Family justice center for East County topic of Simi Valley meeting

A proposed East County family justice center will be discussed at a meeting Tuesday in Simi Valley.

The one-hour session will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Simi Valley City Hall, 2929 Tapo Canyon Road.

Family justice centers provide access to multiple agencies' services in a one-stop location for victims of domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault, human trafficking and elder and dependent adult abuse, officials say. The centers also help victims' families.

Speakers at the meeting will include Christine Mitchell, the center's project manager, and Ventura County Supervisor Janice Parvin, who is hosting the session. The new center would be the county's third.

There is no proposed location or timeline yet for the center, said Joey Buttitta, spokesperson for the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

The county’s first family justice center opened in 2019 at 3170 Loma Vista Road in Ventura.

A second facility, the Carmen Ramirez Family Justice Center, will open this summer in a building at 555 and 545 S. A St. in downtown Oxnard, Buttitta said.

A proposal last year by Supervisor Jeff Gorell for a Thousand Oaks-based center stalled when other supervisors said more work was needed before a site was chosen. Supervisors later approved a full-time employee to help plan a third location.

Buttitta said a two-day strategy session will take place in September in the East County, though a location hasn't been set. County and city officials, along with the public, will discuss details of the proposed facility.

The center would cut drive time for East County residents, who make up nearly 20% of the clients at the Ventura facility, District Attorney Erik Nasarenko told supervisors in a letter last summer.

Other speakers scheduled for Tuesday's Simi Valley meeting are Chief Deputy DA Michael Jump, Detective Kellyn King of the Simi Valley Police Department, Debbie Samel of Soroptimist Simi Valley and Shannon Sergey, founder and CEO of Forever Found, a Simi Valley nonprofit working with child victims of human trafficking.

For more information, see vcfjc.org.

Dave Mason covers East County for the Ventura County Star. He can be reached at dave.mason@vcstar.com or 805-437-0232.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Family justice center proposed in east Ventura County topic of meeting