Jill’s Story
You Never Have To Walk Alone.
The 2016 Displacement In 2016, Jill was forced to flee her home with her two daughters and only a single bin bag of belongings. As reported by DomesticShelters.org—a highly-rated nonprofit—this was the culmination of years of calculated coercive control that had systematically dismantled her professional career and financial independence.
Systemic Failure Jill sought protection from the authorities, but the system transitioned from a protector to a secondary site of abuse. Despite the evidence, she was accused of "parental alienation"—a narrative often used to silence protective parents.
The Cost of Protection The consequences of seeking safety were severe. Jill was stripped of her children and spent 41 days locked inside a detention facility. Her experience is a documented case of being "punished for protection," illustrating a breakdown in the family court system where facts are often superseded by judicial bias.
The Foundation of The Shield Project Jill’s experience serves as the catalyst for our movement. We focus on three core pillars of accountability:
Judicial Immunity: Addressing the lack of oversight for life-altering court decisions.
Professional Accountability: Challenging the "quasi-judicial" protections given to court-appointed therapists and evaluators.
Tactical Resources: Providing parents with the strategy and truth needed to navigate a dysfunctional system.
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Piercing Judicial Immunity
Piercing Judicial Immunity: Challenging the absolute protection of family court judges.
Accountability for Therapists
Challenging the "quasi-judicial" protection of therapists through licensing boards.
Comprehensive Advocacy Resources
A nationwide network of organizations, crisis hotlines, research, and legal literature to support parents in the fight.
See our newest videos, interviews, and advocacy updates on YouTube
Our Work: Support and Systemic Change for Survivors
What The Shield Project Provides
Our mission is to help women make informed, confident decisions during some of the most difficult moments of their lives. We offer guidance, education, and survivor-centered support without judgment or obligation. Whether you’re preparing for a custody hearing, responding to a court order, or trying to understand your legal options, we’re here to walk with you at every step of the process. Warriors and Healers — both are needed in this fight. At The Shield Project, our work combines protection and renewal: warriors who confront injustice, and healers who help survivors recover hope and stability through advocacy, education, and coordinated reform. We are building a national movement that connects individuals and organizations defending women and children in the family-court system transforming isolated efforts into a unified force for safety, justice, and reform.
Warriors
We expose systemic failures in the family-court process, advocate for institutional accountability, and amplify survivor voices that have too often been silenced.
Healers
We foster recovery through education, survivor-led outreach, and collaboration with trauma-informed professionals and nonprofits nationwide
Our Mission in Motion.
From our California roots,
Shield is expanding into a network that unites local initiatives across the United States under a shared banner — to protect, educate, and empower survivors while demanding justice from the systems that failed them.
Join the movement — stand with us as we protect, unite, and seek justice for survivors
About Our Resource Network
The Shield Project is building the world’s most comprehensive, survivor-centered database of family-court-linked abuse and domestic-violence resources. Our vision is to make help accessible by ZIP code—connecting survivors, advocates, and researchers to verified local and national services in real time. Beginning with national hotlines and foundational programs, we are expanding city by city to create a living map of protection, education, and hope. Our goal is not only to help survivors find safety but to ensure that advocates, policymakers, and researchers have the data they need to study, understand, and reform a system that has too often operated in the dark. When accurate information becomes visible, awareness follows—and so does change. To paraphrase the classic line from Field of Dreams: if we build it, they will come. This resource index was inspired by, and developed with gratitude to, the HWLFF Foundation, founded by Dr. Ramona Probasco. We also thank Shield Project founder Jill Montes, co-author of the HWLFF survivor handbook and director of HWLFF, for her year-long research and ongoing dedication to supporting survivors and families nationwide.
