New Center for Abused Children Receives $1-Million State Grant

San Diego County and a private child abuse agency received $1 million from the state for construction of a new center for abused children, officials announced Tuesday.

The grant was awarded after county officials and the Child Abuse Prevention Foundation submitted a joint proposal for funding through Proposition 86, the County Correctional Facility Capital Expenditure & Youth Facility Bond Act, passed by voters in 1988.

According to R. Barry McComic, who heads the foundation’s fund-raising efforts, the planned Children’s Center will cost about $15 million and will open in two years. McComic and foundation director Jennifer Vanica said their next goal is to find a donor willing to contribute $5 million for the project.

The center will replace the 26-year-old Hillcrest Receiving Home, the county shelter for abused and neglected children. Supervisors Susan Golding and Brian Bilbray, who worked closely with the foundation to obtain the state grant, said the aging shelter can no longer meet the needs of abused children.

Hillcrest only has 22 beds and admits more than 500 children every month, county officials said. The new center will have 130 beds.

“The 130-bed emergency shelter will be a comprehensive child abuse prevention and treatment center. . . . It is urgently needed,” Vanica said.

Golding said the new facility will fill a sad, but much needed function in today’s society. She added that the number of child abuse cases is growing in the county.

“We need some place to house children who need to be taken from their parents. . . . An abused child usually grows up to be a child abuser,” Golding said.

Bilbray praised the joint effort as a shining example of how the private and public sectors can work together without being prompted by political necessity or expediency.

“This is not a traditional social issue,” Bilbray said. “It shows that we don’t have to be driven by political necessity.”

He called the grant proposal put together by the county and foundation a “package that shined in Sacramento.” It was an “aggressive proposal that overwhelmed the review process,” he added.

However, Golding noted that more money is needed to complete the center.

“We hope there’s a donor somewhere . . . who would like to contribute a $5 million grant,” Golding said. “It’s a critical facility, a place to show how abused children can be taken care of.”

Although both sides said they hope private contributions will help with construction costs, McComic said some of the financing will probably have to come from bonds issued by the county.

The county has selected a 10-acre site, on Ruffin Road near the County Operations Center, for the home.