah)

One challenge identified by Multnomah County was to improve the capacity of the court and court-related professionals to make informed recommendations and decisions regarding parenting time and custody...