Washington County announced plans this month to build a new facility dedicated to serving victims of both child abuse and domestic violence in a single site.
The new facility will be called the Family Peace Center of Washington County and will be paid for with $6.25 million in Oregon Lottery bond funds and $400,000 from the federal American Rescue Plan Act. When completed, the new facility will be the first in Oregon to combine both of these services under one roof.
The coalition behind this effort is currently searching for suitable locations for the Family Peace Center.
The current Family Justice Center of Washington County, which services domestic violence victims, will be moved into the new facility, which will also contain offices for a number of nonprofit groups, including CARES Northwest, which is currently located in Portland, and the Domestic Violence Resource Center, which now operates out of the Family Justice Center in Beaverton.
“Providing these essential services for the most vulnerable members of our community in an easy-to-access location makes good sense,” Washington County District Attorney Kevin Barton said in a press release. “The more resources we provide to young people who have experienced trauma, the less we will need to rely on our criminal justice system when they become adults.”
