The Judicial Engagement Network (JEN) Fellowship Program allows judges and judicial officers to enhance their skills as judicial leaders within the court and in their communities on domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking issues. A judge from Henrico County was in the fourth class of JEN Fellows and graduated from the JEN Fellowship Program.

As part of the Implementation Sites Project, the NCJFCJ provides targeted training and technical assistance to the Chesterfield Juvenile and Domestic Relations Circuit Court, under the leadership of Judge Scott Landry, and to the Roanoke City Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court, under the leadership of Judge Heather Ferguson, to improve the handling of child abuse and neglect cases, reduce the number of children in foster care, and improve outcomes for children in care.

The NCJFCJ’s Civil Protection Order Project discussed a variety of issues with courts in Virginia, including gathering litigant feedback, self-help services, and firearms and surrender compliance hearings.

The NCJFCJ presented a training on the role of the judge in probation transformation at the Judicial Conference of Virginia for District Courts in Norfolk. Participants received instruction on practical strategies and recommendations to assist judges in implementing probation transformation practices in their jurisdictions.

Multidisciplinary professionals from Virginia participated in the Office on Violence Against Women’s Campus Training and Technical Assistance Institute (TTI). These Institutes occur five times per year and are designed to provide college and university campuses with information, training, and resources to enhance their capacity to address domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking on campuses.

Judicial system professionals from Virginia attended the Enhancing Judicial Skills in Domestic Violence Cases (EJS) workshop. Participants engaged in practical courtroom exercises and learned about victim and perpetrator behavior and fairness and culture issues in domestic violence cases.

A judicial system professional from Virginia attended the NCJFCJ’s Judicial Engagement Network (JEN) Leadership in Practice Summit. The Summit focused on highlighting strategies currently implemented by jurisdictions to promote, implement, and sustain positive systemic changes that improve court and community responses to intimate partner violence in civil and criminal settings.

Judge Gayl Branum Carr of Fairfax is the President of the NCJFCJ and she served as a 2023 Days on the Hill Delegate. Judge H. Lee Chitwood of Pulsaki is a Board Director of the NCJFCJ. Judge Roy B. Willett (Ret.) of Roanoke is an NCJFCJ Past President.