Shasta Family Justice Center Had 2,300 Visits its First 12 Months
September 12, 2011
By Jim Schultz

The Shasta Family Justice Center, which celebrates its first anniversary of operation this month, already has its eyes on the future.

The center, which opened Sept. 1, 2010, has been busy during the past 12 months.

The center operates out of a complex of offices on the top floor of the Market Street Promenade in Redding. It strives to help victims of family violence, sexual assault, child abuse and elder abuse.

Shasta Family Justice calls itself a "one-stop help center" for victims of family violence — a place where they can get help from multiple agencies under one roof.

During its first month in operation, the center had 33 visits for service, said Michael Burke, its executive director.

Since then, it had 347 such service visits last month and a total of 2,300 during its first year.

Services provided by the center, where the word "referral" is a dirty word, are crucial to efforts to break the cycle of family violence, advocates say.

"We have saved lives, we honestly have," Burke said.

Initially operated under a grant through the Shasta County district attorney's office, the center later was taken over by the Child Abuse Prevention Coordinating Council.

Burke said it's soon to become its own nonprofit agency.

The center houses a number of professionals and allows victims to receive emergency and long-term help without having to travel to a number of agencies to get assistance.

The center celebrated its anniversary Friday with a benefit concert by singer Jan Daley at the Cascade Theatre in Redding.

It also is preparing for its anniversary golf tournament next Friday at the River Tasalmi Golf Course in Redding. Proceeds from that tournament will be used to support family violence victims.

Casey Gwinn, president and founder of the National Family Justice Center Alliance, also was in Redding this week to rally the troops and others around the family justice center.

He and almost 50 community leaders, including City Council members and county supervisors, gathered earlier this week at the Shasta County district attorney's office to help plan the future of the center.

Gwinn, who is passionate about family justice centers, is credited with founding the nationally acclaimed San Diego Family Justice Center.

The Redding center, he said, has a lot to be proud of.

"The center has exceeded all expectations" for its first year, he said, adding that the center has had more visits than 25 other family justice centers in the nation.

Gwinn has been at the forefront of the creation of justice centers, especially after the San Diego Family Justice Center was profiled on Oprah Winfrey's TV show and won her endorsement.

"It really took off," he said. "It's just amazing."

In 2003, then-President George W. Bush announced a national initiative to begin creating family justice centers across the country and asked Gwinn to provide leadership for the effort.

He now oversees a national technical assistance team that supports all existing and developing family justice centers in the U.S.

There are now 75 family justice centers throughout the nation.

Although highly impressed with the Shasta Family Justice Center, which operates on a $150,000 budget, Gwinn said it still faces a number of challenges, including funding and public support.

The center, which does receive in-kind public support, is funded entirely by private donations and grants.

Ideally, Gwinn said, funding should always be a mix of public and private money, adding that relying too much on grants is risky.

"If you are living or dying by a grant, you are in trouble," he said.

Another big obstacle, he said, is getting different agencies to work closely together.

"But when it works, it's magic," he said.