"Imagine what it would be like if you were an abused person trying to find help and you went from one place to another...it must be confusing and disheartening. The victim has been so traumatized, and then she has to tell her story over and over again, which repeats the trauma. There's a better way to do this. There's a better way to help people who need help in our society," said President George W. Bush last month, announcing the creation of the Family Justice Center Initiative.

The new Initiative is a three-year pilot program that will provide $20 million in Fiscal Year 2004 to establish comprehensive service and support centers for victims of domestic violence. The Family Justice Centers will be designed to improve victims' access to critical services by housing them in one location. They will bring together advocates, medical professionals, attorneys, law enforcement officers and others who give victims a wide variety of services and support.

"The Family Justice Center Initiative has the potential to help countless victims of abuse," said Family Violence Prevention Fund President Esta Soler. "Giving victims easy access to essential services and support will save lives and make it easier for women and their children to live free of violence. This is an important step forward, and we hope these Centers will focus on prevention as well as victim services. We need to do more to prevent abuse before it happens, in addition to giving victims the help they need to be safe and rebuild their lives."

Family Justice Center Initiative

The President announced the Family Justice Center Initiative on October 8, at an event in Washington, DC, to mark Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The Initiative will fund the creation of 12 Family Justice Centers in communities around the country. The funding for the Initiative is contingent on congressional appropriations, and will be administered through the U.S. Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women (OVW).

At the event, President Bush suggested that his Administration will support the funding and creation of additional Family Justice Centers later on. "The funding I've set aside will help begin a national movement toward more of these centers," he said. "Twelve will be funded through this Initiative. When they work, there's another twelve, and maybe even more."

The Centers must provide services to victims, and can be established in locations that currently house local service providers. They must support victim advocacy, law enforcement intervention and prevention initiatives. The Initiative will provide communities with resources to bring these services for victims of domestic violence into one facility. Grant awards will be given to help support community planning, assessment and development activities for the establishment of the Centers. Individual sites can receive up to $1.5 million to create a Center.

The OVW is currently accepting applications for Initiative grants. Eligible grantees include state, local and Tribal governments, state and local courts, faith-based and community-based organizations, private nonprofit organizations, and others. All interested applicants must submit a non-binding letter of intent to the OVW by December 12. The final application deadline is February 5, 2004.

San Diego Family Justice Center

The Family Justice Centers are modeled after the San Diego Family Justice Center, which was launched in October 2002. The Center was the vision of San Diego City Attorney Casey Gwinn, who attended the White House event in October and was honored by President Bush. "San Diego figured it out," said the President in his speech. "They've got a city attorney named Casey Gwinn...who recognized that there's a more compassionate way to help people who have been abused...The runaround is over in San Diego. There's a central location where somebody who desperately needs help can find compassion and help."

The San Diego Center is the country's most comprehensive justice center for victims of domestic violence. It brings together the entire domestic violence units of the police department and the prosecutor's office. And it provides victims of abuse with easy access to 20 on-site community services, including a temporary restraining order clinic and a forensic medical unit. By 2007, the Center plans 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 such as child protective service workers, probation, parole and border patrol officers, and others.

Since it opened in 2002, the San Diego Center has had visitors from more than 35 states and 18 countries. The number of walk-in victims of domestic violence has gone from 87 in its first month of operation to 636 walk-in victims in September 2003. And city officials report that the Center has been an integral part of their efforts to prevent domestic violence and assist victims.

"Most importantly," said Gwinn, "we are seeing domestic violence murders continue to decline. We have gone from 30 domestic violence homicides in the city in 1985 to nine last year, to four as of this year."

"Our commitment to the Family Justice Center is central to my goal to make San Diego America's safest city," said San Diego Mayor Dick Murphy. Murphy held a press conference at the Center to coincide with President Bush's announcement. He thanked the staff of the Center for their contributions and recognized Gwinn for his leadership and vision on the issue.

For information on the President's Family Justice Center Initiative, including application information, visit the Office on Violence Against Women's web site, www.ojp.usdoj.gov/vawo. For information about the San Diego Family Justice Center, visit www.familyjusticecenter.org.

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