District Attorney, Adams and Broomfield County Leaders Hosting Strategic Planning Session to Launch a Family Justice Center

Brighton, CO – Today, District Attorney Brian Mason, Adams and Broomfield County leaders, stakeholders, and service providers are preparing to host a strategic planning session as they continue toward the goal of creating a Family Justice Center in the 17th Judicial District.  

The strategic planning event will occur on June 26-27, 2024 at the Armory Performing Arts Center in Brighton, Colorado. Survivors, policymakers, city and county leaders, elected officials, advocates, community agencies, experts in trauma services, government-based service agencies, law enforcement professionals, and community members will gather to take the next step in the process of creating a Family Justice Center in Adams and Broomfield Counties.  

Following the Family Justice Center Alliance’s site study in February, the Alliance determined that the 17th Judicial District is in an incredibly advantageous position in its efforts to create a Family Justice Center. This project started with the creation of a Domestic Violence High-Risk Team in 2022. The development of an FJC will allow the 17th Judicial District to better serve and expand services provided to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, child abuse, and elder abuse. A Family Justice Center is a one-stop-shop location where survivors can receive all the necessary support and resources in a single building in the 17th Judicial District.  

Members of the press who are interested in attending the Strategic Planning Session on June 26, 2024, at 9:00am at 300 Strong Street, Brighton, Colorado, 80601 are asked to RSVP to Chris Hopper, the Director of Communications for the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, at chopper@da17.state.co.us. 

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. 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 including District Attorney Brian Mason, Adams County Commission Chair Emma Pinter, as well as Adams and Broomfield County leadership.  

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The documented and published outcomes from the Family Justice Center model have included: reduced homicides; increased victim safety; increased autonomy and empowerment for victims; reduced fear and anxiety for victims and their children; increased efficiency and coordination among service providers; and reduced recantation and minimization by victims when wrapped in services and support; increased prosecution of offenders; and dramatically increased community support services to victims and their children. (See Casey Gwinn & Gael Strack, Dream Big: A Simple, Complicated Idea to Stop Family Violence, and other outcomes posted online in the Alliance’s resource library)   

List of Community Partners/Stakeholders:  

• District Attorney’s Office for the 17th Judicial District  

• Adams County Health Department 

• Adams and Broomfield County Human Services 

• Adams County Government 

• Adams County Sheriff’s Office 

• Adams County Probation 

• Adams 12 School District 

• Almost Home 

• Aurora City Government 

• Aurora Police Department VSU 

• BOVA 

• City of Brighton 

• Brighton Housing Authority 

• Brighton Police Department 

• Broomfield PD/VSU 

• Broomfield City Government 

• Child Welfare/Child and Family Services (Adams and Broomfield) 

• Colorado Legal Services 

• Community Language Cooperative 

• Commerce City PD 

• Cultural Development and Wellness Center 

• Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team 

• Family Tree 

• Federal Heights Police Department/VSU 

• Gateway Domestic Violence Services 

• Growing Home 

• Northglenn City Government 

• Northglenn Police Department/VSU 

• Porchlight 

• Project Safeguard 

• Ralston House 

• Reaching Hope 

• Riverdale Animal Shelter 

• Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence 

• Servicios De La Raza 

• 17th Judicial District Sexual Response Team 

• Survivor Representatives 

• Thornton City Government 

• Thornton Police Department/VSU 

• 27J School District 

• UC Health 

• Westminster City Government 

• Westminster Police Department/VSU