LOS ANGELES -- The Violence Intervention Program, California's largest child abuse program, will celebrate the grand opening of a newly restored 19,000 square-foot historic mission-style building on October 16, . The building will be home to the nation's first hospital-based center dedicated to providing medical and mental health services to victims of family violence and sexual assault. The building will be named the S. Mark Taper Foundation Family Advocacy Center in honor of the foundation's lead gift of $750,000.
The VIP provides a "one stop shop" environment offering medical, mental health, protective, legal and social services to victims of family violence and sexual assault throughout Los Angeles County. The S. Mark Taper Foundation Family Advocacy Center will allow the VIP to double mental health therapy, case management and advocacy services. These expanded services will be provided in a child-friendly and accessible building across the street from County-USC Hospital in East Los Angeles.
"The Violence Intervention Program's family advocacy center will provide one-of-a-kind services to children and families in Los Angeles County," said Gloria Molina, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisor for the First District. "I take great comfort in knowing that these critical services will be provided in a comfortable and private setting."
As a lead funder, the S. Mark Taper Foundation acted as a catalyst for the additional support needed to complete the project. "The S. Mark Taper Foundation is committed to the VIP and is honored to be associated with the expert victim-sensitive services the organization provides Los Angeles' most vulnerable children and families," said S. Mark Taper Foundation executive director Raymond F. Reisler.
A clinical pediatrician and associate professor at the USC Keck School of Medicine, VIP executive director Astrid Heger, MD said the VIP's caseload has grown from 300 to 5,000 victims annually. "This is a tremendous opportunity for Los Angeles. There has been an exponential rise in the number of family violence cases throughout the county and this new facility will help us care for the children and families who rely on us," Heger added.
In addition to the S. Mark Taper Foundation, major contributors include the Everychild Foundation, The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, Deborah and Carlos Santana and The Ahmanson Foundation. "What happens to some of these kids is unspeakable, and the VIP is out there trying to make a difference in a world most people could never imagine," said Jacqueline Caster, president and founder of the Everychild Foundation.
For more than 20 years the Violence Intervention Program has been helping to treat and protect the County's abused and neglected. Currently, the VIP serves all victims of family violence and sexual assault including the elderly and disabled. In , Heger founded a child abuse center called the Center for the Vulnerable Child, which became a working model for 400 similar centers worldwide and remains a project of the Violence Intervention Program. In , there were 150,000 child abuse cases reported to the County. VIP's child abuse services will be renamed the Everychild Foundation Center for the Vulnerable Child.
Heger has served as an expert witness in high-profile court cases and is regularly sought by the media because of her expertise on matters of rape and violent crime. She also serves as a consultant to the coroner on sexual assault and child death and regularly provides commentary to the media. Heger pioneered the use of the colposcope, which provides photo-documentation of injuries associated with child abuse and sexual assault and established the first telemedicine link providing case assessments at remote sites worldwide. Her groundbreaking work in child abuse has become the international standard of care. Heger also has received countless awards for her pioneering work. In June , the Royal Society of Medicine presented her with an Honorary Membership of the Section of Clinical Forensic and Legal Medicine.
In , she received the prestigious Governor's Crime Victims Services Award from then California Governor Gray Davis. In , the U.S. Department of Justice awarded Heger the Crime Victim Service Award, the highest federal honor for victim advocacy. Heger has been active in the Los Angeles Interagency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect and served on the Board of Directors of various national and international child-focused organizations, including the Executive Committee for the Section on Child Abuse and Neglect, American Academy of Pediatrics; the Board of Directors for the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children; Board of Directors for the California Consortium to Prevent Child Abuse; and the Board of Directors for the North American Society on Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. Information about VIP may be found at www.violenceinterventionprogram.org .
Source: Violence Intervention Program
