By Casey Gwinn, The San Diego Union-Tribune, November 14, 2019
In 2002, during my tenure as the San Diego city attorney, we opened the nationally acclaimed San Diego Family Justice Center. For the first time anywhere in America, we brought together 25 agencies under one roof to meet the needs of domestic and sexual violence victims. The results were stunning. During our journey from the very beginning of planning the center through 2008, we saw a 90% drop in domestic violence homicides in the city of San Diego.
Once survivors could come to one place for all their services, our published research confirmed survivors were more likely to participate in the criminal justice system, leave their abuser, and engage their children in supportive services. Because of our early findings, national exposure from Oprah Winfrey in 2003, and support from President George W. Bush in 2004, the Family Justice Center framework took off across the country and around the world. Today, we have centers in 40 states and 25 countries. Published research is replicating our San Diego findings around homicide reduction, increases in hope and resiliency in survivors, and improved victim safety and accountability for offenders. The San Diego Family Justice Center launched an international movement.
In 2004, we created a San Diego County Regional Family Justice Center Plan that anticipated much stronger county government engagement and coordinated centers throughout the County and anticipated co-location of the Chadwick Center for the Children and Families (our Child Advocacy Center), along with many other community agencies on a campus. As elected officials at the city and the county came and went, however, the 2004 plan was never implemented. In the absence of a regional approach, the San Diego Family Justice Center has tried various leadership models including leadership from the Mayor’s Office, the Police Department and the City Attorney’s Office. And while the San Diego Family Justice Center has remained operational over the years serving survivors, it has lost key partners and many other cities and counties have developed more dynamic centers and regional approaches than San Diego.
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