As the first Family Justice Center in Illinois, the Rockford Family Peace Center and our collaborating partners have helped serve over 2,200 survivors and their families since 2020.

 

The Rockford Family Peace Center (FPC) was founded to meet the growing need for comprehensive, coordinated services for survivors of interpersonal violence — including domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, elder abuse, and abuse against people with disabilities.

Though the Center itself is new, it builds on a long and meaningful legacy. The Family Peace Center brings together multiple agencies under one roof to provide wraparound support, making it easier for you and your loved ones to access safety, healing, and justice — all in one place.

Our roots run deep in the Rockford community. Our work is part of a broader movement that has evolved with Family Justice Center's across the Nation — shifting from emergency response to long-term survivor support, prevention, and systems change. While the way we offer services has grown and changed, one thing has stayed the same: our commitment to walking alongside survivors with compassion, dignity, and hope.

2017

The Mayor’s Office of Domestic and Community Violence Prevention (MODCVP) was created by Mayor Tom McNamara and the Rockford City Council to address violence through a collaborative, city-led approach.

2017

2018

MODCVP officially opened with Jennifer Cacciapaglia as Executive Director. The team visited the Sojourner Family Peace Center in Milwaukee and began shaping a local vision. Strategic planning with over 200 stakeholders, including over 100 survivors, led to a Community Gap Analysis. The City submitted a federal grant application, launched the 501(c)(3) process, and received state funding to support trauma therapy.

2019

Planning continued with community and national partners, including Alliance for HOPE International. Survivors remained central to the process, helping to identify critical service needs. Additional state funding was secured to expand therapeutic supports.

2019

2020

On July 20, the Rockford Family Peace Center officially opened at 315 N Main Street, welcoming its first survivor at 8:00 AM that same morning. Legal services and the Domestic Violence Police Unit moved on-site to provide immediate, wraparound support.

2021

The Center expanded services to underserved neighborhoods through state R3/ICJIA funding and partnered with Brightpoint to provide on-site child therapy. In its first year, the FPC served 440 survivors, hosted its first Camp HOPE for youth, and received three more years of federal funding.

2021

2022

New wellness programs were introduced to support long-term healing. Listening sessions with youth and families helped identify service gaps, and survivor feedback guided improvements in the family court system.

2023

A danger assessment tool was implemented to enhance safety planning. The Center surpassed 1,800 survivors served. Plans for a larger facility began, and state funds launched a Lethality Prevention Division. Staff also presented at an international training on addressing vicarious trauma among advocates.

2023

2024

The Family Peace Center secured a larger location to meet increasing demand. Partnerships grew, including a new collaboration with Lifescape to support older adult survivors. With over 2,000 survivors served, the Center celebrated four years of impact and deepened its commitment through an expanded Camp HOPE with the YMCA.

Ongoing Initiatives of the Mayor’s Office of Domestic and Community Violence Prevention

 

Lethality Prevention Division

The Family Peace Center has established a dedicated Lethality Prevention Division (LPD) to coordinate initiatives focused on reducing the risk of intimate partner homicide and serious harm. This specialized division brings together multiple efforts under a unified strategy to enhance survivor safety and strengthen system responses, and includes specialized case management for those at highest risk for lethality.

At the core of this work is the use of an evidence-based lethality screening tool administered by advocates at the FPC. Survivor participation has revealed critical data, highlighting the urgent need for high-risk interventions, with, on average, more than half reporting experiences of strangulation and a majority identified as being at high risk for lethality.

The LPD oversees three key multidisciplinary initiatives:

  • Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team (DVFRT) As one of five Pioneer sites in Illinois, this team brings together professionals from across disciplines to examine domestic violence-related homicides or near-homicides. The goal is to prevent future fatalities by identifying gaps in services and coordination, increasing collaboration, and issuing data-informed recommendations for systemic change.
  • Domestic Violence Enhanced Response Team (DVERT) Since 2020, DVERT has reviewed dozens of high-risk, high-lethality cases. This team develops strategies to improve offender accountability, survivor safety, and interagency coordination. Their work includes building a data framework to track outcomes and monitor trends over time.
  • Strangulation Response Team Expanding on earlier efforts to address nonfatal strangulation, this team is enhancing emergency response coordination through a partnership with UW SwedishAmerican. The initiative includes coordinated and collaborative targeted training, systems change, and the development of an on-site advocacy pilot project in the Emergency Department to support survivors and improve outcomes.

 

VOICES Survivor Support Group

VOICES is a network of domestic and sexual violence survivors who advocate for abuse victims in crisis, educate the public about family violence and sexual assault, and support Family Justice Centers across the nation. The FPC VOICES is a committee of domestic violence survivors who volunteer to celebrate their strength and survival. They advocate, educate, and empower others through their collective voice. If you are interested in learning more about VOICES, contact our Director of Development, Danica Keeton, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

 

For more information on the Mayor’s Office of Domestic and Community Violence Prevention, visit the City’s website.

We Invite You to Join Us!

As we move to the future, the Family Peace Center will continue to evolve with the times.

There are several ways you can join us on this journey of hope!