MONTEREY COUNTY — Community members are invited to attend a strategic planning event for South Monterey County’s Family Justice Center later this month.
A team from the Family Justice Center Alliance, a project of Alliance for HOPE International, is helping Monterey County with the planning process for the South County Family Justice Center, which will be located in King City to help survivors of family violence and their families get the resources and support they need at one location.
Monterey County District Attorney’s Office has scheduled the event for Wednesday, March 22, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Salinas Elks Lodge, 614 Airport Blvd., in Salinas. To attend, send an email to Fa*********************@co.us by March 10.
The goal of the meeting is to create a strategic plan for the formation of three Family Justice Centers throughout Monterey County, beginning with the South County location in King City and then eventually adding others in Salinas and on the Monterey Peninsula.
“We are beginning by launching our first FJC in South County (King City), but are still hoping to create a strategic plan for serving the entire county,” said a representative from the District Attorney’s Office. “We wanted the strategic planning event to be in a centralized part of the county in order to make it as accessible as possible to the entire community, since we are inviting stakeholders and community members from all over Monterey County.”
The mission of a Family Justice Center is to provide one place for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, elder abuse and human trafficking to receive the services currently available in their community from both nonprofit and governmental agencies.
Family Justice Centers co-locate, coordinate and integrate services so that victims and their children travel to fewer places and tell their stories fewer times.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, “The Family Justice Center model’s documented and published outcomes include 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, increased prosecution of offenders, dramatically increased community support services to victims and their children, and reduced recantation and minimization by victims when they receive this level of support.”
For more information about the Family Justice Center Alliance, visit familyjusticecenter.com.
