[PHOTO: Paul Watkins, NHMC President; Erika Beck, CSUN President; Michel Moore, LAPD Chief of Police; and other key members were on-hand on Thursday, Feb.8, 2024, to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the facility. (Photo by Rami Jandali/Dignity Health) ]
Family Justice Center
A mock courtroom in Van Nuys will help victims of abuse learn to cope with court
[story taken from Los Angeles Daily News, published February 12, 2024]
The Center for Assault Treatment Services, or C·A·T·S, a program of Dignity Health Northridge Hospital Medical Center and its partners, last week celebrated the 10th year anniversary of the Family Justice Center, a one-stop place in Van Nuys that has long helped treat the victims of abuse and violence.
The Family Justice Center unveiled a “mock courtroom,” announced on Thursday, Feb. 8 by officials. The mock courtroom will provide child victims and adult victims a chance to prepare for their appearances in a real court, by experiencing a “courtroom environment using a trauma-informed space and the assistance of healthcare and social work professionals,” Dignity Health said in a statement.
C·A·T·S has served nearly 20,000 children and adults affected by abuse and interpersonal violence since 1997 and is a member of the locally designated Sexual Assault Response Team and Domestic Assault Response Team, providing medical evidentiary examinations and evidence collection in the San Fernando Valley.
[PHOTO: Dignity Health – Northridge Hospital Medical Center (NHMC), in partnership with California State University of Northridge (CSUN) and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the Family Justice Center on Thursday, Feb.8, 2024, a one-stop facility that provides indispensable services to victims of domestic abuse and interpersonal violence including the grand opening of the “mock courtroom” – an area that will provide child and adult victims the opportunity to prepare for the courtroom environment using a trauma-informed space and the assistance of healthcare and social work professionals. (Photo by Rami Jandali/Dignity Health) ]
Brian Hammel, Northridge Hospital Medical Center Foundation president, said the new mock courtroom “will provide our patients and nurses the experience to learn and take away some of that anxiety they have when they first appear in court.” Dignity Health’s work was praised by Los Angeles Police Department Chief Moore, who also attended the 10-year anniversary of the facility.
[PHOTO: Brian Hammel, NHMC Foundation President, poses with Gina D’Aquilla, Program Manager of the Family Justice Center, on Thursday, Feb.8, 2024, at the 10-year anniversary of the facility and the grand opening of the mock courtroom, a specially designated space to prepare victims of domestic abuse and interpersonal violence for the trial environment. (Photo by Rami Jandali/Dignity Health) ]
VIDEO: Family Justice Center 2024 - 10th Anniversary
VIDEO: Center for Assault Treatment Services (C·A·T·S)