An exciting partnership of public and private partners continues to make strides towards opening a Family Justice Center (FJC) in Sonoma County. The FJC will provide “one-stop” services for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and elder abuse.
Convened by the County of Sonoma District Attorney’s office, the FJC collaborative consists of over 20 county, city, and community organizations. Key partners include: the Sheriff’s Office, Department of Health, Human Services Department, City of Santa Rosa Police Department, YWCA Sonoma County, United Against Sexual Assault, Catholic Charities, Legal Aid of Sonoma County, Council on Aging, Inter-Tribal Council of California, and others.
To date, the group has raised over $1.2 million in grants and donations with key contributions coming from the United States Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women ($400,000), California Endowment ($300,000), California Family Justice Initiative ($50,000), and an anonymous donor ($500,000).
A key factor in these successful fund raising efforts has been the demonstration of the tremendous resource leveraging that will occur when partners co-locate at the Family Justice Center.
On February 4th the Family Justice Center team passed another milestone with the submission of a new major grant proposal to the Office on Violence Against Women to their “Legal Assistance for Victims” program. This proposal seeks support for the provision of civil legal services to victims at the FJC (temporary and permanent restraining orders; custody and visitation; divorce; VAWA and U-Visa petition assistance; and housing, employment related legal services, and guardianship assistance). In established Family Justice Centers around the country these services are among the most requested by victims —they provide the critical assistance victims so often need to end abusive relationships.
Congratulations to the Sonoma County Family Justice Center team for getting this application submitted!
