Welcome to the. Family Justice Center Alliance. Local Services, Global Reach

Transcription

1 Welcome to the Family Justice Center Alliance Local Services, Global Reach Family Justice Center Alliance 707 Broadway, Suite 700 San Diego, CA Phone: (888) Fax: (619)

2 Table of Contents How the Family Justice Center Alliance Can Help Your Community...pg. 3 How do I start a Family Justice Center in my community? Resources Overview of the Family Justice Center Alliance....pg. 5 Our Vision Our Mission Overview of the Family Justice Center Alliance Best Practices Model Scope of Services Frequently Asked Questions about the Family Justice Center Model....pg. 8 What is a Family Justice Center? Why is a Family Justice Center model needed? How do victims and their children benefit from a Center? What are the services and activities that can be provided at a Family Justice Center? What do survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and other forms of abuse say about their services at Family Justice Centers? What does the planning process look like? What is the cost for starting and operating a Family Justice Center? What is the sustainability plan for a Family Justice Center? Message from Deputy Attorney General James Cole....pg. 17 The FJCA Training and Technical Assistance Team......pg. 18 San Diego Family Justice Center Direct Services Team...pg. 19 Family Justice Center Alliance Board of Trustees.....pg. 20 Family Justice Center Alliance National Advisory Board.....pg. 21 Become a Member!...pg. 22 2

3 How the Family Justice Center Alliance Can Help Your Community How do I start a Family Justice Center in my community? Across the country and around the world community leaders, advocates, law enforcement agencies, service providers, shelters, and concerned community leaders are exploring the possibility of starting a Family Justice Center in their own community. Most communities seek out a grant from public or private funders to assist with the costs of the planning process. Then, communities generally reach out to the Family Justice Center Alliance (Alliance) to help them design a planning process for their community. Prior to starting the formal planning process in a community, the Alliance has developed an Orientation Process to help communities get ready to start a Family Justice Center. The Orientation includes a welcome packet of key information and resources on how to get started as a member, how to access our resource library, how to attend our free monthly on-line webinar trainings and how to participate in our monthly calls with other developing sites. The Alliance frequently schedules an informational conference call with Casey Gwinn and/or Gael Strack to answer questions, assist in determining a community s level of readiness and carefully explain the technical assistance and training our team can provide before starting the formal planning process. We strongly encourage interested communities to spend time becoming familiar with the FJC movement through the free online Resource Library. See Membership information at the end of this packet. 3

4 Resources Sign up to become a member at Receive s about upcoming events & training, access the Resource Library, and watch the FJC Orientation Course video. Membership is free and easy! Order the Hope for Hurting Families Books from our store online Dream Big, Start Small: How to Start and Sustain a Family Justice Center Dream Big: A Simple, Complicated Idea to Stop Family Violence Hope for Hurting Families II: How to Start A Family Justice Center in Your Community are available online. Attend our monthly webinar trainings If you ve signed up to receive s, you will receive an invitation or you can join our mailing list here. Join our monthly calls with open and developing Centers The Open Centers Directors Call is the 2 nd Wednesday of every month at 11:30am PDT The Developing Centers Call is the 2 nd Tuesday of every month at 10am PDT. Attend the International Family Justice Center Conference in April 2013 in Ft. Worth, TX. This dynamic conference includes sessions on how to start a Family Justice Center. It is a perfect opportunity to bring a multidisciplinary team of potential and committed community partners. Once you've had a chance to read the books, watch the webinars, and explore the Resource Library, please contact us to discuss more resources, next steps, and planning. Natalia Aguirre, Director of Technical Assistance can be reached at (888) or Natalia@nfjca.org. 4

5 Overview of the Family Justice Center Alliance Our Vision Our vision is to create a future where: ALL the needs of victims are met; children are protected; Batterers are held accountable; Violence fades; Economic justice increases; Families heal and thrive; Hope is realized; and we ALL work together. Our Mission Our mission is to create a network of national and international Family Justice Centers and similar co-located service models with close working relationships, shared training and technical assistance, collaborative learning processes, coordinated funding assistance, and transformational leadership. Overview of the Family Justice Center Alliance The Alliance serves as clearinghouse, research center, and national membership organization for all Centers in the United States. Membership is free. The Alliance also serves as the comprehensive technical assistance and training provider for the United States Department of Justice for federally funded centers. The Alliance also works with centers outside the federal initiative in the U.S. and abroad. There are currently more than 84 operational centers in the United States with ten international Centers (Canada, Mexico, England, Jordan and Sweden). In addition, there are over 100 Centers currently developing in the United States, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Central America. The Alliance hosts an annual international conference, provides shared learning opportunities such as staff exchange programs, international internships, webbased education programs, and training in the area of family violence. At present, the Alliance has 2,300 members and over 10,000 attendees per year in its online training courses. Over 60,000 unique users per year access the Alliance s online resources. The Alliance is also the coordinator of the current California Family Justice Initiative, funded by Blue Shield of California Foundation, which has helped start five new Family Justice Centers in California since The $2 million Blue Shield of California Foundation California Family Justice Initiative is funding development of a statewide network of Centers made up of core criminal justice system professionals and a host of community-based non-profit and government agencies. Today, the Alliance is assisting with the start up of fifteen additional Centers in California. 5

6 Overviiew conttiinued Best Practices Model In October, 2003, President George W. Bush announced the creation of the President s Family Justice Center Initiative. The $20 million Initiative began a movement toward more one stop shop, co-located, multi-disciplinary service centers. The President based his Initiative on the San Diego Family Justice Center model which opened in 2002 with staff from 25 public and private agencies co-located together in order to reduce the number of places victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and elder abuse must go to receive needed services. While including many partners, the basic partners in any Family Justice Center are police officers, prosecutors, and communitybased advocates. More recently, the Obama Administration has supported on-going funding for the Alliance to provide technical assistance to organizations and communities across the United States that are seeking to develop diverse models of co-located, multi-agency services irrespective of the partner agencies in a community that may be willing to colocate. Using a model of collaboration to provide wraparound services from one location, the Family Justice Center concept seeks to marshal all available resources in a community into a coordinated, centralized service delivery system with accountability to victims and survivors for the effectiveness of the model. As the movement is expanding, more and more emphasis is being placed on developing uniquely local multi-agency co-location models depending on the available governmental and non-governmental organizations in a particular community and the willingness of those agencies to co-locate their services in order to increase effectiveness and efficiency in meeting the needs of victims of family violence-related trauma. The model is also being applied to primary prevention approaches as well and includes a major focus on collaborative learning models where networks of Family Justice Centers are created to cover a region with multi-disciplinary teams that can then share lessons learned, best practices, and promising approaches. 6

7 Overviiew conttiinued Scope of Services Utilizing a network of onsite staff, national faculty and technical assistance providers, the Alliance provides training, planning, consulting and technical assistance in the following areas: How to Start a Family Justice Center Community/Center Assessment Strategic Planning Training for Police Officers, Judges, Prosecutors, and Advocates Funding and Sustainability for Centers Best Practices Board Development Client Intake and Services Confidentiality and Information Sharing Communication Systems (what does this mean? Essentially, this can be covered in either Data Collection, Intake, or Technology Considerations) Data Collection and Evaluation DV and Children Getting Buy-In Governance Structure Faith-Based Partnerships Launching a Forensic Medical Unit Media and Public Relations Offender Accountability Operations - Forms, MOUs, Protocols, and Partnership Development Prosecution Policies and Practices Public Awareness Posters Safety and Security Considerations Strangulation Technology Considerations Volunteer and Internship Programs (Recruiting, Training, and Retaining) 7

8 Frequently Asked Questions about the Family Justice Center Model What is a Family Justice Center? A Family Justice Center is the co-location of a multi-disciplinary team of professionals who work together, under one roof, to provide coordinated services to victims of family violence. Some Centers focus exclusively on domestic violence victims while others provide services to victims of sexual assault, child abuse, elder abuse, and human trafficking. Family Justice Centers are an outgrowth of the domestic violence movement in California and across the country and often work closely with community-based domestic violence shelters and programs but the model differs significantly from a multidisciplinary non-profit agency approach to services due to the close working relationship with and full-time presence of criminal justice professionals in Family Justice Centers. The first Family Justice Center was created in San Diego, California nearly ten years ago (2002) through a partnership between the San Diego City Attorney, District Attorney, and the San Diego Police Department. It evolved out of a collaborative relationship between community-based domestic violence agencies/shelters and criminal justice professionals. The model was endorsed by the Statewide California Coalition for Battered Women. Later, the San Diego model grew to over 25 public and private non-profit agencies. In 2005, Congress added Family Justice Centers to the Violence Against Women Act under Title I. Many communities use the name Family Justice Center though some communities select a different name to describe their multi-agency service delivery models. While a Family Justice Center may house many partners, the basic partners include police officers, prosecutors, civil legal service providers, and community-based advocates. The core concept is to provide one place where victims can go to talk to an advocate, plan for their safety, interview with a police officer, meet with a prosecutor, receive medical assistance, receive information on shelter, and get help with transportation. The key difference between Family Justice Centers, which distinguishes them from other multiagency or multi-disciplinary models, is the presence of police officers and prosecutors. The full-time presence of these criminal justice system professionals in Family Justice Centers creates special issues, necessitates special policies and procedures, and requires separate definitions in state law to protect victim confidentiality and promote responsible information sharing among community-based and government-based agencies. 8

9 FAQ conttiinued Why is a Family Justice Center model needed? Each year law enforcement agencies in California and around the world respond to an alarming number of incidents of domestic violence. The prevalence of family violence is even more alarming when one considers that experts estimate that only 25 percent of such cases are actually reported. There are many reasons why victims often fail to report domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or other forms of abuse, including fear of the system, fear of the offender, religious beliefs, emotional ties to the abuser, threats to children, lack of money or resources, or simply not knowing that help is available. Most criminal and civil justice systems make it difficult for victims to seek help and unintentionally wear them down. Victims are often required to travel from location to location to seek services that are scattered through a community or region. They have to tell their story over and over again to staff members representing agencies, such as, law enforcement, courts, civil legal, medical, transportation, housing, social services, mental health, rehabilitation, financial assistance, and many more. The criminal justice system unintentionally makes it easy for victims to become frustrated and ultimately stop seeking help. Faced with so many obstacles, victims often return to their abuser rather than obtaining the necessary services. California Attorney General Kamala Harris and former Attorney General Bill Lockyer, now State Treasurer, have both recognized the need for the Family Justice Center model and have called for the creation of Family Justice Centers in California to better assist victims and their children. The Family Justice Center approach was recently profiled in the Stanford Journal of Social Innovation as a model for services. The Stanford Journal of Social Innovation identified the endorsement of Oprah Winfrey and the profiling of the model on the Oprah Winfrey Show in 2003 as a key turning point in the launching of the Family Justice Center movement. The Journal identified three key components to success in surveying Centers across the country: 1) Ask clients what they need; 2) Build genuine collaboration; and 3) Identify and share best practices. 9

10 FAQ conttiinued How do victims and their children benefit from a Center? A collaborative effort provides more support to victims and children involved in family violence through improved case management and a more fluid exchange of information and resources. Bridging existing gaps increases a victim s access to services and resources and makes the entire process of reporting a domestic violence incident much less overwhelming for the victims and children involved. A tremendous amount of research has been done on the outcomes of Family Justice Centers and is available in the online Resource Library of the Alliance. Major drops in homicides have been reported in FJC communities across the United States including San Diego (CA), Rockville (MD), New York City (NY), and Alameda County (CA). The Family Justice Center model has been identified as a best practice in the field of domestic violence intervention and prevention services by the United States Department of Justice. The documented and published outcomes in the Family Justice Center model have included: reduced homicides; increased victim safety; increased autonomy and empowerment for victims; reduced fear and anxiety for victims and their children; increased efficiency and coordination among service providers; and reduced recantation and minimization by victims when wrapped in services and support; increased prosecution of offenders; and dramatically increased community support services to victims and their children. (See Casey Gwinn, Gael Strack, Hope for Hurting Families: Creating Family Justice Centers Across America, Volcano Press 2006; The Family Justice Center Collaborative Model, 27 St. Louis University Public Law Review, 79, 2007, pp ). The most recent research in 2010 from the Annie Casey Foundation has recognized the power of bundled services for victims and has documented increase economic outcomes from victims of over 300% from models such as Family Justice Centers. Survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence have also hailed the model in focus groups conducted in Family Justice Centers over the last eight years. Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole, from the United States Department of Justice, in welcoming over 500 attendees to the International Family Justice Center Conference in April 2012 stated: The Family Justice Centers are based on the simple notion that victims of domestic violence and their children, who are already suffering so much, should not have to go from place to place to get the help they need... We have seen what this actually means for communities, and we know it saves lives... The Department of Justice is proud to support these vital Centers...The Family Justice Center model is one of the leading life-saving, community-based policing strategies in this country. 10

11 Overviiew conttiinued What are the services and activities that can be provided at a Family Justice Center? A Family Justice Center model can be expected to offer comprehensive medical and legal services, counseling to victims and children, links to Juvenile, Family, and Criminal court, as well as access to on-site professionals providing civil legal services, job training and placement assistance, public benefits assistance, advocacy, and safety planning. It can also provide comprehensive prevention efforts such as outreach to young adults and underserved victims through community education. Most importantly, each Family Justice Center is different and is based on the needs of victims in each community. The on-site partners and services at each Center often vary as well based on the unique characteristics of the organizations in a particular jurisdiction. During a strategic planning process, each Center must identify which services are most needed and helpful for victims by being provided in a co-located service delivery model. The services may be very limited such as the presence of police, prosecutors, and community-based non-profit agency advocates. The services may also be very diverse and include full health services, forensic examinations, job training, comprehensive and long-term counseling services, camping and mentoring services for children, and a host of other assistance coupled with the basic services from police officers, prosecutors, and advocates. Tulane University recently completed a survey of all Family Justice Centers in the United States and documented the following services which are being co-located within Family Justice Centers: Criminal Justice Medical Services Civil Legal Services Child Care/Child trauma/advocacy Services Child Welfare Subject Matter Focus Areas: Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault/Stalking/Elder Abuse Living Provisions/Needs Financial & Employment Assistance Public Benefits Social Services Spiritual Support Community Education/Outreach/Prevention Camping/Mentoring Programs 11

12 FAQ conttiinued What do survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and other forms of abuse say about their services at Family Justice Centers? Survivors overwhelmingly support the Family Justice Center model. The Alliance tracks feedback from survivors in exit interviews and focus groups from many Family Justice Centers. Lillian "Everyone was friendly attentive and comforting. No one judges you or makes you feel dumb or worthless. A lot of agencies have a 'talk down mentality', but that attitude isn t here at the FJC. This is a great place and much needed." Carolyn "I really enjoyed my visit and the staff was so friendly and helpful. They answered all my questions at the end of my visit I felt like I had many friends. I wasn't alone anymore." Sally "You all made an extremely uncomfortable and embarrassing experience bearable. I found this setting to be very comfortable and the staff very professional including the volunteers." Brandy "I have never in my life been through a more wonderful experience with trying to receive assistance. I can't believe there is a great system like this. I have been treated with great respect and have been made to feel very comfortable. Thank you so much for all your help." Guadalupe "Todo estuvo excelente. Me sentí protegida y respetada. Ahí pude enterarme de mis derechos como madre. La Señorita Ángela fue muy amable y me hablo con honestidad y respecto. Gracias Ángela. (Everything was excellent. I felt protected and respected. I learned about my rights as a mother. Miss Angela was very kind, she spoke to me with honesty and respect. Thank you, Angela.)" Todd "You guys are very great people, thank you, and God bless you! The people here are the only people that seemed to care and understand my situation. I can't thank them enough for listening to me and believing in me. Domestic abuse in the gay community is just as painful and serious as any other form of domestic violence, but usually no one cares." 12

13 FAQ conttiinued What does the planning process look like? The formal planning process includes three distinct phases of planning and development when starting a Family Justice Center. The Alliance is often invited by a local community, using public or private grant funds, to participate in all three phases described below. Phase I: Phase I assesses a community s readiness for creating a Family Justice Center. Each community has its own level of readiness. Some communities are ready to get started. They have a long history of working together, years of specialization, longstanding protocols, strong champions, key stakeholders, on and off-site partners who are ready to participate, community buy-in and secured local funding to begin the planning process. In other communities there are a few key people who are just beginning to explore the feasibility of what it would take to get people to talk about starting a Family Justice Center. They see the vision but are not sure how to start. The Alliance has worked with communities in all stages of development including communities that have some buy in, some support, some hesitancy, and lots of questions about what it would mean to start a Family Justice Center in their community. The Alliance is often invited by a local community to conduct a Community Assessment prior to the beginning of a formal planning process for a Center. The Community Assessment conducted by the Alliance includes meeting with all stakeholders, hosting a community forum, conducting focus groups with survivors and professionals, meeting with elected officials and policy makers, learning about the community s response to domestic violence, assessing level of collaboration and readiness for collocation and ultimately providing recommendations for next steps. Based on the discussions with the Planning Team, the Alliance will either recommend a 2-day Study Tour Community Assessment or a 4-day Snapshot Community Assessment. In all cases, the Alliance has been able to help communities work through their questions and come to a decision about whether or not they are ready to move forward. For those that are ready, the Alliance provides a customized strategic planning process that creates a road map for implementation. For those that are not yet ready for co-located, multi-disciplinary services, the Alliance is able to help identify the next steps necessary for moving forward. 13

14 FAQ conttiinued Phase II: Phase II involves the creation of the actual Strategic Plan and the implementation process for the plan. The Planning Process takes a great deal of preparation and stakeholder outreach, involves 2-3 days of actual planning meetings, and produces a written plan with the Mission, Vision, Values, and Strategic Activities necessary to create a successful Center. The Alliance is often invited by a local community to oversee the planning process. Local communities are always encouraged to work with a Project Coordinator who can manage the process locally and work closely with the Alliance. The period from the strategic planning process to opening day depends upon a community s readiness, however communities with a designated Project Coordinator tend to streamline the process faster. The Alliance provides individual and team coaching along with regular progress reviews, and access to our Resource Library which contains best practices, policies and procedures, manuals and job descriptions, teambuilding exercises, board development, sustainability planning, and capacity building, and much more. Phase III: Phase III occurs after the Center has opened. The Alliance often conducts a Family Justice Center Snapshot Evaluation. The Snapshot is an evaluation tool, with weighted scoring mechanisms, designed to evaluate the operational effectiveness of a Center and identify needed areas of improvement. Three to four members of the Alliance team generally conduct the Snapshot during a three day site visit. The Snapshot includes a comprehensive report with recommendations for key steps to address any significant issues or strengthen weaker areas of the collaborative model. Either Alliance Chief Executive Officer Gael Strack or Directors from other Centers will provide onsite support for the new Director. The Alliance also hosts a FJC Directors Leadership Training Institute for new Directors and new Directors are strongly encouraged to participate in this Institute. For more information and a description of the services available to help you start a Family Justice Center in your community, contact Natalia Aguirre, Director of Technical Assistance at (888) or the Alliance at info@nfjca.org. 14

15 FAQ conttiinued Honolulu Family Justice Center Strategic Planning Team I personally cannot thank you two enough for all that you have done (so far!). This project is important to a lot of us, and many people didn t think it could be done, but with your help, we will have one here in Honolulu. I am excited and thrilled to no end! Fredese Whitsett, Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney s Office 15

16 FAQ conttiinued What is the cost for starting and operating a Family Justice Center? Any community considering development of a Family Justice Center must address the financial issues that come with pursuing such a vision. When compared to the financial impacts of domestic violence on the business community, the health care system, the legal system, or the impacts on children, the cost of running a Family Justice Center is minimal and the model is cost effective. The budget for a Center has three major categories: start-up costs, operations (and expansion), or long-term needs. For a more detailed budget, see Gwinn, Strack Dream Big: A Simple, Complicated Idea to Stop Family Violence, (Chapter 5, Build the Fence at the Top of the Cliff ). What is the sustainability plan for a Family Justice Center? There must be a commitment to a Family Justice Center from government, nongovernment organizations, and community leaders in order to ensure success. While there is no guarantee of future funding, the project leaders and partners must take aggressive steps to assure the continuation of the project, such as seeking grant funding at the local, state, and federal levels and donations from the community, businesses and corporations. A comprehensive strategic fundraising plan must be developed with the help of community leaders and fundraising experts for a capital campaign that includes funds from government and non-government sources. 16

17 Message from Deputy Attorney General James Cole Deputy Attorney General James Cole welcomes attendees at the 12 th Annual Family Justice Center Conference It is a distinct honor to address all of you at the Twelfth Annual International Family Justice Center Conference. The leadership that Casey Gwinn and Gael Strack provide in the Family Justice Center movement is invaluable. By providing comprehensive services in one location, the centers enhance victims safety, and make it more likely that they can successfully navigate the criminal and civil justice processes. Many family justice centers are now seeing the benefits of co-location for survivors of sexual assault and child abuse, and are expanding their collaborative partnerships and their range of services to address these crimes... We have seen what this actually means for communities, and we know it saves lives. The Family Justice Center model is one of the leading life-saving, community-based policing strategies in this country. We applaud you for showing us how to do it right, how to be responsive to all the needs of victims and their children, and how to ultimately break the generational cycle that destroys the lives of women, men, and families. We would like to thank the Office on Violence Against Women for their generous support in making Family Justice Centers a reality for our nation! 17

18 The Alliance Training and Technical Assistance Team Casey Gwinn, JD President Phone: (888) Fax: (619) Gael Strack, JD Chief Executive Officer Phone: (888) Fax: (619) Jennifer Anderson Project Director CA Family Justice Initiative Phone: (619) Fax: (619) Melissa Mack Project Director Strangulation Training Institute Phone: (619) Fax: (619) Natalia Aguirre Director of Technical Assistance Phone: (619) Fax: (619) Lori Gillam, CPA Director of Finance Phone: (619) Fax: (619) Mehry Mohseni Asst. Project Director CA Family Justice Initiative Phone: (619) Fax: (619) Jena Valles Executive Assistant Phone: (888) Fax: (619)

19 San Diego Family Justice Center Direct Services Team Alexia Peters, JD Managing Attorney FJC Legal Network Phone: (619) Lee Friedman Program Coordinator Women of Wisdom Phone: (619) Katie Zumwalt Coordinator of Client Services San Diego FJC Phone: (619) Katie Huerta Case Manager Women of Wisdom Phone: (619)

20 Family Justice Center Alliance Board of Trustees The Alliance is also supported by a national team of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and human trafficking subject matter experts and consultants. The experts and consultants are used on an as-needed basis. The Alliance is supported by an operating Board which oversees the day to day activities. Michael Scogin, Treasurer Vice President California Community Bank Phone: (858) mscogin@calcommunitybank.com Casey Gwinn, JD President Phone: (888) Fax: (619) casey@nfjca.org Capt. Robert Martin (LAPD, Ret.), Vice Chair Vice President Gavin de Becker and Assoc. Phone: (818) rmartin@gavindebecker.com Gael Strack, JD Chief Executive Officer Phone: (888) Fax: (619) gael@nfjca.org Ashley Walker, Chair Co-Founder, San Diego DV Council Founder, YWCA Battered Women s Services Phone: (619) aleewalker2@gmail.com Jerrilyn Malana, JD Attorney/Shareholder Littler-Mendelson, PC Employment and Labor Law Solutions worldwide Phone: (619) jmalana@littler.com Clint Carney, Secretary Director of Communications Southwest Strategies Phone: (858) clintcarney@gmail.com 20