Participants will learn how to aid domestic-violence victims with support services. New classes begin in March.

(Courtesy of JFS MetroWest) Rachel Coalition, a division of Jewish Family Service of MetroWest NJ, providing services and support programs for victims of domestic violence in Essex and Morris County, is seeking volunteers for its Court Advocate Program. This 40-hour hands-on training program educates participants to assist domestic violence victims with emotional and administrative support as they await their restraining order hearing in Essex Family Court in Newark, New Jersey.

Training sessions begin Monday, March 7, 2022 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. No formal legal experience or education is required for this volunteer position. Volunteers will have an opportunity to observe Family Court proceedings. Volunteers who have already taken a 40-hour domestic violence training class can qualify for an abbreviated training. For further information on the Court Advocate Program and to schedule an interview, please contact Alexandria Flores at [email protected].

Each year, the Essex Family Court Domestic Violence Unit in Newark, New Jersey, presides over more than 6,000 cases of domestic violence. Since 2006, the Rachel Coalition has placed trained Court Advocate volunteers in Essex County Family Court waiting rooms to explain the restraining order process to victims, assist with the initial application, provide information about community services such as legal, counseling and shelters, and offer unconditional emotional support.

For more information, please call (973) 765-9050 or visit www.jfsmetrowest.org.