The Children's Justice Center (CJC) is a homelike facility which serves children and families who are experiencing the crisis and chaos that comes with the disclosure of significant physical or sexual abuse of a child.

The Center is designed to help children feel safe and comfortable so that they may begin to deal with the difficult and often frightening issues that surround abuse. The focus and function of the Children's Justice Center is to reduce the trauma of the child abuse investigation and help the child feel safe to reveal the truth.

The CJC is a working public/private partnership for our children. The homelike facility and the treatment programs of the CJC are supported by private donations from the community. The CJC receives partial operational funding through appropriation by the Utah State Legislature, administered by the Office of the Utah Attorney General. Funding for mental health treatment is also available through private donations and special grants of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) monies from the cities of Orem and Provo.

Need for the CJC

Re-Focus on the child

As a community, we value children and families. Yet, children in our community are being abused, used and hurt by adults and older youth. This abuse has devastating, long-term effects on children, their families and the community.

Intervention by existing systems has been fragmented and in many cases ineffective and traumatic for the child victim. The Children's Justice Center refocuses on the child's need for safety and brings diverse systems together in order to better serve the needs of the child, the family and the community.

Utah County is not immune to abuse

Each year nearly 2,000 cases of child abuse and neglect in Utah County are reported to the Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) and the local Police Departments. Nearly 1,200 of these referrals involve sexual or significant physical abuse. Many cases involve more than one victim. Many more cases of child physical and/or sexual abuse are not yet reported to public agencies and our children suffer in silence.

We are not immune to child abuse or its devastating effects. The rate of child sexual abuse in Utah County is comparable to national statistics. More than one out of four girls are sexually abused by age 18. We also know that more than one in six boys are sexually abused, but these cases may be under-reported.