Family Violence Project Relocates

Jewish Family Service’s Family Violence Project, which for 15 years has provided counseling, education and legal advocacy for victims of domestic abuse, has relocated to a new office space that will enable it to offer expanded services, officials said.

The project, which serves as many as 500 women and their children a year, operates two emergency shelters in addition to its counseling and advocacy services, said its director, Lynn Moriarty.

“There is just an incredible need for these types of services, particularly in the northeast Valley,” Moriarty said. But we want people to know that there is help available. Nobody has to be a victim of domestic violence.”

Det. Tim Williams, who oversees the Los Angeles Police Department’s domestic violence enforcement efforts, said organization’s like the FVP provide crucial services for women and children whose lives have been shattered by abuse.

Moriarty said the FVP’s new offices, at 8134 Van Nuys Blvd., will allow the organization to expand group counseling, which are a key component of the overall recovery program.

Women who are referred to the FVP, or, less frequently, those who come on their own are enrolled in an individual therapy program for as long as 12 weeks. Afterward, they are encouraged to join group sessions, which many attend for years, Moriarty said.

Children receive individual counseling for longer periods and present even more difficult and heartbreaking cases, Moriarty said.

“Children who witness violence are victims of that violence as well. They are severely traumatized by what they see,” she said.

“We see these little boys who are mini-batterers and little girls who think that getting hit is part of a loving relationship. That’s what we are trying to change.”

The FVP operates a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week crisis line. The number is (818) 505-0900.