8/29/08 -- NCJFCJ’s Permanency Planning for Children Department is pleased to announce the addition of eight new Model Courts to the Victims Act Model Courts (VAMC) Project. The PPCD provides training and technical assistance to the Project's Model Courts designed to improve each court’s handling of child abuse and neglect cases and overall reform initiatives. These new Model Courts join the 29 Model Courts established nationwide currently in the VAMC Project.

The PPCD received 21 applications from jurisdictions across the nation to be considered for newly opened grant-funded positions in the VAMC Project. After extensive review of the applications, the following new VAMC Project Model Courts were named:

• Austin, Texas
• Baltimore City, Maryland
• Concord, New Hampshire
• Dallas, Georgia
• Hattiesburg, Mississippi
• Howell, Michigan
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
• Las Vegas, Nevada

The Project is funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).

For more information on the Victims Act Model Courts Project, please click here or contact Nancy B. Miller, PPCD Director, at 775-784-6675 or nmiller@ncjfcj.org.