letter to the editor - ywca proposal to house and lead the family justice center
On March 27, 2008 the YWCA Board of Directors submitted a proposal to the City of San Diego offering to permanently house and lead the San Diego Family Justice Center. The YWCA provides safe shelter and supportive services to victims of family violence in the City of San Diego. The YWCA serves over 1000 people each year, two-thirds of whom are children. The YWCA owns the historic 65,000 square foot building at 1012 C Street which needs immediate renovation and remodeling….and the lease of the Family Justice Center will expire in March 2010
The proposal to the City was based upon of an extensive six month collaborative planning process. Our all-volunteer YWCA Board of local business and community leaders invested $50,000, hired an architectural team, a finance team, and a planning team and developed a proposal to save the City millions of dollars in the operation of the FJC while also creating a permanent home for the nationally known Center. We held strategic planning meetings and invited all of the community partners at the FJC in addition to other domestic violence community agencies, social service agencies, our neighbors, community leaders, CCDC, San Diego Housing Commission and others. The City was officially represented by the Director of the FJC who attended all, except one, of the meetings.
The benefits of the proposal are
- It will create a permanent home for the Family Justice Center;
- It will provide enhanced services to victims of family violence that are currently served at both the YWCA and the Family Justice Center;
- Combined, we will serve increased numbers of people at a total lower cost;
- It will save the City of San Diego $325,000 for each of the next two years and over $725,000 annually for 10 years beginning in 2010 for a total of approximately $8,000,000
The YWCA Board and leadership have committed to raise $13 million in a capital campaign to make the vision a reality. The YWCA building has room for all City Attorney personnel, Police personnel, all community partner agencies, and even new partners and services. It will not only be a beacon of hope for families but will anchor redevelopment of the entire block including a vision for affordable housing on the north half of the 10th and C block, a Health & Fitness Facility and possible partnerships with other agencies, and an excellent community resource location for downtown residents, City College students, clients and staff of the FJC and its allied agencies. The community-based proposal has been endorsed by every major national domestic violence organization, including the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the National Network to End Domestic Violence Fund, the Battered Women’s Justice Project, and the National Domestic Violence Hotline!
The Mayor issued his memo of support for the YWCA proposal on May 1, 2008. The key Family Justice Center partner agencies have also expressed support including the San Diego Police Department, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, the Chadwick Center for Children and Families, San Diego Deaf Mental Health Services, the FJC Forensic Medical Unit, and the Center for Community Solutions.
The city’s lease for the San Diego Family Justice Center expires in less than two years. Nearly nine months ago, the City and community partners began discussing the possible downtown options for housing 40,000 square feet of services and over 20 public and private agencies. The only agency that stepped forward with a plan was the YWCA of San Diego County, the oldest domestic violence service organization in San Diego County, and the location of the very first proposal for the San Diego FJC in 1989.
The excitement among all involved agencies and parties has been unanimous…except for City Attorney Mike Aguirre. Indeed, no agency working at the Center, public or private, has expressed opposition except for the City Attorney.
On May 8, 2008 the San Diego Union Tribune reported on the spectacle created at the San Diego City Council budget hearing when City Attorney Mike Aguirre refused to let over 45 members of the public, including survivors, advocates, police officers, prosecutors, medical professionals, and Family Justice Center volunteers speak about their support for an alternative to the City’s budget expenses for the San Diego Family Justice Center. Importantly, this was a budget workshop where no action was being taken by the Council and the FJC supporters wanted to share our excitement with the Council about the outcome of the planning process related to the next phase of the Center so the Council could then consider it at a future public meeting.
The six month planning process included discussions at many of the monthly FJC Partners Meetings (attended by City Attorney staff), meetings at the YWCA (with the City and the FJC Steering Committee formally represented by the Director and staff of the FJC Department), and presentations to over 450 people in April 2008 at the San Diego International Family Justice Center Conference. The City Attorney’s DV Unit and the Police Department were briefed on the Mayor’s support on April 30, 2008 by the FJC Director.
Former San Diego City Attorney Casey Gwinn’s vision of a “one stop shop” to help victims of domestic violence and their children in San Diego has now launched an international movement. Thirty three Family Justice Centers have opened so far around the country, thirty more are being planned, and Centers are starting in 12 different countries based on Casey Gwinn’s leadership. Locally, many domestic violence agencies have provided input to a regional Family Justice Center plan in the last three years which envisions creating 4-5 Centers around the county in the next five years under the coordination of the District Attorney’s Office. One Center has already opened in North County and another will open this fall in East County. The regional plan calls for community-based agency leadership (not a City department) in all Centers as the network of Centers evolves, including leadership by the Center for Community Solutions for the East County FJC.
The YWCA of San Diego County is ready to proceed and hopes to have the support of the dedicated City Council that helped create the first FJC in 2002. Everyone will win…the City, the taxpayers, the FJC, the YWCA, and, most importantly, victims of domestic violence and their children.
Roberta Spoon, YWCA Board President
Lynne Heidel, YWCA Volunteer Board Member
