To: Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): District Attorney’s Office
Staff Name and Phone Number: Marsha Lucien 565-8257
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Recommended Action:
Title
Adopt a Gold Resolution Proclaiming March 2024 to be Family Justice Center Month in Sonoma County
End
Executive Summary:
On behalf of the public (including the Board of Supervisors) and private agencies working together to improve services to victims through preventing and responding to domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, human trafficking, stalking, and elder abuse, the District Attorney's Office, with the support of our community-based partners, seek a proclamation naming March 2024 as the 2nd Annual Family Justice Center Month in Sonoma County.
The Family Justice Center Sonoma County (FJCSC) serves as a single point of access for survivors of domestic and sexual violence, regardless of their migratory status or primary language, where multiple agencies collaborate to provide comprehensive, continuous, and seamless care, without the survivor having to share their story multiple times and in multiple locations.
The FJC Model has received national recognition for its impact on survivor safety and healing. This proclamation, inspired by the California State Assembly Resolutions of 2020/21 and 2021/22 declaring March 5th a statewide Family Justice Center Day, is intended to bring local recognition and expanded community awareness of this valuable and lifesaving Sonoma County resource.
Since opening its doors in 2011, the FJCSC has served over 19,000 victims of family and community violence, including over 1,800 unduplicated victims in 2023 alone. 33% of victims served by the FJCSC report that their native language is one other than English. As of FY 23/24, the Board of Supervisors contributes $498,265 annually, which represents 30% of the total FJC annual operating budget.
This requested local observance is intended to spread awareness about this valued community resource and recognize the lifesaving and hope-giving work of the Family Justice Center Sonoma County. Our community must be aware of the realities of interpersonal and family violence and the very real way in which victims and survivors continue to need support to escape and recover from the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual trauma associated with their victimization.
Discussion:
This proclamation would declare March 2024 as Family Justice Center Month in Sonoma County and would recognize the lifesaving and hope-giving work of the Family Justice Center and its partners as they work to ensure that adult and child survivors of trauma can access all services through a single point of access. In a 2008 feasibility study of Sonoma County conducted by the Glen Price Group, it was determined that victims of family violence in Sonoma County may need to visit over 23 different locations within the county to access critical support and legal services. The development of the Family Justice Center Sonoma County resulted in the provision of a continuum of services under one roof so that survivors can access a complex array of resources in one location. Easy and accessible services reduce the trauma and challenges of negotiating multiple systems and barriers to gain safety and security.
Through a collaborative community response, the FJCSC provides free and confidential wrap-around services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, human trafficking, stalking, and elder abuse. Services include crisis counseling, therapy, restraining orders, immigration services, homeless services, navigation, short-term case management, support and educational groups, holistic healing services, and specialized advocates for elder abuse, domestic violence, and sexual assault. The FJCSC also hosts Camp HOPE, a camping and mentoring program for children and teens impacted by domestic violence.
The Family Justice Center framework has been recognized by U.S. Vice President and former U.S. Senator Kamala Harris and was selected by the Department of Justice as a best practice model for domestic violence intervention and prevention services. Additionally, since the first Family Justice Center Initiative was created by President George W. Bush in 2003, the model has continued to receive presidential endorsements, including the Obama and Trump Administrations, as an innovative approach to victim services.
The FJCSC has a strong history of collaboration, and its six founding partners, the YWCA Sonoma County, Verity, Council on Aging, Catholic Charities, the District Attorney’s Office, and Legal Aid of Sonoma County continue to be central to the Center’s work. Under the leadership of the District Attorney’s Office, the FJCSC’s partnership has expanded over the past decade to include the Santa Rosa Police Department, Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department, Inter-tribal Council of California, Ruthless Kindness, SANE-SART, H.E.R.A., VEST, Corazòn Healdsburg, Sonoma County Human Services Department (HSD), Sonoma County Family Law Facilitator, and Redwood Children’s Center, which provides forensic interviews for children and youth who are victims of or witnesses to violence. The FJCSC’s work would not be possible without these essential partnerships.
Since opening its doors in 2011, the FJCSC has served over 19,000 victims of family and community violence, including over 1,800 unduplicated victims in 2023 alone. In addition to crisis-based services, the FJCSC continues to provide growth and healing opportunities for survivors of domestic violence and other crimes through various holistic services like yoga, art therapy, massage therapy, and reiki, helping survivors overcome their trauma, reclaim their futures, and restore hope.
The FJCSC has also continued to offer services to youth through Camp HOPE, which is the first evidence-based camping and mentoring program in the country focused on children impacted by violence. Camp HOPE was awarded the 2022 Outstanding Youth initiative of the year. The vision for Camp HOPE is to break the generational cycle of family violence by offering healing and hope to children who have witnessed family violence. In 2023, the FJCSC doubled the amount of youth participants in our Camp HOPE program.
The Camp HOPE America Program is a strengths and character-based summer camp and mentoring model with a six-day, sleep-away camp, and year-round mentorship activities. While the research on exposure to domestic violence continues to emerge, existing evidence suggests children affected by trauma are at risk for increased anxiety and depression, social isolation, increased physical and psychological aggression, and a propensity to perpetuate the cycle of domestic violence. The higher the exposure to childhood trauma, the higher the rates of illness, disease, and criminality in adults. It is the belief of the national program that by investing in our youth using the evidence-based hope theory integrated into Camp HOPE activities and curriculum, we can significantly decrease the instances of domestic violence, strangulation, and sexual assault in one generation. Through this work, safer communities can be created, prison populations can be lowered, and the cycle of violence can be stopped.
For the past seven years, FJCSC has been working to develop a better understanding of polyvictimization in its client population. Polyvictimization is the cumulative impact of trauma that results from experiencing multiple types of victimization and other adverse events throughout one’s lifetime, often at the hands of multiple perpetrators. Polyvictims are one of the most vulnerable populations served by the FJCSC and are up to 700% more likely to be victimized in the next year than those facing chronic victimization. Through this initiative, it was determined that 91% of the FJCSC’s clients are polyvictims, with clients reporting an average of 13 victimizations in the past year of their life. The Assessment Tool has delivered extremely promising results and has helped the FJCSC to adopt a whole person framework for clients, understanding that the victimization that has brought them through the door for service is complicated by the many other victimizations and adverse experiences they have experienced in their life.
Both experience and well-documented research show that financial insecurity is a huge barrier to a survivor seeking safety away from their abuser. It follows, then, that financial security is a key to both immediate and long-term safety. Due to the high incidence of financial abuse in relationships marked by intimate partner violence, survivors in these situations often lack the resources required to leave their abusive partners. This has only been magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic, rising housing costs, and increasing costs of even basic needs. Lack of financial resources can be a major factor in survivors returning to their abuser, halting their education or training programs, and facing housing and food insecurity.
To aide clients in overcoming the barrier of financial insecurity, the FJCSC partnered with Corazòn Healdsburg to have an onsite Financial Wellness Coordinator. The Financial Wellness Coordinator provided ongoing workshops, financial education, relationship building with local financial institutions and employment resources, and limited case management. Through this program, the FJCSC has hosted workshops that cover a variety of applicable topics, offered financial wellness services targeted towards survivors of intimate partner violence, and pointed survivors towards existing community resources centered on employment and training opportunities. Through participation in this program survivors have gained the necessary skills and financial literacy to help establish and maintain safety, build wealth, and attain financial security.
It is not an exaggeration to say that our country, state, and county are experiencing a mental health crisis. Need for mental health services continue to rise as availability and affordability of those services decline. In an effort to provide quicker access to trauma-informed mental health services for survivors of trauma, the FJCSC has partnered with SANE-SART to become a satellite site for the Northbay Trauma Recovery Center. This partnership allows survivors of crime to participate in 16 free sessions of one-on-one counseling with a certified and trained practitioner. This program puts clients on the path to long-term recovery from their trauma.
The Family Justice Center framework of single point of service access, provides increased victim safety, autonomy, and empowerment, reduced fear and anxiety among victims and their children, and decreased victim recantation and minimization of their experiences, all while making service provision more efficient and collaborative. This has led to higher rates of offender prosecution and increased reporting of crime, which, ultimately increases public safety for the County as whole.
This requested local observance is intended to spread awareness about this valued community resource and recognize the lifesaving and hope-giving work of the Family Justice Center Sonoma County. Our community must be aware of the realities of interpersonal and family violence and the very real way in which victims and survivors continue to need support to escape and recover from the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual trauma associated with their victimization. While great strides have been made in our county’s response to these crimes, there is still a long way to go. Increased awareness of these victimizations and the availability of the FJCSC and its services remains a critical function of the fight.
As a part of Family Justice Center Month, the FJCSC will host several tours of the Center in an effort to raise awareness of the services available in Sonoma County and provide familiarity with the location itself. In partnership with H.E.R.A., the FJCSC will offer a three-part, survivor-centered Lunch & Learn Zoom series with a focus on tenant & housing rights in relation to domestic violence. The FJCSC will also host H.E.R.A. attorneys for in-person one-on-one consultations regarding clients’ housing and economic rights. A no-cost mobile veterinary clinic will be offered by Ruthless Kindness to survivors served by the FJCSC on March 28th. In addition, the FJCSC will launch social media and radio awareness campaigns throughout the month to raise awareness of and engagement with the FJC model and its services.
Prior Board Actions:
On March 21, 2023, the Board of Supervisors approved the Gold Resolution Proclaiming the Month of March 2023 to be Family Justice Center Month in Sonoma County.
Fiscal Summary
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Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
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Attachments:
Resolution
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
N/A