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Today, Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28) announced the awarding of $550,000 in federal funds to Webb County from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Office on Violence Against Women. The grant is being funded by the Justice for Families Program to improve the response of all aspects of the civil and criminal justice systems to families with a history of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or in cases involving allegations of child sexual abuse.

The Justice for Families Program, which was authorized in the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013, supports a series of activities for improving the capacity of courts and communities to respond to families affected by the targeted crimes. These include court-based and court-related programs, supervised visitation and safe exchange by and between parents, training and technical assistance for people who work with families in the court system, civil legal services, provision of resources in juvenile court matters, and development and promotion of legislation, model codes, policies, and best practices. Projects supported by the Justice for Families Program are those that focus on keeping victims and their children safe from further abuse and holding offenders accountable.

Webb County and its collaborative partners, Casa Misericordia Domestic Violence Shelter and 406th Judicial District Court, will utilize this award to provide supervised visitation and safe exchange, and train court-based and court-related personnel. These funds will enable the collaborative to support two full-time and two part-time supervised visitation monitors, conduct 30 supervised visitations and 70 supervised exchanges per month, and to train visitation center staff and project partners on domestic violence topics such as confidentiality, cultural responsivity, and the referral process.

“These federal funds will help in our community-wide effort to end domestic violence and violence against women, and children,” said Congressman Cuellar. “I thank Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina, Sister Rosemary from Casa de Misericordia and Judge O.J. Hale 406^th Judicial District Court for their service to our community and for investing their time and resources to make sure that women and families in our community can be safe to live happy and prosperous lives and not in fear.”  

“I want to commend Congressman Cuellar on his efforts in fighting for grant monies for this worthy cause,” said Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina. “Sadly, domestic violence is endemic throughout or nation and Webb County. Through a collaborative effort amongst all of us we will continue to fight for protection and resources for victims of domestic violence.”

“Webb County is fortunate to have a team of collaborators like Sister Rosemary and Casa de Misericordia who are committed to protecting the most vulnerable among us and I am proud to collaborate with them on this endeavor and to do my small part in the fight to end domestic violence in our community” said Judge Oscar Jesus Hale, Jr.

Sister Rosemary Welsh from Casa de Misericordia added, “I thank Congressman Cuellar for his leadership and assistance to secure this grant. This funding is critical to assist our community and those affected by domestic violence. It’s crucial to educate ourselves and to erase the stigma and false narrative surrounding victims. It is also just as important to provide support to the best of our capacity to the victims of violence and abuse through programs such as Justice for Families.”

Congressman Cuellar presents Webb County with Department of Justice grant for their ‘Justice for Families’ program in Laredo on Monday. Pictured from left to right, top row: Commissioner Pct. 4 Jaime Canales and Commissioner Pct. 1 Jesse Gonzalez, bottom row: Congressman Henry Cuellar, Commissioner Pct. 2 Rosaura Wawi Tijerina, Casa de Misericordia Executive Director Sister Rosemary Welsh, Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina, 406th District Court Judge O.J. Hale, and Commissioner Pct. 3 John Galo.