About the Family Justice Centers

A Family Justice Center is a multiagency, multidisciplinary service center where public and private agencies assign staff members to, on a full-time or part-time basis, to provide services to victims of gender based violence, domestic violence, child abuse and sexual violence and their families from one location.

The overall goal of a Family Justice Center is to ensure that clients have access to all necessary services, to enhance their safety and increase offender accountability. Victims and their families who report there can obtain legal advice, safety planning, make a statement, obtain accommodation planning, medical evidence of violence, transport assistance, trauma processing, etc.

A Family Justice Center provides one physical location:

• to reduce the number of places victims must visit to obtain all the help and the services they need to put an end to the violence 

• to reduce the number of times victims must tell their story 

• to foster collaboration and a common approach of the different agencies
• to increase access to services and support for victims and their children

The FJC model is defined by the following guiding principles:

• Human Rights driven:
  human rights as leading principle, to recognize gender-based violence as a violation of universal human rights
  

• EU Values non-discrimination and gender equality:
  subscribes to the EU treaty and conventions and guarantees non-discrimination and gender equality

• Safety-Focused:
  increase safety, promote healing, and foster empowerment through services for victims and their children

• Victim-Centered:
  provide victim-centered services that promote victim autonomy

• Kind-Hearted:
  develop a multidisciplinary center that values, affirms, recognizes and supports staff, volunteers, and clients

• Survivor-Driven:
  shape services to clients by asking them what they need

• Holistic Approach:
  see the client as a whole, and take into account all areas of life

• Empowering:
  strengthen victims to have control over their lives again

• Relationship-based:
  maintain close working relationships among all collaborators/agencies

• Offender Accountability:
  increase offender accountability through evidence-based prosecution and juridical strategies and/or evidence-based treatment programs

• Offender change of behavior and mind-set:
  include (working together with) programs and services, to have a sustainable impact on behavior and mind-set of offenders

• Preventive:
  include actions in awareness raising and prevention of gender-based violence and domestic violence

• Transformative (willing to change):
  evaluate and adjust services by including survivor input and evidence based best practices

• Culturally responsive:
  commitment to the utilization of culturally relevant service approaches.