MH site makes it more convenient for local victims
Published in the Sept. 30 – Oct. 13, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Marty Cheek
Photo by Marty Cheek
From left: Arturo Santillan (Step Forward Foundation), Blanca Tapia, (Silicon Valley Faces), Karen Schulz (Step Forward Foundation), Nathalie Lezama Ferro (Step Forward Foundation), and Stephen Lowney (Office of the District Attorney) assist victims of domestic violence at the Family Justice Center.
In 2013, 11 people were killed in Santa Clara County by a spouse or significant other, according to the Domestic Violence Death Review Committee. Last year, that number dropped to two, the fewest number in 20 years.
Because of the jeopardy to the quality of life, and life itself, from incidents of domestic violence, in April last year various nonprofit and government agencies set up the South County Family Justice Center program, with the pilot site at the nonprofit Community Solutions office in Morgan Hill. The center provides individuals and family members facing domestic violence with an easy-to-get-to place where they can get professional support. The project recently expanded to a similar site in Mountain View, and next month a third site will open in San Jose.
Lulu Lopez, manager for the Domestic Violence and Direct Service program at Community Solutions, sees the FJC as a success story in helping residents in Gilroy, San Martin, Morgan Hill and south San Jose get the help they need in dealing with a domestic violence crime. The site’s personnel estimate that about 90 percent of the victims are women and 10 percent are men.
“The idea was to have a one-stop shop where people come in rather than go all the way to (the courthouse in) San Jose. They can be here in South County and get all their services here,” Lopez said. “The word has gone out and we see people coming. With a line out the door — there’s a lot of need.”
The center is a partnership of various nonprofit and government service providers working in collaboration, said Lisa De Silva, chief development officer at Community Solutions. Morgan Hill Police Department Chief David Swing proposed the idea of the FJC to make it easier for victims to get help.
Funding for the center comes from grants from sources such as the U.S. Department of Justice as well as from the county.
The agencies involved with the FJC are the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, Community Solutions, the MHPD, Gilroy Police Department, Santa Clara County Sheriff, Santa Clara County Probation, Victim/Witness Assistance Program, and Step Forward Foundation.
Swing said the FJC has been a “tremendous success” based on the stories he heard from members of the community and law enforcement professionals.
“The common thread through all of its success is (MHPD) Detective Mindy Zen,” he said. “She is our dedicated domestic violence detective and does phenomenal work helping victims feel safe through her compassionate and reassuring demeanor.”
Providing support is a key component for helping the individuals and families who use the center, he said.
“Victims of crime, especially domestic violence, are in a vulnerable state and their need for support is exponentially greater than others,” he said. “The need for the center was obvious. Domestic violence, unfortunately, is not going away. As such, victims will always need a place to go where they can find safety and support. The Family Justice Center meets that on-going need for safety and support of survivors and their children.”
District Attorney Jeff Rosen wanted to start with the pilot FJC in South County and if it proved successful he envisioned opening a similar FJC in North County and eventually in San Jose to meet the needs of all the county’s domestic violence survivors, said Stephen Lowney, supervising deputy district attorney. The South County FJC proved to be successful with partners from various agencies working together to provide much needed services. Consequently, District Attorney Rosen was able to move forward with his plan to open FJC’s in North County and San Jose — both modeled after the South County FJC. The North County FJC has been open for about a year and the San Jose FJC just had its grand opening.
The location of the center at Community Solutions in Morgan Hill provides a secure facility away from the courthouse where potential encounters with abusers may intimidate victims and cause them to be reluctant to avail themselves of services, he said.
“The Family Justice Center model is a true community partnership that will put victims and their families first and bring professionals together to break the cycle of violence,” he said. “Victims will no longer have to arrange transportation from place to place around the county in order to receive necessary services.”
The FJC is located on Church Street one block from a bus stop on Monterey Road, making it easier for people to reach using public transportation. It has served more than 250 people, many who have made multiple visits.
“Violence begets violence whether it is on the streets or in the home. Children of abusers learn to respond to stress and conflict with violence not only in the home, but in the community at-large,” Lowney said. “Thus, the entire community benefits when the cycle of domestic violence is broken. The FJC seeks to break that cycle.”
Lopez described the procedure for protecting the victim’s privacy when visit the FJC for help. “They come in and first speak to someone who has confidentiality, so whatever they tell us stays with us unless they want us to share it,” she said. “So we’re able to really figure out what the needs are for this client, where she can go from us, because sometimes they may not want to talk to a police officer or with the district attorney’s office. They have issues that they really need to think through. So coming to someone who has confidentiality really makes a huge difference. And maybe in the end they will talk to the police or the DA.”
The concern of being deported is a real one for many victims who are not American citizens and in the U.S. without documentation, she said.
“There’s a fear,” she said. “People are surprised when we tell them that women — and men — are not comfortable going to the police because they fear they’re going to be detained. But from my experience here at Community Solutions, in 50 percent of our clients where immigration is an issue, the abuser… may have residence as a citizen of this country, and he’s using that against the victim, the survivor.”
The abuser uses the victim’s ignorance of the law to control the victim, De Silva said.
“If immigration is a concern, the batterer uses that as a tactic and says ‘Oh, I’ll call the police, you’re never going to see your kids again.’ Where in fact there are special protections, and special visas that victims of domestic violence are entitled to by virtue of their victimization,” she said.
The partnership of various agencies has proven the success of the FJC, she said.
“We have really close working relationships. It’s not to say there are not disagreements ever, and those are able to be worked out,” she said. “We’re constantly working with people who we know. We share the commitment that we want to provide the best services we can, and provide them locally, I think that’s also an important part of the commitment.”
October is National Domestic Violence Awareness month, and Lopez said this occasion helps create greater public knowledge of the problem of this crime which can devastate the lives of men, women and children from all walks of life, including economic status, ethnicity and career backgrounds.
“I think there is a need to understand why these women are going through what they’re going through and to understand how we can make them whole and their children whole,” she said. “If we don’t help them, the cycle continues with their children. We need to put an end to it now and not tomorrow.”
Details
Location: Community Solutions, 16264 Church St. Suite 103, Morgan Hill
Hours: 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. every Wednesday
Contact: (408) 779-2113
