The Center was founded in 1895 as a YWCA dedicated to serving victims of domestic violence, sexual violence and child abuse. For the past two decades, The Center for Family Justice has expanded its mission to include “strengthening individuals and families and eliminating abuse through community collaboration.” The Center for Family Justice became Connecticut’s first Family Justice Center (FJC) in January of 2014, opened the first legal incubator in Connecticut in 2017 and launched the first Connecticut-based trauma informed camp for children, Camp HOPE Connecticut, in 2017. The Pro Bono Legal Center at CFJ, serving our clients who are in need of free civil legal representation was established in September 2019.
It is an integral part of the FJC philosophy to provide victims with one safe, nurturing location where they can speak to an advocate, be transported to the hospital, if necessary, plan for their safety, work with a police officer, meet with a prosecutor and work towards self-sufficiency. It is our goal that the victims we serve will only have to relay their story once, work with one team, in one location to eliminate the hardship of navigating multiple avenues for help while suffering from shock and trauma. We have provided this at The Center for Family Justice.
For the year ended, 6.30.22, The Center provided $224,315 in services to Fairfield residents based on programmatic cost per client. The Center respectfully requests $12,000 for FY24, only 5.3% of the cost to provide Fairfield residents with services, to help to sustain crisis, restorative and preventative services within the Town of Fairfield to work towards enhancing safety for individuals, families and the community.
