Denton County Friends of the Family recently received nearly $1 million in grant funding from the Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women.
October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and the grant calls on DCFOF to “treat domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking as serious violations of criminal law, requiring the coordinated involvement of the entire criminal justice system… in order to improve safety, access to services, and confidentiality for victims and families,” according to a press release from DCFOF.
Partners in the award are the United Way of Denton County, Denton Police Department, and Denton County Criminal District Attorney’s Office.
Funds from the grant will be distributed over a four-year period. Critical and long-range goals include:
- Plan for the development of the Family Justice Center.
- Develop cooperative protocols that establish expectations for collaboration.
- Provide necessary resources to enhance the investigation, prosecution, and service provision to victims of these crimes.
“We are honored to be selected as stewards of these important resources for public safety,” said DCFOF Executive Director Toni Johnson-Simpson. “We invite every citizen of Denton County to become part of the movement that ends domestic violence and sexual assault in our communities.”
DCFOF, founded in 1980, is the sole provider of free services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault for Denton County.
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