The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners on June 17 approved the Family Justice Center’s request for permission to apply for an ICJR grant that would run from Oct. 1, 2025, through Sept. 30, 2028.

Jessica Castello, executive director of the Family Justice Center, said the grant supports wraparound services for victims of domestic violence, sexual violence and stalking; services include front-desk coverage, one-on-one advocacy, assistance with protective orders and a satellite courthouse office where clients can be prepared for court and debriefed afterwards.

“This grant in particular funds our front desk,” Castello said. She told the board the center had “interacted with well over 8,000 individuals in our community” at the front desk in the current funding cycle and that the center serves “about anywhere from 500 to 700 new clients every year, and about 98% of those clients are meeting their goals.”

Castello said the ICJR funding stream is population-limited; she described the population cap as “5,100” over the three-year period and said she finalized the budget shortly before the meeting. She also said she had to cut a position to meet the grant’s administrative parameters. The record contains inconsistent spoken figures for the final budgeted dollar total; the center did state the program is mission critical to its protective-order work and court advocacy.

Commissioners asked whether the grant pays salaries and benefits; Castello said the funding covers salaries and the center works to cover benefits because it is a separate nonprofit. Commissioners also confirmed there is no local match requirement for this funding stream.

A motion to approve the application was made, seconded and passed with Commissioners Morton, Hazen and Maxmeier voting aye.