Thank you to all our supporters for voting for in August and September for “Family Justice Centers” in the Allstate Foundation Click to Empower Campaign.  The voting ended on September 15, 2009.  This is the first time our Alliance has engaged in any kind of social marketing competition.  Though we finished in last place, we are honored to have your support.  Due to your votes, we received a $10,000 grant from the Allstate Foundation that will benefit many victims of domestic violence.  We will put all the money toward providing free legal services for clients of the San Diego Family Justice Center.  We will be developing our FJC Legal Network model to ultimately benefit victims seeking civil legal services in every Family Justice Center in America.

Thank you for your strong support and commitment to voting regularly for us.  Your support will directly help survivors of family violence!

Contact:  Casey Gwinn, President, Family Justice Center Alliance (888) 511-3522 or (619) 980-8883

The National Family Justice Center Alliance (www.familyjusticecenter.org) is pleased to announce the selection of six sites to participate in the California Family Justice Initiative, after a competitive process that began in June 2009.  This exciting new Initiative has been funded by the Blue Shield of California Foundation (www.blueshieldcafoundation.org) and involves the development of six “learning laboratories” across the California where a network of multi-agency, co-located service delivery models for victims of domestic violence and their children will be supported and expanded.  The six communities selected are:

  Northridge (San Fernando Valley)
  Richmond
  Shasta County
  Sonoma County
  South Bay (San Diego County)
  Stanislaus County

Last week, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-Los Angeles) eliminated the Department of Public Health’s Domestic Violence Program, which was scheduled to provide $16.3 million (a 20 percent cut from last year) for 94 domestic violence shelters and centers throughout California.