Jefferson County gets $1.5 million for domestic violence response

Two federal awards totaling nearly $1.5 million will support domestic violence investigations and prosecutions, survivor services and programs for children affected by family violence in Jefferson County.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced the funding Thursday during Domestic Violence Awareness Month, directing money to the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office and One Place Metro Alabama Family Justice Center.

The Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women awarded $750,000 to the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office through the department’s Improving Criminal Justice Responses program. Authorized under the Violence Against Women Act, the program supports partnerships among government agencies, courts and victim-service providers to strengthen responses to domestic violence.

The funding is intended to expand investigations and prosecutions of domestic violence cases while providing additional support for victims seeking protection and justice.

One Place will receive $358,333 for the first year of a two-year project that began September 30, with the same amount anticipated for the second year. The total award is $716,666, funded through the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act and administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The funding will support counseling and advocacy for survivors and their children, as well as expand One Place’s Camp HOPE America program. The year-round program serves children ages 7 to 17 who have experienced domestic or family violence. One Place operates Alabama’s only Camp HOPE America site.

Rebecca McWilliams, executive director of One Place, said domestic violence involves power and control and that communities can help prevent deaths through coordinated responses.

“Thanks to the Violence Against Women Act and the partnerships we have built with local and federal law enforcement, we have come a long way, and we still have a long way to go,” McWilliams said.

The awards also support Operation Safe Families, an initiative led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office that brings together federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, prosecutors and victim-service providers. The initiative focuses on domestic violence cases, including those involving offenders prohibited from possessing firearms.

The office said offenders who abuse intimate partners may pose risks beyond their immediate relationships, including threats to law enforcement officers and the community. Through Operation Safe Families, federal authorities seek to prosecute domestic violence offenders who illegally possess firearms.

Since 2024, the Northern District of Alabama has indicted 62 domestic violence offenders across 14 counties for various federal offenses. The office also reported that nearly half of the people it federally prosecutes for violent offenses have a history of domestic violence.

Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr said cooperation among police, prosecutors, courts and victim advocates is important to intervening before violence becomes fatal.

“Roughly 70 percent of identified homicide offenders in Jefferson County have a history of it, and our office prosecutes more of these cases than homicides, attempted murders, and robberies combined,” Carr said. “When police, prosecutors, courts, and advocates work together before a crisis turns fatal, lives are saved. These resources help us sustain that work, and our goal must be zero. I appreciate our federal partners for standing with us.”

The county recorded 25 statutory domestic violence homicides in 2023, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. As of mid-September 2026, the county had recorded two, while Birmingham had recorded none during that period.