Ventura County Family Justice Center helps more than 135 in soft opening (2024)

The long-planned Ventura County Family Justice Center opened last month, offering victims of serious crimes a calm environment to seek help.

When the center went into soft opening mode on Nov. 12, the county became the latest place to embrace a national model focused on ensuring that victims have access to all the services they need in one location.

The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office took the lead in this effort in 2015, but dozens of other county, nonprofit and law enforcement agenciescollaborated on the project.

The effortbecame possible earlier in 2019 when the California Legislature gave the county a $400,000 grant to establish such a victim center. By summer, District Attorney Greg Totten was joined by staff members, county officials and philanthropic organizations in renovating the leased space.

“Words are inadequate to describe how amazed I am with the center, how grateful I am to open this center with our partners and how bright I think the future is for this program,” Totten said.

What are the key goals?

The movement to this kind of model gained traction in the 1990s, and the first such center opened in San Diego in 2002. Staff members at these centers, including Ventura County’s, are trained and equipped to help victims of domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault, human trafficking, elder abuse anddependent adult abuse.

Once there, the victims are connected with a variety of organizations on site. Among them are the Coalition for Family Harmony, Interface Children & Family Services, the Ventura County Area Agency on Aging, legal aid, prosecutors, law enforcement and immigration attorneys.

Housing: How Ventura's anti-eviction ordinance will work

So far, more than 135 people have gone to the former neurology clinic at 3170 Loma Vista Road for assistance, saidMichaelJump, chief deputy district attorney and director ofvictim andcommunity services.

“Helping people know what their rights are is definitely a component ofwhat we do,” said Cesar Libanati, executive director of Ventura County Legal Aid.

Many of these clientshave beenaffected by domestic violence, and women with young children tend to be the demographic coming forward for help.

It’s important to treat the mothers as well as the youths so their lives are not defined by these experiences, saidAngela Cabrera, board of directors chair for the Ventura County Family Justice Center Foundation.

The center is a way to address crime in terms of preventing a vicious cycle, Totten said. Youths who experience violence in their homes tend to become victims of violence or offenders, Totten said. Instead of dealing with crime in terms of prosecution and incarceration, shelter and treatment are being used.

“It’s not comfortingto walk into the courthouse, and that’s the place that at some point theirgoing to meet their abuser,”Cabrera said.

Research about mentoring youths who have experienced trauma was the impetus for the center. Ventura County partnered with Camp HOPE to send local kids affected by trauma to the camp. Karen Simpson, who worked withCamp HOPE, has signed on to be the center’s youth programs and operations manager.

Crime: Why are there DUI checkpoints, and who pays for them?

Some of the same therapeutic tools and activities brought to kids at the camp can be offered to youths at the center, Simpson said. What that might look like at the facility, however, is still under discussion.

A safe shelter for families affected by domestic violence is also planned for the future.

When the center isfully up and running, it is expected to serve 2,000 to 5,000 victims a year, Jump said. Victims are not required to report thecrimes to law enforcement to receive free services, Jump said.

“We want the culture here to be one that is welcoming,” Jump said.

And historically, the process of getting help hasn’t exactly been like that.

The victim services unit of Totten’s office is on the third floor of the courthouse at the Ventura County Government Center. It’s where advocates can link victims to services like counseling, compensation and restraining orders.

But to get to that room, individuals and families had to wade their way through the tense third floor where family court matters are happening.

At the center,clients arrive to a quiet waiting room with a sky mural on the ceiling. They are then taken to private, so-called navigator rooms furnished with couches and single-serving coffee makers to be interviewed, then connected to services.

SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM: Learn how to make a difference in Ventura County and the world. Get unlimited access to coverage like this with a digital subscription to The Star.

While some things remain unfinished at the new center, clients’general description has deemed it a calm environment, said Rachael Watkins, manager of the DA’s crime victims assistance unit.

“We didn’t really hear that so much at the government center,” Watkins said.

What’s ahead?

A volunteer group of local crime survivors called VOICES of Ventura County provided input about the two murals done by Ventura artist MB Hanrahan. In addition to the sky mural, a seascapeadorns the wall across from a private areaset aside for interviews ofsexual assault victims.

The goal in 2020 is to train law enforcement officers to send these victims to the center for help. Most are now being referred from victim advocates at the courthouse, Watkins said.

The fear was that many people would not follow through in going to the center, but about 98% have stuck with transition, Jump said.

Going forward, everyone involved in creating the center will somehow be involved in making people aware ofwhy it is needed. The center’s foundation board is talking to community influencers to show that importance andgauge thelong-term support level, Cabrera said.

Real estate: Ventura County's new homebuyers are getting older, less diverse

While grants have been fundamental in getting the center started, the foundation is working to bolster a general fundand eventuallybuy the building.

“Our goal is to someday buy that building and run operations costsfor that building. The approach right now is really getting the word out,” Cabrera said.

A grand opening ceremony with invited dignitaries and community leaders is planned for Jan. 11.

Megan Diskin is a courts and breaking news reporter with The Star. Reach her at megan.diskin@vcstar.com or805-437-0258.