By the spring of 2027, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis hopes to open a family justice center to serve survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking, sexual assault, and abuse.
Since 2023, Willis has been clear about her vision for creating a hub for survivors to receive counseling, health care, legal advocacy, and other services in one centralized location.
Domestic violence is a problem that’s long lived in the shadows. The DA’s office received 694 new domestic violence cases in 2024, and despite a reported 87% conviction rate in 2025, Willis said her office wasn’t doing enough to address the issue.
Black women face disproportionate rates of domestic violence-related homicide in Georgia and across the United States. According to the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence, a lack of cultural competency in available resources, distrust of law enforcement and the criminal justice system, and structural inequalities are all barriers for Black survivors seeking help.
“We are all put in this position of service so that we can help people who do not have the fortitude to help themselves. And we need to be educated and to do it without judgment,” Willis said during a two-day workshopping session with elected officials, law enforcement, and community leaders to create a plan for the forthcoming center.
“Surviving takes strength, but healing takes support,” Ché Alexander, Fulton County clerk of Superior and Magistrate Courts, said at the launch reception. “The system is too hard to navigate in a moment of crisis.”
During the reception, Willis explained that this endeavor is more than just a professional goal of hers — it’s personal.
“I was a very young DA here in the district attorney’s office maybe two years in, and I got the worst call of my life. … My uncle, who had been married to my aunt for 30-plus years, had stabbed her in the back and killed her,” Willis said at the reception in the atrium of the Fulton County Government Center.
Since taking office in 2021, she named the Brenda Baham Domestic Violence Division in honor of her late aunt.
For the family justice center to be successful, Willis said, the project needs to be a collaboration between municipal, county, and state government. The center will be staffed by prosecutors in the DA’s domestic violence unit and funded by Fulton County and through grants.
Alexander, District 3 County Commissioner Dana Barrett, and the other municipal and statewide elected officials in attendance committed their support for the initiative.
“I’m not standing here tonight only as your clerk, of course. I’m standing here as a survivor. I know what it feels like to be afraid,” Alexander explained.
Protective orders, case files, and any legal documents related to a domestic violence case must go through the clerk’s office before they are officially on the record.
“The clerk’s office is often the first doorway to the safety and the stability of survivors,” she said. “We take that seriously. Our office is committed to working hand in hand with the family justice center to remove the barriers, to simplify the process, and to ensure that every person who walks through the doors is treated with dignity and respect.”
The family justice center movement began in 1989 with a collaboration between Casey Gwinn, a prosecutor with the San Diego City Attorney’s office, and Ashley Walker, the founder of Battered Women’s Services at the YWCA of San Diego County.
Gwinn, who was in attendance at the launch reception, said there are now 150 family justice centers across the U.S. and the world.
“We can break this cycle. Domestic violence homicides are predictable, and something that’s predictable is preventable. It’s only a question of resources and priorities,” he said.
Barrett, who has been an ally of Willis during her time in office, asked the Board of Commissioners on Wednesday to allocate $2 million toward the family justice center in the 2026 budget.
The family justice center “is getting a free building from [Atlanta Public Schools], so the request was $2 million to help with the build out inside the building they were given,” Barrett told the commissioners.
District 1 Commissioner Bridget Thorne, one of two Republicans on the board, suggested the Board of Commissioners should seek funding from the state for the center. A final vote on the 2026 budget is expected later Wednesday afternoon.
