The community-level impact of a family justice center: indicators from the Guilford County Family Justice Center

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the ongoing data and evaluation strategies being used to document the impact of the Guilford County Family Justice Center, which has been in operation for nearly four years. Design/methodology/approach There are four primary ongoing data and evaluation strategies used to tell the story of the impact of the family justice center (FJC) on the community: tracking services provided by the FJC, collecting annual data from partner agencies, conducting week-long censuses and doing an annual survey of professionals affiliated with the FJC and its partner organizations. (The current paper reports on the first three of these strategies.) Findings Methodological limitations of the evaluation strategies used warrant caution in interpreting the findings of the ongoing evaluation of the Guilford County FJC. However, preliminary evaluation findings indicate support for the center’s positive impact on the community it serves, including in the number of clients served, a reduction in domestic violence-related homicide rates and the creation of new community resources that emerged through the FJC partnership. Research limitations/implications Each of the evaluation strategies used in this study holds inherent strengths and limitations, which are discussed in the paper. Beyond the future evaluation of local FJCs, a range of rigorous methodologies can be used to further explore the impact of the FJC model. Qualitative methods may be useful for gaining an in-depth understanding of victims’ and survivors’ perceptions of accessing resources through an FJC, as well as for studying beliefs and attitudes toward FJCs among various community stakeholders. Quantitative methods can be used to apply more complex statistical analyses to comparing indicators of the impact of FJCs over time. Practical implications The data and evaluation findings from the Guilford County FJC add support to the potential positive impact of the FJC model on communities. These preliminary data suggest that FJCs can impact communities by offering support to victims and coordinating resources among partner organizations. Collaborative partnerships can be leveraged to lead to broader community changes that strengthen community-level responses to interpersonal violence through greater community awareness, opportunities for community members to contribute to solutions and the establishment of new resources that emerge from needs identified through the partnership. Social implications Overall, there is a pressing need for research examining various aspects of the FJC model and identifying factors that contribute to its success at fostering collaboration, supporting victims and survivors, holding offenders accountable and preventing future violence. With the rapid growth of the FJC models, the need for research and evaluation to document the effectiveness and limitations of the model is high. Originality/value Designed to serve as a one-stop shop for victims of domestic violence and other forms of violence to seek help, FJCs offer, within a single location, multiple services from a variety of professional disciplines. These services include law enforcement, victim advocacy and prosecution. Although the FJC model is expanding rapidly across the USA and internationally, research to date is limited, and thus, the current paper will add to the research and evaluation basis for the FJC movement.

Victims of Violence, How a Trauma Center and Family Justice Center Can Provide Continued Care After Initial Hospitalization

“…9 First, the FJCs aim to coordinate services across multiple agencies to make services more readily available to victims and their families. 9,10, Second, they aim to improve the response from criminal justice services, such as ensuring prosecution efforts are integrated with victim advocacy or increasing the efficacy of mandatory arrest policies. 7 Third, FJCs strive to increase awareness of domestic violence in the local community through education and public outreach.…”

“…Limited ability to assess distal outcomes such as systemic changes, downstream effects, improved social awareness, or reduced rates of recidivism is based on the nature of the data collected. 9,10,12…”

“…There has been widespread growth of the FJC model both nationally and internationally. 5,10,11 Sharing data from this cross-sectional descriptive study for the first 3 years of VCFJC will hopefully increase interest in research exploring this field and provide evidence of the effectiveness of the FJC model. Tracking data from the VCFJC over multiple years is necessary to assess effectiveness in lowering the local violence in the community and to further explore the positive impact of this model.…”

“…8,9 Despite the rapid growth of the FJC initiative, there remains a paucity of research documenting the FJC's impact on victims of violence and the greater communities they serve. [9][10][11] The Ventura County Family Justice Center (VCFJC) was launched in 2019 and features services such as a safe house for women and children and a daycare. More than 35 agencies and 120 volunteers are involved in promoting the VCFJC's mission statement to help identify and eliminate trauma, mitigate repeat victimization and future risks, and make a lasting, positive difference in countless lives.…”

Examining the Domestic Violence Crisis in Ventura County in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“… 11 , 12 However, very few studies have been performed on specific FJC databases. 13 With the COVID-19 pandemic increasing the prevalence of DV, and research indicating that FJCs have made demonstrably positive impacts on the communities they serve, it is imperative to analyze who seeks out services for DV. 14 This information can allow for increased collaboration between sister services such as health care professionals and mental health counseling—a pre-existing model of collaboration core to FJCs between nonprofits, county governments, and law enforcement agencies.…”