NEVADA CITY, Calif. April 23, 2026 – On Wednesday afternoon Nevada County officials, Western Sierra Medical Clinic and many partner agencies and organizations gathered for the ribbon cutting at the new Family Justice Center in Nevada City.
In Nevada County, 52 agencies and non-profit organizations provide services to victims of violence. The Family Justice Center of Nevada County (FJCNC) is a comprehensive resource center where survivors can find the support they need under one roof.
Nevada County Chair of the Board Lisa Swarthout stated, “It’s appropriate that we’re celebrating this new facility today as this week is Crime Victims’ Rights Week.” She pointed out that nearly one in three women and one in four men experience domestic violence in their lifetime. “We wouldn’t be here without the vision of our community partners like Western Sierra Medical Clinic, our District Attorney’s Office, our law enforcement agencies and Community Beyond Violence, along with grant funding from CalOES that made this possible,” she continued.
Family Justice Centers are multi-agency, multi-disciplinary co-located service centers that provide services to victims of inter-personal violence including, intimate partner violence, sexual assault, child abuse, elder or dependent adult abuse, and human trafficking. Both public and private partner agencies assign staff on a full-time or part-time basis to provide services from one location.
Polly Conley from Western Sierra Medical Clinic recalled a pair of siblings, “who on one of the worst days of their life were separated from their parents who were not safe for them. Over the course of that day, they spent 14 hours going to six different offices and being interviewed multiple times and having multiple visits, and that was not ideal. I just think about them every time we come to a roadblock or a hurdle or something in the way that makes it a little harder. I know it’s worth the work because we can do better for those kids and we can do better for the women.”
FJC Coordinator Stephanie Fischer offered more background on the creation of the center, “We talked about how many different entities are in our community that a survivor of violence might have to engage with on their journey to healing, in seeking supportive services. We came up with at least 52 different agencies in our community, which is wonderful. That means we’ve got so many people in our community and so many agencies in our community that are willing to provide services for somebody who’s going through a domestic violence or sexual assault or human trafficking or child abuse or other abuse. But that also means that that person has 52 different intakes. They have to do 52 different times, they have to tell a story 52 different times, they have to take time off of work. Fifty-two different times, they have to figure out what they’re going to do with their kids and that’s too much, and that’s too many. We have those partners and those essential services physically at this location to be able to provide those services here so a person can tell their story one time.”
The Family Justice Center is located at 590 Searls Ave, Suite A, in Nevada City.