Assembly Concurrent Resolution
No. 31
CHAPTER 14
Relative to Family Justice Centers.
[
Filed with
Secretary of State
April 07, 2021.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
ACR 31, Grayson.
Family Justice Centers.
This measure would declare March 5, 2021, as Family Justice Center Day in California and would recognize the lifesaving and hope-giving work of the California Family Justice Center Network and its member Family Justice Centers as they work with rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters, human trafficking agencies, prosecutors’ offices, law enforcement agencies, and other professionals and community-based organizations to ensure that adult and child survivors of trauma can access all of their services in one setting.
Digest Key
Fiscal Committee:
NO WHEREAS, In the United States, one in three women and one in six men have experienced some form of contact sexual violence in their lifetime; and
WHEREAS, California had more than 166,000 reported domestic violence cases in 2018; and
WHEREAS, The National Human Trafficking Hotline received more calls in 2018 from California than any other state in the United States; and
WHEREAS, Victimization and perpetration of sexual and domestic violence often connects to unmitigated childhood trauma and adult polyvictimization, numerous types of victimization over a lifetime, and produces short- and long-term physical and mental health consequences; and
WHEREAS, The first Family Justice Center (FJC) was created in San Diego, California, in 2002, by San Diego City Attorney Casey Gwinn and the first FJC Director in the country, Gael Strack; and
WHEREAS, California is now leading the way toward multisector, collaborative approaches to serving domestic and sexual violence survivors and their children with the creation of 24 open and operating FJCs and 10 more FJCs in some stage of development; and
WHEREAS, FJCs in California bring together police officers, prosecutors, advocates, doctors, nurses, mental health professionals, chaplains, and other professionals under one roof and provide trauma-informed, coordinated, wraparound services to more than 100,000 adult and child trauma survivors each year; and
WHEREAS, FJCs are now represented by the California Family Justice Center Network (CFJCN), the membership organization for FJCs that seeks to provide training, statewide coordination of services for victims and survivors, promotion of promising and best practices, advocacy for survivor services and support, and the gathering of deidentified, aggregate data for research and evaluation purposes; and
WHEREAS, The purpose of the CFJCN is to advocate for the victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, elder abuse, and child abuse in the State of California, and to actively work toward the prevention of those crimes, while supporting the implementation of the provisions and intent of Section 13750 of the Penal Code, which defines Family Justice Centers. This provision seeks to ensure “that victims of abuse are able to access all needed services in one location in order to enhance victim safety, increase offender accountability, and improve access to services for victims;” now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature declares March 5, 2021, as Family Justice Center Day in California and recognizes the lifesaving and hope-giving work of the CFJCN and its member centers as they work with rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters, human trafficking agencies, prosecutor’s offices, law enforcement agencies, and other professionals and community-based organizations to ensure that adult and child survivors of trauma can access all of their services in one setting; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.