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Contra Costa County Zero Tolerance for Domestic Violence Initiative, Family Justice Alliance — Outstanding Collaborative Project In 2001, the County Board of Supervisors launched the Zero Tolerance for Domestic Violence Initiative to improve service delivery systems and policy to support the county’s strong stance against family violence. Addressing this charge, Zero Tolerance has launched and managed a number of important countywide initiatives, including bringing together diverse stakeholders to establish Family Justice Centers in Richmond and Concord. These Family Justice Centers are widely recognized as a best practice that brings resources together under one roof to ensure victims only need to tell their stories once and receive all the services they need when they need them. Each Center serves approximately 700 victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, elder abuse, child abuse, and human trafficking each year. Furthermore, Zero Tolerance led and completed a planning process to establish a network of Centers, now known as the Contra Costa Family Justice Alliance, that is its own non-profit organization. The Alliance provides a formalized structure for shared governance which was a critical step to maintaining the sustainability of this work for decades to come.

Contra Costa County Zero Tolerance for Domestic Violence Initiative and the Family Justice Alliance are named… Outstanding Collaborative Project Join us at the East Bay Philanthropy Awards Breakfast brought to you by the Sanford Institute of Philanthropy at JFK University and the East Bay Leadership Council. Awards ceremony on November 3, 2016 at 7:30 am at the Blackhawk Museum Besides Outstanding Collaborative Project, the awards breakfast will also honor winners for Outstanding Corporate Philanthropist, Outstanding Philanthropist, Outstand Foundation, Volunteer of the Year, Next Generation Philanthropist, and Lifetime Achievement Award. Please join us for this wonderful event. Tickets can be purchased online at: 2016 East Bay Philanthropy Award Breakfast. Space is limited so purchase your ticket today.

Carlos Carbajal is busy. As a Lawyer for Family Justice attorney, his appointment slots are booked solid every week and he has taken on over 50 paying clients (in addition to dozens of pro bono consultations) since joining Contra Costa County’s Legal Incubator program in February. [click here] “The need for pro and low bono services is overwhelming, especially in the minority, Spanish-speaking community,” says Carbajal, “There is incredible need.” When he joined the CCCBA Lawyer Referral and Information Service through Lawyers for Family Justice, Carlos became one of two Spanish-speaking Family Law attorneys on the referral panel.  He has so much work that he is considering hiring a paralegal or intern, and potentially setting up a small firm specifically to assist Spanish-speaking families. In October 2015, The Contra Costa County Bar Association Bar Fund Gala raised over $40,000 for the Lawyers for Family Justice legal incubator program at the Family Justice Center. Today, the program houses six incubator attorneys serving moderate and low-income clients in Contra Costa County. “The plan was to do two things at once: help the 80% of our clients who desperately need legal assistance, while nurturing new and transitioning attorneys who were interested in providing affordable services to Contra Costa County residents but did not have the means or know-how to hang out their own shingles,” explains Family Justice Center Executive Director, Susun Kim. The plan is working.  “The Lawyers for Justice Program allows me to assist community members who are unfamiliar with the legal system and/or have limited access to a lawyer due to their financial constraints,” said Lawyers for Family Justice attorney Harpreet Sandhu, “Furthermore, the lawyers in the program, my colleagues, benefit my practice on two levels: they act as a sounding board and they provide support/advice on client management, as well as specific case issues.” The Lawyers for Justice 2016 cohort is almost half way through its 18-month tenure.  In addition to training and mentorship, the Family Justice Center houses the attorneys, paying for important overhead costs such office rent and furniture, telephones, internet, computers, printers, online subscriptions, books on substantive law, and even a receptionist. Lawyers for Family Justice attorneys also benefit from free PLI courses, CEB On-Law, CCCBA Lawyer Referral and Information Service and CCCBA Section Membership. “The Lawyers for Family Justice program is a community effort,” says Kim.  “We have outstanding community attorneys dedicating their time to mentor, strong support from the Contra Costa County Bar Association, and friendships with incubator programs all across the country, which continue to evolve and improve their practices.” The program works, in part, because of partnerships with attorney mentors, like James Greenan, Melody Saint-Saens, Claire Johnson, Gloria Park, Brigeda Bank, and Marta Vanegas.  Sarah Mraule, who works with mentor, Brigeda Bank said, “The Family Justice Center has been an integral part of the learning experience as a new attorney. The mentorship that they provide, by connecting us with more experienced attorneys in our field of practice has been an invaluable part of the program; and the exposure to cases that we may not have had without participating in the Legal Incubator Program has been enlivening, and will shape the way that we practice, and interact with clients moving forward.” The attorneys are modest about their work, but the Family Justice Center staff can tell endless stories of the tremendous difference that the attorneys have made in the lives of their clients.  “Since they started seeing our clients in February, the Lawyers for Family Justice attorneys have helped over 90 families — all for free, and all on-site,” says Family Justice Center Navigator Sandra Trevino, “They meet directly with the clients right here in our office, which is so essential to helping families in crisis who have already travelled to too many agencies looking for help.” Oravanh Thammasen is a Navigator at the West Contra Costa Family Justice Center.  She regularly works with the Lawyers for Family Justice, including attorney Yuriy Rubanov.  “A survivor of domestic violence came into our Center to seek assistance with reporting an incident to the police and to file a restraining order. During the navigation assessment, the client mentioned that her apartment had habitability issues and she had made numerous complaints. At our Center, she was able to meet with Rubanov for a housing law consultation. Rubanov assisted the client in writing a demand letter to the property. With his assistance on the demand letter, the client is on the wait list to move into the next available unit.” “The Lawyers for Family Justice program definitely offers help with services that people would otherwise not have access to,” comments Rubanov, “People find the services helpful and valuable. As for me, I get the satisfaction of being able to provide that.” At the Central Contra Costa Family Justice Center, Navigator Olivia Ortiz’s client, Laura* was being bullied by her son’s father who threatened to disappear with their son.  When her son told his grandmother that his father was physically abusing him, Laura came to the Family Justice Center for help.  Ortiz immediately sought the assistance of Lawyers for Family Justice attorney Layli Caborn. “The attorney reviewed the client’s paperwork and found that client was permitted to communicate with her son and had vacation rights to see him,” reports Ortiz.  “The attorney was able to help client file paperwork at the Martinez court house and to have the father come to Contra Costa County [from Los Angeles] for court. Layli helped my client get awarded temporary physical custody of her son. My client was very emotional and grateful after the court hearing.  She never thought it was possible.” “In my 15 years of experience in the legal field as a victim’s advocate, law clerk, legal office manager, Deputy District Attorney, litigation attorney, juvenile dependency attorney, and deputy public defender, I have tried my best to help individuals in need to the best of my ability,” says Layli Caborn. “The Lawyers for Family Justice Program has shed light on what is truly important…
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Aug 3, 2016 “Just imagine you are a victim of domestic violence, of sexual assault, of elder abuse, and you walk in here,” says Susun Kim, executive director of the Contra Costa Family Justice Alliance. “What do you notice? What do you see?” The West County Family Family Justice Center — a one-stop facility providing multiple services for abused victims at 256 24th St. in Richmond  — feels open from its lobby to its hallways. The center, which celebrated its grand opening just over one year ago, is filled with oxygen and natural light. Compelling images of young people don lobby and hallway walls. Other artwork is bright, colorful, mounted as if in a gallery. A smiling receptionist greets us; there’s no barrier between us. She’s bilingual. There’s a form to fill out, but it’s one page, and one-sided. And we can’t help but notice that the stick figure on door to the women’s restroom is wearing a Superwoman cape.   The Family Justice Center appears to have left no stone unturned in the effort to provide swift and welcoming assistance and resources to abused women and seniors. The Richmond Standard recently toured the center and experienced how a victim of abuse would receive help upon entry. “When you go the police station, district attorney’s office, bank, welfare office, the first thing you really experience is the barrier,” Kim says. “We purposely got rid of any barrier so when you come in, you feel welcome here.” After filling out a single-page questionnaire in the lobby, victims are brought into a comfortable interview room featuring artwork from the NIAD Art Center. There, they speak with a navigator who assesses their situation and informs them on the available resources. Rather than having to call around to various government and nonprofit agencies around the county, victims can simply stay in their interview room while those very resources come to them. Officials from an array or agencies and organizations operate in the building, including Richmond police detectives specializing in abuse cases, along with a representative from the district attorney’s office. For victims with children, childcare is provided in a spacious play room. Volunteer physicians and nurses provide care for victims in small but well-equipped exam rooms. And while there is no bed or shelter provided in the center, a shower room is available to clients. Kim walked us past a row of cubicles where various government and nonprofit agencies operate, providing crucial resources such as connections to affordable housing and services for elder abuse victims. “I would say affordable housing is really the number one need of our clients,” Kim said. “A lot of our clients are stuck in their relationship because they can’t really think of how they could get affordable housing, as the Bay Area is becoming even more expensive.” The second and third greatest needs of clients are civil/legal and mental health assistance, Kim said. Kim says she hopes the center’s modern, innovative and seamless approach to helping abuse victims will encourage more victims to come forward and utilize the resources. The Family Justice Center will hold a major fundraiser in September in order to continue and expand its mission. See the flyer below for more information. For more information, visit the Contra Costa Family Justice Center website, call 510-965-4949 or visit the center at 256 24th St. http://richmondstandard.com/2016/08/in-richmond-a-modern-approach-to-helping-domestic-violence-victims/

The RotaCare Richmond Free Medical Clinic is now located at the new West County Family Justice Center at 256 24th St. The free medical clinic — which is run by volunteer physicians and nurses who serve uninsured West County residents — had its grand opening celebration scheduled for last night. The clinic operates Tuesdays from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and two Saturdays per month from 9 a.m. to noon. Patients must make appointments by phone in advance. Patients will be able to visit new medical exam rooms in the Family Justice Center facility that were made possible via financial support from nine Rotary Clubs and individual donors. Also, local architects, contractors, Rotarians and others contributed time and labor toward their construction. The clinic will share space with multiple service and resource agencies in the Family Justice Center, many of which provide services for abuse victims and their families. The Richmond clinic first opened in March 2013 and is one of 12 RotaCare clinics in the Bay Area. Since opening, the clinic has seen about 1,300 patients, mostly from Richmond and San Pablo, and handled more than 3,000 office visits. About 75 percent of RotaCare Richmond’s patients are Hispanic. A large majority of patients live below the federal poverty line. “Our mission is to help those with the greatest need and the least access to medical care,” Dr. Pate Thomson, a retired cardiologist who is one of the clinic’s co-founders and chair of its advisory council, said in a statement. “We are the safety net below the safety net.” For more information about Rotacare, visit www.rotacarebayarea.org The photo above shows Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia speaking at the grand opening event of the West County Family Justice Center in June 2015.