Family justice centers.

Existing law, until January 1, 2014, authorized the Cities of Anaheim and San Diego, and the Counties of Alameda and Sonoma to establish, as a 2-year pilot project, a multiagency, multidisciplinary family justice center to assist victims of domestic violence, officer-involved domestic violence, sexual assault, elder or dependent adult abuse, stalking, cyberstalking, cyberbullying, and human trafficking, to ensure that victims of abuse are able to access all needed services in one location and to enhance victim safety, increase offender accountability, and improve access to services for victims of crime, as provided. That law permitted the family justice centers to be staffed by law enforcement, medical, social service, and child welfare personnel, among others. That law required each family justice center to consult with community-based crime victim agencies, survivors of violence and abuse, and their advocates in the operations process of the family justice center and to develop a procedure for input, feedback, and evaluation of the family justice center. This bill would reenact and recast those provisions to authorize, commencing January 1, 2015, any city, county, or community-based nonprofit organization to establish a multiagency, multidisciplinary family justice center to assist victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, elder or dependent adult abuse, and human trafficking, as specified. The bill would also specify additional confidentiality provisions relating to information disclosed by a victim in a family justice center, as provided, and would require each family justice center to maintain a mandatory training for all staff members, volunteers, and agency professionals.