Category: News

October 31, 2013 By Leah Bartos For two years, she had been trying — and failing — to get away from the violence and abuse. She worried not only about her own safety, but also the safety of her three young children. She wanted a divorce. She wanted custody. But despite her efforts, this resident of Contra Costa County faced a seemingly insurmountable challenge. There were logistical problems — childcare was hard to come by and she didn’t have a car to travel to the courthouse. Then, there was the problem of misinformation. Though she was able to file a restraining order, her husband was habitually in violation. She was confused and didn’t know her rights. In a letter eventually presented to the County Board of Supervisors, she recalled an ordeal all too familiar to survivors of domestic violence: “Every time I tried to do something, he was right there behind me. If I went to court, he showed up to file papers. If I called the police, he would tell them I was crazy and needed to be arrested,” she wrote. “No one believed me.” Finally, in early 2011 she found help. A new establishment in Richmond just opened its doors. There, at the West Contra Costa Family Justice Center, she was paired with an advocate who would stay with her for the six months it took to resolve the case. The center is modeled on an idea that has been gaining traction across the U.S. — that by housing multiple agencies under one roof, victims of domestic violence, sexual abuse and human trafficking are less likely to fall through the cracks, and their cases more likely to resolve successfully. At the West Contra Costa Family Justice Center, clients can access everything from legal aid to assistance with shelter and mental health services on a drop-in basis. Like many other family justice centers, the partners include local law enforcement, the district attorney’s office and a myriad of community organizations. “It’s not just about organizations getting along and working well together. It’s about how we can work together to have an immediate and lasting impact on someone’s life,” said Melissa Caine-Huckabay, director of the West Contra Costa Family Justice Center. “I don’t like to be melodramatic, but it some cases, that can be as significant as life and death.” Caine-Huckabay recalls the author of the letter as one of the center’s first clients to need multi-system assistance. She has now successfully petitioned for divorce and has sole legal and physical custody of her children. “The model itself is simple, but the energy and the power that you harness when you do that is just phenomenal,” Caine-Huckabay said. “For this particular client, it did make a huge difference in her safety and the safety of her children.” While the physical Family Justice Center has only been operating for two and a half years, the philosophical seeds behind its approach have long been germinating. The center is part of the county’s Zero Tolerance for Domestic Violence Initiative, a public-private partnership that began in 2001. According to Devorah Levine, the principal analyst for the initiative, the spirit of collaboration between the partners has always been strong on this issue. The Family Justice Center, Levine said, is the service delivery vehicle for a larger vision that has been in the works for over a decade. “It made sense in terms of what we have been trying to do for many years,” Levine said. “The idea is basically to flip the paradigm, so that we are looking at what families are experiencing and develop our services with that in mind.” Not the least of the practical realities they considered was the sheer size of the county. Contra Costa, the “opposite coast” of the San Francisco Bay, has an area of about 800 square miles, with public agencies scattered throughout. For victims of domestic violence to stay safe, Caine-Huckabay says they need to visit a dozen or so agencies — a city police department, the district attorney’s office, family court, criminal court, child and family services, just to name a few. With a car, she estimates commute time between agencies would total more than three-and-half hours. On public transit, it would take 13 hours. “It was really profound when we saw how much we were asking victims of violence to take on themselves,” Caine-Huckabay said. “Instead of an agency-centered model of ‘you come to us,’ we [are] a more victim-centered model, where we come to you.” Eventually, the initiative members plan to build one or two more family justice centers servicing the central and eastern parts of the county. Concord, Antioch and Pittsburg also have high rates of domestic violence, Levine said. Richmond was selected as the site for the pilot Family Justice Center, in part because crime data reflect a disproportionate rate of domestic violence calls, in addition to the higher rate of violent crime in general occurring in the western part of the county. Richmond Police Captain Bisa French said the department receives an average of 30 to 35 domestic violence cases every month. And every year, one to two of those incidents result in homicide. (Countywide, Contra Costa averages 10 to 12 domestic violence-related homicides each year.) But from French’s perspective, the cost of domestic violence is much higher than can be quantified in simple crime statistics. “Violence is something that’s learned primarily in the home,” French said. “Not only does domestic violence continue generation to generation, but some of these young guys, the way they learn to handle conflict is through violence. That carries out in the schools, that carries out in the violence of shooting people and stabbing people in the streets, because violence is the way they learn to deal with conflict.” French, who also sits on the board of the Family Justice Center, said that if they can help teach healthy methods of problem solving, they might be able to curb future violence — a public safety concern…
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  Posted by Alex Gronke (Editor) , November 01, 2013 at 04:45 PM By Bay City News California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom joined police and local elected officials in Richmond this morning to break ground on a $1.8 million resource center for victims of sexual and domestic violence and their families. The new West Contra Costa Family Justice Center, located at 256 24th St., is a partnership among the county, the city of Richmond, its Police Department and local domestic violence victims’ advocacy organizations. The facility will consolidate both city and county resources to create a one-stop shop where victims of domestic or sexual violence, elder abuse and related crimes can get crisis response, case management, legal and health resources and access to safe housing, county officials said. The center is set to relocate next fall from its current location within a Police Department substation at Hilltop Mall to the new, 7,200-square-foot building that once housed a mental health intake facility. Over the past year and a half, and open just one day per week, the interim center has served some 500 local families, police Chief Chris Magnus said. The new facility will have the capacity to serve many more local domestic violence victims, a large number of whom are from groups including low-income residents and immigrants who may be more reluctant to report domestic violence due to language or cultural barriers, he said. The services they receive there will help stop the destructive cycles of violence that often start at home, he said. “Violence in the community is related to violence in the home and this new facility will provide more resources for victims of domestic violence, creating a healthier and safer community overall,” the chief said. Rita Alfaro, 25, a volunteer at the Family Justice Center, said she has seen first-hand how children in families suffering from domestic violence can begin to heal with help from the community. During a weeklong summer camp program with about 40 children between 7 and 13 years old affiliated with the center, she said, kids who were usually detached and uncommunicative learned to open up and relate to their peers and adults. “By the end of that week, everyone was really working together,” she recalled. Known as “Camp Hope,” the program is “an opportunity for young victims to reclaim their childhood,” she said. Alfaro said the new center will be a welcome change from its current location, which is sandwiched between a WalMart and JC Penney, where many people don’t know to look for it. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who hoisted a golden shovel alongside city and county leaders, police and domestic violence victims’ advocates, praised Alfaro and the center’s many other volunteers and supporters. Newsom said the new facility is a sign of the progress crime-ridden Richmond has made in recent years and its commitment to lifting residents out of tough circumstances. “We celebrate today a rebirth, a renewal of community spirit that’s always defined the best of Richmond,” he said. “You haven’t given up on this community, and you’re starting to see the contours of real change,” Newsom said. While county and city leaders touted today’s groundbreaking as a major milestone, some also noted that the project was 10 years in the making and involved plenty of wrangling among the city of Richmond, the county, district attorney’s office and local organizations including STAND for Families Free of Violence, Community Violence Solutions and others. “It’s not ‘Mission Accomplished’,” Magnus said. The county deeded the shuttered building on 24th Street, a former mental health intake facility valued at $900,000 to the city, which is using $1.7 million in bond funding to cover construction and renovations, officials said. The bond money will have to be repaid, and the center’s future stability will depend on the continued partnership among a local government, non-governmental organizations, community members and corporate sponsors. Read full article here. 

By Malaika Fraley Contra Costa Times   Read full article here. RICHMOND — Construction has begun on the future home of the West Contra Costa Family Justice Center, a haven for victims of domestic and sexual violence that officials hope will serve as a national model for violence prevention. “Even if you don’t want to talk to police — not everyone is ready to prosecute — you can come and get services. It’s going to be a family-friendly place where a mom can get services while kids play in a safe environment,” said Richmond police Chief Chris Magnus. He was among the local, county and state dignitaries and community stakeholders who celebrated Friday at a groundbreaking ceremony for the project 10 years in the making. The center is a joint effort by numerous public, private and nonprofit agencies to provide aid to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, elder abuse, child abuse and human trafficking and their families. The goal: break the cycle of violence at home to make the community safer by giving people easy access to services in a single location. Plans are in the works for similar centers in Central and East Contra Costa County. “This is truly an astounding project and one that communities across the nation will look to for guidance on how to successfully stop violence where it starts,” said John Gioia, the county supervisor who represents Richmond. Since the center opened with an interim location within the Richmond Police Department’s Hilltop mall substation in 2011, it has served more than 500 West County families. The expanded center is expected to open in fall 2014 in a 7,200-square-foot facility at 256 24th St., walking distance from the Richmond BART station and civic center. There, people will be able to meet with police, counselors and attorneys, obtain emergency shelter and safe housing, and get job-placement help. The building, a long-shuttered mental health patient intake center, was donated to the city by Contra Costa County and is being renovated through foundation and government grants, bond money and private and corporate donations. The $2.75 million project to open the expanded center is funded, but the fundraising efforts are far from over as more money will be needed to support operations, Magnus said. Learn more about the West Contra Costa Family Justice Center at www.wccfjc.org or by calling 510-965-4937. Contact Malaika Fraley at 925-234-1684. Follow her at Twitter.com/malaikafraley.

        Join the Family Justice Center and Partner Agencies for a groundbreaking celebration 5 years in the making!   Friday November 1, 2013 at 10am at 256 24th Street (at Macdonald) in Richmond, CA. RSVP to the Family Justice Center at (510) 965-4949 or ltoney@wccfjc.org Light refreshments will be provided. Host Committee: John Gioia, Supervisor Contra Costa County • Don Lau, Chairman, For Richmond • Bill Lindsay, City Manager, Richmond • Chris Magnus, Chief of Police, Richmond Police Department • Gayle McLaughlin, Mayor, City of Richmond • Bielle Moore, Community Affairs Manager, Richmond Sanitary Service    

The WCCFJC is now accepting applications for a Bilingual Project Assitant. The Project Assistant will work as an integral member of the Family Justice Center team.  The Project Assistant will in many ways, be the face of the FJC, as they will be the first person potential clients, community members, partners, or volunteers will encounter.  The Project Assistant will be responsible for efficiently and thoroughly screening all incoming clients, provide key administrative support to FJC team members and on-site partners, maintaining data tracking systems, and timely intra and external communications. For more information or to apply, please submit a cover letter and resume to info@wccfjc.org.  You can also visit Craigslist for the full job posting.

The WCCFJC is now accepting applications for a part-time Client Navigator to work with monolingual Spanish speaking families. The Client Navigator works as an integral member of the Family Justice Center team. Client Navigators review the full spectrum of services available to the victim and will assist in identifying services as needed as well as help guide victims’ access to these services, addressing both their continuing and longer-term needs.  The Client Navigator will maintain direct contact with the victims and non-offending family members for the purpose of helping them access and utilize the full range of services available. They will serve as a single point of contact on-site and off-site for all FJC partners working with the victim. For more information or to apply, please submit a cover letter and resume to info@wccfjc.org.

  The West Contra Costa Family Justice Center would like to honor Rita-Maria Alfaro as July 2013’s Volunteer of the Month. Rita began volunteering with us this summer for our Camp HOPE program. In addition to assisting with pre- and post-camp activities, she spent a week at an overnight camp with forty children who had witnessed family violence. Camp HOPE gave children the opportunity to reclaim their childhoods; Rita provided the perfect combination of fun, stability, and leadership to allow the campers to do exactly that. Rita has exhibited flexibility, responsibility, and a sense of humor during her time at the Family Justice Center. At Camp HOPE, Rita was in charge of a cabin of four girls. Not only did Rita excel at the logistical challenges that come with being in such a position, she did so with a smile on her face while helping ensure the campers were having a wonderful time. Whether she was helping to navigate a raft of campers down the river, walking next to a girl taking her first ride on a horse, or leading the way on the ropes course, Rita has been a valuable member of the Camp HOPE team. It is the goal of the West Contra Costa Family Justice Center to create new, violence-free futures for the families with whom we come into contact. With her hard work with Camp HOPE, Rita has helped us be able to work towards creating futures free of violence for these children. Thank you, Rita, for your service to the West Contra Costa Family Justice Center. We look forward to getting to work with you further!