Family Justice Center eases trauma for domestic violence victims, families

Guilford Guilford County, N.C. Commissioner Kay Cashion speaks to the assembled crowd at the dedication of the Guilford County Family Justice Center June 15. Photo by Charlie Ban

For many victims of domestic abuse, getting away to safety and reaching the authorities is just the beginning of a long journey that could take days and dozens, if not hundreds of miles to get the help they need.

Not anymore in Guilford County, N.C., which recorded roughly 20,000 calls in 2013 for domestic violence incidents. The county led the state in 2013 with 11 domestic violencerelated murders.

Guilford County opened its new 12,000-square-foot Family Justice Center June 16, after nearly a year of construction and six years of planning to bring 20 different service providers together in one place, 10 of which will have a permanent presence in the building. 

The consolidation cuts down on the scheduling, travel and exposure that comes with following up with various agencies after already suffering trauma — encouraging victims to get all the help they need in both caring for themselves and potentially prosecuting their abusers.

“It’s a mainstream issue,” said Commissioner Kay Cashion. “We  talk about it like it’s a marginalized issue, but we all know someone who’s been affected.” 

Some Guilford County residents, bearing scars from their altercations with abusers, turned out on a 96-degree day at the facility’s June 15 dedication. Brenda White described her experience after escaping from near-fatal abuse at the hands of her ex-husband three years ago. 

She was “in a bubble, just bounding from place to place,” she said. “Starting out at the emergency room 

at the hospital, leaving there and going to visit (the judge), having to leave with the detectives; I’m still bounding. I leave there and I have to meet with the plastic surgeon. I leave there, then I have to meet with city of Greensboro. Then I leave there and have to meet with the orthopedic surgeon. I leave there then I had to meet with a psycholo­gist. I’m still bouncing. Going from place. Then I had to meet with the psychiatrist.”

Service providers, including a nurse with a sophisticated cam­era for evidence gathering, law enforcement focused on domestic violence, the Greensboro Child Advocacy Center, and Legal Aid of North Carolina are all there to give counsel.

“When people feel like they’re more informed about their deci­sions, the rates of engagement (with the criminal justice system) increase,” said Director Catherine Johnson. “We have an engagement rate of 40 to 50 percent, but we could take that up to 95 percent. Those are people who are willing to stick through that process, to defend their accountability. That’s ultimately what the center does.”

By sharing a building with the county’s human resources and finance departments across the street from the Guilford County Courthouse in Greensboro, the facility’s other tenants give visitors a sense of anonymity when coming to the building.

“We don’t have a big sign outside that says ‘Family Justice Center’ and advertises where people are going when they come in here,” Johnson said. “Our parking stickers don’t even have a specific name on them. It’s a nondescript building.”

Albeit one with one-way exte­rior windows. Even so, with flight on their minds, visitors’ fears are assuaged by the steps the center takes to ensure their safety. The lobby is built from bulletproof glass and sheetrock, and when greeted, victims name the person they are escaping so staff members can en­sure that person isn’t in the facility.

“It’s not that we’re concerned someone is going to come in here and shoot through the windows,” Johnson said. “We want families who are in trauma to know that we’re creating a safe place for them, and knowing the we went that extra step will help them put their guard down and open up to us.”

If there is trouble, 12 Greensboro police officers and six sheriff ’s depu­ties are stationed in the facility.

“It’s probably the most secure building in the county,” Johnson said, half joking.

A social worker assesses a victim’s needs once they arrive, directing them to an on-site nurse, law enforcement officer or victim’s advocate. Children’s facilities al­low adults to make statements out of their child’s earshot. Artwork depicting second graders’ visions of what safety means to them adorn the walls.

Several similarly-muted rooms line the facility, reflecting their flexibility for what they can be used for, and an intentional design motif geared toward a victim of domestic violence.

“We don’t want someone who has been through trauma like that to be confronted with therapists’ personal effects that confront them with our happy lives,” Johnson said. “They decorations are intentionally neutral for that reason.”

Only staff members can open doors in the facility and accompany them to meetings. Children’s state­ments are recorded and then used in various proceedings to limit their collateral trauma and the number of times they have to repeat details.

Cashion, who is chairwoman of the NACo Justice and Public Safety Steering Committee, is proud of where the facility has come since its inception in 2009, but she hasn’t put limits on its potential.

“It’s not all that it will be,” she said. “We’re going to add services, we’re going to respond to what our residents need. Services are going to want to be here because they’ll realize this is a complete facility. For now, it’s just beautiful.”

The city of Greensboro and the county each contributed $250,000 to do the renovations to the building, which was once a furniture store.

The participating organizations contribute their services, which add up to $2.5 million in kind.

“Two-and-a-half million dollars of services for half a million dollars is a pretty good return,” Cashion said. “It proved the city and county were together on this.”

And, by showing children who also suffer from abuse that such abuse is not normal, she hopes they can help stem further violence one day.

“Mental health plays a part,” she said. “Substance abuse plays a part, and showing children that they don’t have to mimic what they saw as children and what they think is normal.”