The Family Justice Center Alliance was launched in 2006 in response to the increasing demand for technical assistance from existing and pending Centers across the world. The Family Justice Center Alliance serves as the official technical assistance provider for the United States Department of Justice for federally funded centers and also works with centers outside the federal initiative and abroad. There are currently 30 operational centers in the United States with an additional three international centers operating in Croydon, England; Monterey, Mexico; and Waterloo, Canada with an additional 30 centers in the works.

In addition to technical assistance, training and consulting, the Family Justice Center Alliance hosts an annual international conference, provides shared learning opportunities such as staff exchange programs, international internships, web-based education programs, and training in the area of family violence.

Best Practice Model

In October, 2003, President George W. Bush announced the creation of the President’s Family Justice Center Initiative. The $20 million Initiative began a movement toward more “one stop shop,” co-located, multi-disciplinary service centers. The President based his Initiative on the San Diego Family Justice Center model (www.familyjusticecenter.org) which opened in 2002 with staff from 25 public and private agencies co-located together in order to reduce the number of places victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and elder abuse must go to receive needed services. While including many partners, the basic partners in any Family Justice Center are police officers, prosecutors, and community-based advocates.

The Family Justice Center model has been identified as a best practice in the field of domestic violence intervention and prevention services by numerous local, state and national organizations. The documented and published outcomes in the Family Justice Center model have included: reduced homicides; increased victim safety; increased autonomy and empowerment for victims; reduced fear and anxiety for victims and their children; reduced recantation and minimization by victims when wrapped in services and support; increased efficiency in collaborative services to victims among service providers; increased prosecution of offenders; and dramatically increased community support services to victims and their children. (See Casey Gwinn, Gael Strack, Hope for Hurting Families: Creating Family Justice Centers Across America (Volcano Press 2006)).

Most recently, Congress recognized the importance of the Family Justice Center movement by including family justice centers as a “purpose area” in Title I of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA 2005). Using a model of collaboration to provide “wraparound” services from one location, the family justice center concept seeks to marshal all available resources in a community into a coordinated, centralized service delivery system with accountability to victims and survivors for the effectiveness of the model.