Covenant House NJ Named to the Victims’ Rights Council
On April 20th, Jennifer Davenport, Attorney General of New Jersey, announced Attorney General Directive 2026-02 establishing the Attorney General’s Victims’ Rights Council (VRC). The VRC will be overseen by the Division of Violence Intervention and Victim Assistance. Based on our work to date with victims and our engagement with the Attorney General, we are pleased to report that Covenant House New Jersey will be on the VRC.
The goal of the VRC is to facilitate regular dialogue between professionals and specialists who assist victims of crimes, as well as those with lived experiences, to concentrate their expertise and efforts into coordinated action to strengthen victims’ rights, diversify victims’ services, and create long-term strategies to respond to issues impacting victims and survivors in New Jersey.
“Victims and survivors of crime are uniquely positioned to help shape the policies that will affect not only their healing journeys, but their experiences with our criminal justice system,” said Attorney General Jennifer Davenport. “Today we are continuing New Jersey’s legacy of victim advocacy by creating a council where their voices will be heard.”
The complete press release can be found here.
10-20% of the youth facing homelessness that we serve have been victims of human trafficking. We have been continually expanding our research and our efforts to better serve these victims through our internal research and training arm, CHART. Based on those efforts, we were designated statewide provider for human trafficking victim services of all ages in October 2020. In that role, we have had ongoing engagement with the Office of the Attorney General and have served over 500 victims since then.
On being included as part of the VRC, Julia Einbond, CEO of CHNJ, commented, “It’s a great honor for Covenant House New Jersey to serve as part of the VRC, and wonderful recognition for the work we have done to assist survivors of human trafficking. I’m grateful for the Attorney General’s leadership to ensure survivors’ voices are front and center as we create the policies to address their vulnerabilities.”
Note: Portions of this article are taken directly from the Attorney General’s press release.
