SAN DIEGO, April 4, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- Throughout the U.S., survivors
of domestic violence and their children will receive new and more effective
services -- thanks to a $1 million grant from the Verizon Foundation to the
National Family Justice Center Alliance.
The grant, announced Friday (April 4), establishes the Family Justice
Center Institute, a technology and training arm within the National Family
Justice Center Alliance. The center will use technology and best practices
to streamline service and provide training for employees and volunteers.
"Through the Family Justice Center model, we bring together a host of
services under one roof to make it easier for domestic violence survivors
and their children to receive the assistance they need," said Casey Gwinn,
co-founder of the National Family Justice Center Alliance. "Our partnership
with Verizon will allow us to develop a system to streamline our efforts
and ensure that survivors at all Family Justice Center locations across
America receive the help they need quickly."
The grant will be used to develop systems that:
-- Allow multiple agencies within a Family Justice Center to quickly and
securely share information -- so that victims will have to tell their
story only once, rather than repeatedly conveying their traumatic
experiences to various social, medical, legal and public safety
professionals.
-- Create protocols for the development of electronic "safety deposit
boxes" -- helping domestic violence survivors to keep important
documents secure.
-- Develop online training for Family Justice Center employees and
volunteers nationwide -- enabling them to share information, attend
online courses and learn best practices.
-- Link the management systems of five pilot Family Justice Centers --
creating consistency and information-sharing models among these
centers, which will be selected during the grant period.
-- Assess technology needs -- to evaluate practical uses of online client
resources, text messaging and video messaging to support Family Justice
Center employees and clients.
Verizon has been a longtime supporter of Family Justice Centers across
the country, beginning with a Verizon Wireless HopeLine(R) grant to the San
Diego Family Justice Center in 2002.
"Verizon Wireless was proud to be the first business to award a grant
to develop the first Family Justice Center in the nation right here in San
Diego," said John Palmer, region president, Verizon Wireless. "Now that
this city's dream is a reality and has spread to more than two dozen other
major cities, the service delivery challenges facing these centers are of a
national dimension. Today's grant is a critical first step toward meeting
those challenges head-on and better serving victims of abuse everywhere
through the use of technology and best practices."
State Sen. Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, said the partnership between
Verizon and the Family Justice Center Alliance is a stellar example of the
great work that can be accomplished when the private sector collaborates
with public agencies to address a social issue. Kehoe was one of the
earliest supporters of the Family Justice Center vision during her tenure
as a San Diego City Council member in the late 1990's.
"The San Diego Family Justice Center proved for its first five years of
operation (2002-2007) what partnerships between the government, community
agencies and the business community can do to save lives," Kehoe said.
"With Verizon's support, the Family Justice Center Alliance now has the
opportunity to use San Diego's example and lessons learned here to help
victims and their children across the country."
Raising awareness of domestic violence and aiding in its prevention is
a key focus of the Verizon Foundation. In 2007, the foundation awarded more
than $5.5 million in grants to aid in domestic violence prevention.
"Through this grant, the National Family Justice Center Alliance will
be able to make better use of technology to continue to provide quick and
needed service to victims of domestic violence," said Tim McCallion, West
region president, Verizon. "We are proud to partner with the Family Justice
Center Alliance on such a worthy project."
Verizon Foundation President Patrick Gaston added: "Domestic violence
is an issue that touches us all. Statistics show that one in four women
will experience domestic violence in her lifetime.
"The creation of the Family Justice Center Institute can be part of the
solution, enabling survivors to quickly and compassionately receive the
assistance they need to help create a better tomorrow for them and their
children."
About the National Family Justice Center Alliance
The National Family Justice Center Alliance provides training and
technical assistance to existing and developing Family Justice Centers in
the United States and around the world. The Alliance serves as the official
technical assistance provider to the United States Department of Justice to
provide support to all federally funded Family Justice Centers. It also
hosts an annual International Family Justice Center Conference each year
with attendees from across the globe. The Alliance focuses on developing
and profiling best practices for co-located service facilities known as
Family Justice Centers where victims of domestic violence, child abuse,
elder abuse, and sexual assault can come to one location to receive all
necessary services. The Family Justice Center model was first developed in
San Diego, California, but has now been replicated in rural, suburban, and
urban communities around the United States and in Canada, Mexico,
Australia, New Zealand, England and Jordan. The model has been hailed as a
best practice by the United States Department of Justice and has been
widely credited with playing a major role in the 90% drop in domestic
violence homicides in the City of San Diego since 1985. For more
information, visit http://www.familyjusticecenter.org.
About the Verizon Foundation
The Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon
Communications, supports the advancement of literacy and K-12 education
through its signature program, Thinkfinity.org, and fosters awareness and
prevention of domestic violence. In 2007, the foundation awarded more than
$67.4 million in grants to nonprofit agencies in the United States and
abroad. The foundation also matched the charitable donations of Verizon
employees and retirees, resulting in $25.1 million in combined
contributions. Through Verizon Volunteers, one of the nation's largest
employee volunteer programs, Verizon employees and retirees have
volunteered more than 3 million hours of community service since Verizon's
inception in 2000.
For more information on the foundation, visit
http://www.verizon.com/foundation.
About Verizon Communications
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a
leader in delivering broadband and other wireline and wireless
communication innovations to mass market, business, government and
wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable
wireless network, serving nearly 66 million customers nationwide. Verizon's
Wireline operations include Verizon Business, which delivers innovative and
seamless business solutions to customers around the world, and Verizon
Telecom, which brings customers the benefits of converged communications,
information and entertainment services over the nation's most advanced
fiber-optic network. A Dow 30 company, Verizon employs a diverse workforce
of nearly 235,000 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues
of $93.5 billion. For more information, visit http://www.verizon.com.
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