An Adams County Commissioner. The Mayor Pro Tem for the city of Northglenn. A local activist for Chicano arts and humanities.
All three were victims of domestic violence. Two survived their ordeal.
Emma Pinter, board chair for the Adams County Commissioners, recalls as a little girl her father shouting and shoving her mother and then refusing to pay child support.
“It was very scary,” Pinter said Wednesday during a kickoff ceremony Wednesday at Northglenn’s Parsons Theater of an effort to bring a Family Justice Center to the Adams and Broomfield County community.
The center would be a place where victims and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault can get the support they need in one central location, say advocates.
“We could have used something like the center when I was growing up,” Pinter said.
Brian Mason, district attorney for Adams/ Broomfield counties, told law enforcement personnel and those who work closely with domestic violence victims, that a Family Justice Center is a natural extension of the local Domestic Violence High Risk Team.
“Now we are ready for the next big step – the creation of a Family Justice Center,” Mason told the audience at DL Parsons Theater.
There are 150 Family Justice Centers in the United States and one in Lakewood. The centers have helped reduce fear among victims, increased coordination between service providers and provided more support to victims and their families, advocates say.
The effort to develop a facility in Adams/Broomfield counties will be guided by the Family Justice Center Alliance, whose members walked the audience at the DL Parsons Theater through the process of starting a facility.
Details about cost and location can be worked out later, Mason said. “We just want a safe place for domestic violence victims,” he said.
Shannon Lukemon-Hiromasa, mayor pro-tem for Northglenn, told the audience at DL Parsons Theater that her domestic survivor story was like Pinter’s. She fled her abuser when she was three months pregnant.
Nothing like the Family Justice Center existed in the early 1990’s, forcing Lukemon-Hiromasa to rely on friends and family to get away and start a fresh life, she said.
“Something like the center could help someone survive and then thrive,” Lukemon-Hiromasa said. “I should be six feet under, but I’m not.”
Lucille Ruibal Rivera did not survive her violent situation. She died on Nov. 18, a victim of a murder-suicide that involved her boyfriend, according to media reports.
Rivera championed the local arts scene and served eight years as executive director of the nonprofit Chicano Humanities and Arts Council. She also helped launch what is now known as the Tepeyac Community Health Center.
Rivera was a beautiful soul that shined over Northglenn, said Heather Geyer, Northglenn City Manager who memorialized Rivera at Wednesday’s gathering.
“Lucille was taken from us too soon through a thoughtless act of domestic violence,” Geyer said. “I hope Lucille’s story lights a fire in all of us. We have a lot of work to do.”
Evolving relationships
The first Family Justice Center was created in San Diego, California in 2002, through a partnership between the San Diego City Attorney and the San Diego Police Department. It evolved out of a collaborative relationship between community-based domestic violence agencies and criminal justice professionals, according to an Adams County DA news release.
The model has since been identified as a best practice in the field of domestic violence intervention and prevention by the U.S. Department of Justice and endorsed by many local and state agencies and elected officials, the news release states.
“There is no doubt that Adams County will be safer as a result of this much-needed facility,” said Pinter in the news release. “Having all our resources under one roof makes it easier for survivors to navigate multiple agencies and systems at one time, without duplicating efforts,” she said.
The center would enable police and counselors to create a coordinated response to family violence, that is inclusive of victims from all backgrounds, and prevent violence in the future, the news release states.
“The language access, queer-affirming counselors, and no requirements of an open criminal case are part of what makes this work important,” Pinter added in the news release.
According to a news release from Mason’s office, using the Family Justice Center model has reduced homicides, increased victim safety and increased autonomy and empowerment for victims. The centers have also reduced fear and anxiety for victims and their children, increased efficiency and coordination among service providers and kept victims from recanting their testimony and minimizing their claims.
Mason’s release also said the center help increase the prosecution of offenders and dramatically increased community support services to victims and their children.