Allston-Brighton Tab Staff | June 23, 2006

Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley officially opened the Family Justice Center with Diane Stuart, director of the Office on Violence Against Women in the Department of Justice, which awarded the grant to fund the establishment of the facility that serves victims of domestic and sexual violence and child abuse.
The official opening of the FJCB included a tour of the new facility for federal officials and an introduction of the new board of directors by Menino. "The Family Justice Center is an important piece of our strategy to support victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse. The center will be a place where victims and their families will have access to a wide array of support services all in one central location," Menino said. "I am thankful that the city of Boston could partner with the Office on Violence Against Women to help provide comprehensive services for survivors."
"The collaboration at the Family Justice Center offers opportunities to discern patterns of abuse that may hold new insights into how we prevent or disrupt those patterns," Conley said. "FJCs are not just about buildings of bricks and mortar, or even just about a collection of services working in the same place. They are about opportunities to truly work in an integrated manner to help victims reclaim their lives, to hold their abusers accountable, and to prevent future violence."
The FJCB is a collaborative venture seeking to improve access to services for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse by bringing together public, private and nonprofit service providers and partners in one location. The FJCB will serve residents of Boston, Chelsea, Revere and Winthrop, and will offer a broad range of services striving to meet the needs of victims of domestic and sexual violence and child abuse and to hold offenders accountable.
The new center will house advocates from community-based nonprofit groups and victim services organizations; specialized detectives and prosecutors; governmental domestic violence specialists; forensic medical professionals; civil attorneys; chaplains; and volunteers. The secured facility, in which renovations are ongoing, was donated by the city through Menino's leadership.