As the Portland area reels from domestic-violence shootings that have left seven women dead or gravely injured, the city and Multnomah County are working to launch the state’s first one-stop domestic violence center, reports The Oregonian. It would put in one place services such as restraining orders, legal aid, housing assistance and counseling that are now spread countywide.
Set to open this spring, the Gateway Center for Domestic Violence Services is based on the first “family justice center” started in 2002 that is thought to have led to a 95 percent cut in domestic violence homicides. When it opened, 70 percent of clients were unwilling to participate in prosecution of their victims. Now 70 percent do. The San Diego center has become an international model replicated in 45 places nationwide.