Safe and Healthy Families Initiative

The Safe and Healthy Families Initiative is a new project which provides a coordinated response to domestic violence-related child maltreatment cases in Lancaster County. The Safe and Healthy Families Court, led by Separate Juvenile Court Judge Elise White, will be the first domestic violence-centered child welfare court in the state.

CCFL's Angela Gebhardt, Training Specialist for CP&S New Worker Training, Jamie Bahm, Project Manager with the Nebraska Resource Project for Vulnerable Young Children, and Dr. Pamela Caudill Jordan, Research Assistant Professor, will bring their extensive expertise in child welfare and domestic violence to the initiative. CCFL will work alongside community partners, including the Family Violence Council, Voices of Hope, Friendship Home, CASA of Lancaster County, Child Advocacy Center, and the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.

The project's goals are to improve child safety through a domestic violence-informed coordinated response by the agencies that work with impacted families while strengthening partnerships with parents, holding perpetrators more accountable, and providing professionals with domestic violence education and professional development training.