Northern Lights Family Justice Center: Offering domestic abuse survivors an array of services under one roof
From Yellowstone Valley Woman
Officer Katie Nash, who has been with the Billings Police Department’s Domestic Violence Unit since it was started in 2012, began hearing about Family Justice Centers after a few years on the job, mostly at national conferences she attended.
“Every time we would come back from a training,” Katie says, “myself and the city attorney’s office would have the same conversation: Wouldn’t it be nice if we had that here?”
The first Family Justice Center was established in San Diego in 2002, and there are now 150 of them in 45 states and 25 countries. The concept behind them is simple: they serve as a one-stop location where victims of family violence and abuse can get all the help they need from social service agencies, the courts, law enforcement, legal services and shelter providers.
In Billings, a turning point came a few years ago, when city leaders were making plans to create a new City Hall in another downtown building. Katie was talking with City Attorney Gina Dahl about the possibility of opening a Family Justice Center in the new building when City Administrator Chris Kukulski happened by. “So we grabbed him and had him join the conversation,” Katie says.
