By: Maria Sestito
Napa Valley Register
NAPA – It’s been 16-months since District Attorney Gary Lieberstein introduced the idea of creating a Family Justice Center in Napa County – a one-stop shop for crime victims. Since then, his office has been meeting with several core partners to see if they can make it happen.
The first steps were taken during a community forum at City Hall in Napa on Wednesday morning.
“Imagine” that you’re a victim – a victim of elder abuse, a teenager being sexually assaulted, or are even the relative of someone who you’re afraid will harm themselves or someone else, Lieberstein began.
When someone finally calls for help, they will often have to make numerous phone calls, visit offices spread across the city or county, and face not only the issues they are dealing with as a victim, but also face trying to navigate the services they might need – anything from law enforcement, courts, mental health services, housing help, employment or transportation, he said.
“Imagine that when they make that first call … that person can say ‘We have a place in our community called the Family Justice Center. It’s a place where you can go and you’re going to be greeted by someone who’s caring, who’s loving and is basically there to say ‘What can I do to help you?’”
Chief Deputy District Attorney Allison Haley gave an example of all the places a typical victim of sexual assault might go. They might visit the police department, the hospital, Napa Emergency Women’s Services in addition to visits to the D.A.’s office. If that person has other needs, like a substance abuse problem, a developmental disability, identifies as LGBTQ or doesn’t speak English, that can increase the amount of phone calls and visits they need to make and possibly increase the time it takes them to get help, she added.
They may also have financial hardships, limited transportation and children who need care.
“Where’s that kid gonna’ go?” That child is going to have to sit in appointments with mom while she tells her intake story, Haley said.
By allowing victims to have only one intake interview and one place to go, it honors their dignity and courage, Haley said.
Haley estimated that the quickest someone is able to get a restraining order is eight hours if they start early and spend all day in court.
To highlight the issue even more, Patricia Bauer, program assistant with the Alliance for Hope International, described what happened when she made calls for help to several area agencies. Pretending to be the friend of a victim, Bauer said that she was unable to find out how to file a restraining order after making phone calls to seven agencies, including NEWS, Bay Area Legal Aid, Napa Police and Calistoga Police.
Representatives from Alliance for Hope International were brought in to help with the planning process since they have helped start many Family Justice Centers. The Alliance’s mission is to create pathways to hope for women, children, and men who are victims of domestic violence and related sexual assault.
The idea behind the proposed Family Justice Center is to take already existing resources from the community and house them in one place. That way, when someone calls for help, everyone can give the same answer – everyone in the community can direct them to the same place.
“The goal is to create a framework where collaboration can increase social justice,” said Casey Gwinn, president and co-founder of Alliance for Hope International. In places where there are Family Justice Centers, homicide rates decrease over time and victims become survivors, he said.
There are now 17 Family Justice Centers in California, including Alameda and Sonoma Counties, and more than 130 in the world. They all work differently in order to cater to the needs of the individual towns, he said.
The process to figure out what a Napa County Family Justice Center might look like is just beginning. Following the forum, two tours of local services were scheduled for planners in addition to a focus group with survivors. Survivors will give planners ideas about what the pros and cons were from their experiences dealing with the justice system and other services and what they would like to see in a Family Justice Center.
“We can’t do this unless we listen to the voices of your community,” Gwinn said.
The DA’s office already has core partners interested in making the dream of a Family Justice Center in Napa a reality, including NEWS, Napa County Health and Human Services, Napa County Probation, Napa County Sheriff’s Office, Napa Police, Aldea Children & Family Services, Mentis and the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART).
Lieberstein said that they will continually be enlisting other organizations (government, nonprofit, or private) to take part in the planning process. There are still a lot of questions that need to be answered, like where it might be located or how it will be paid for, he said, but “I think it will really enhance the health and safety of our community.”
This part of the process is all a part of a feasibility study funded by the Gasser Foundation.
The next public forum will be held July 20.
To read the original article, click here: DA spearheads vision for Family Justice Center