The National Family Violence Law Center at George Washington University + LearningCart

How George Washington University Uses LearningCart to Deliver Critical Family Violence Training Nationwide

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About the National Family Violence Law Center at George Washington University

The National Family Violence Law Center (NFVLC) at George Washington University (GW) works to improve how family courts respond to domestic violence and child abuse cases.

Founded and directed by Professor Joan S. Meier, NFVLC Professor of Clinical Law at GW Law, the Center bridges the fields of child maltreatment and domestic violence through research, advocacy, legal scholarship, and education.

A key part of that mission is providing evidence-based training to family court professionals, including judges, attorneys, evaluators, and others responsible for making decisions that directly impact the safety and well-being of children and families.

As demand for these educational resources grew, the Center needed a way to expand access to this critical training without creating additional administrative burden for the experts developing it.

The Challenge

Supporting the Professionals Families Depend On

Family court professionals often make difficult decisions in complex situations involving allegations of abuse, child safety concerns, and family violence.

For the NFVLC, ensuring these professionals have access to current, research-informed education is an important part of improving outcomes for the families they serve.

But expanding the reach of that education required more than expertise. It required a delivery model capable of making high-quality training accessible to professionals regardless of geography or scheduling constraints.

Online learning provided that opportunity.

Why LearningCart

Finding a Platform That Could Support the Mission

Before selecting LearningCart, the team conducted extensive research to identify a learning platform that could support both their immediate needs and future growth.

After evaluating nearly twenty learning management systems (LMSs) and drawing from experience using five others, one capability stood out above the rest: automation.

"LearningCart stood out for its robust automation capabilities. The ability to automate registration and enrollment, even for groups, made it possible to design a system that runs efficiently in the background."- Dr. Maggie Cousin, LMS Administrator, NFVLC.

By reducing the amount of time spent managing registrations and administrative tasks, the Center could devote more attention to what mattered most: developing educational experiences grounded in expertise and research.

"LearningCart stood out for its robust automation capabilities. The ability to automate registration and enrollment, even for groups, made it possible to design a system that runs efficiently in the background."

Dr. Maggie Cousin, LMS Administrator
NFVLC

The Shift

Making Critical Education More Accessible

Today, the NFVLC uses LearningCart to deliver on-demand courses designed specifically for family court professionals.

"We're doing online, on-demand courses for family court people, starting from judges and all the way down," explained Professor Joan S. Meier, Founder and Director of the NFVLC at GW Law.

Rather than limiting participation to in-person events or fixed schedules, online learning has allowed the organization to make this important training more broadly available.

By increasing access to education, the Center is helping ensure that more professionals have opportunities to strengthen their understanding of domestic violence, child abuse, and the complexities often present in family court cases.

Creating Sustainable Systems for Growth

For a team already familiar with learning technology, implementing LearningCart was less about learning the fundamentals of an LMS and more about understanding the unique capabilities available within the platform.

"The onboarding experience was productive and well-supported," shared Dr. Cousin. "Having used multiple LMS platforms previously, the learning curve was primarily about understanding the nuances of the system."

Support from the LearningCart team, combined with the platform's available resources, helped make the transition straightforward.

"The onboarding experience was productive and well-supported. Having used multiple LMS platforms previously, the learning curve was primarily about understanding the nuances of the system."

Dr. Maggie Cousin, LMS Administrator
NFVLC

The Results

Creating Safer Outcomes for Children and Families through Education

Today, LearningCart helps the NFVLC extend the reach of its educational mission by:

Delivering on-demand training to family court professionals nationwide.
Expanding access to evidence-informed education on domestic violence and child abuse.
Streamlining registration and enrollment through automation.
Supporting group enrollment processes more efficiently.
Reducing administrative burden so subject matter experts can focus on developing and delivering training.

For the NFVLC, success wasn't simply launching online courses.

It was creating a sustainable way to ensure that the professionals responsible for some of society's most difficult decisions have access to the training and expertise they need.

Because when education helps professionals better recognize and respond to domestic violence and child abuse, expanding access to that knowledge becomes more than operational efficiency.

It becomes an investment in safer outcomes for children and families.

The Big Deal

Ready for Your Training to Make an Impact?

When safety, consistency, and accessibility are on the line, your tech stack becomes the foundation of the entire experience.

That’s the kind of challenge LearningCart is built for, helping teams deliver training across modalities (in-person, virtual, and on-demand), while also making it easier to package those experiences into scalable offerings that support real revenue growth.

Ready to unify your training platform and unlock new growth? Let’s explore what that could look like for your team.

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