Solano Chosen for New Family Justice Center
September 3, 2011
By Reporter Staff

Five new Family Justice Centers will open across California, including one in Solano County, to provide comprehensive domestic violence and sexual assault services based on a model first introduced in San Diego in 2002.

The National Family Justice Center Alliance, based in San Diego, has helped develop 14 Family Justice Centers in California in the last five years. Now, with support from Blue Shield of California Foundation, the NFJCA will help develop five more centers. Through a competitive application process, the NFJCA has selected five communities to participate in the California Family Justice Initiative and expand the network of Family Justice Centers in California.

The five new Centers will be located in Solano, Imperial, Alpine, Sacramento and Yolo counties.

Family Justice Centers are multi-agency, co-located service delivery centers for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault and their children. The centers provide one place in a community where victims can go to meet with a detective, talk to a prosecutor, work with an advocate, see a doctor or nurse, counsel with a chaplain, or access shelter, housing, and job training services.

"These centers will save lives and make it easier for victims to get the help they need," said Casey Gwinn, president of the National Family Justice Center Alliance. "Without a Family Justice Center, victims have to go from agency to agency telling their story over and over again -- when they to do that they often  give up and return to their abuser," said Gael Strack, chief executive officer of the NFJCA.

The NFJCA will provide grants up to $25,000 to each of the new Centers in the second year of the Initiative along with intensive training, planning, and technical assistance throughout the two year Initiative.