CROYDON'S well-respected Family Justice Centre is to be downsized as the council changes the way it combats domestic and sexual violence.
The centre provides vital advice and support to around 1,000 victims of violence and abuse each month.
A report, drawn up by Croydon Council, says the lease for its current home - a prominent building in the town centre - will not be renewed when it expires next autumn because it is too expensive.
The Family Justice Centre will instead be moved into smaller premises and become part of a new 'hub' focused on helping high risk victims.
The new-look service will instead focus on independent domestic violence advocates working closer to communities. An advisor has been placed at the Met Police's custody centre in Windmill Road and another started at Croydon University Hospital this week.
A report published alongside the council's Domestic Violence Strategy 2015-18, released ahead of Monday's cabinet meeting, said the Family Justice Centre had "proved the need for an anonymous central place where victims can seek support".
"However, in order to move toward a more preventative approach where the resources of communities and faith groups can be harnessed, the need for more localised support and advice is crucial.
"In autumn, the lease for the current Family Justice Centre accommodation ends and an alternative, smaller accommodation has been identified."
The report said remaining in the same location would not be financially viable. The move is expected to last six months.
Mark Watson, cabinet member for safety and justice, who helped set up the Family Justice Centre in its current location in 2005, said: "At the time we wanted people to be able to access a joined up service and I think that has worked very well.
"Things have moved on and this strategy outlines the next step. We want to reach out into the community more. We will have a hub but we will advisors where people need them.
"The idea is not to concentrate everything into one place but to get out into the community.
"There will still be people in the centre but we know a lot of victims don't get the help they need because it's not immediately available in hospital when they are injured or at police stations when their partner has been arrested.
"This whole strategy is about making it easier for people to get the help they need sooner rather than later."
Despite being listed in the report as one of the main risks in its plans, the downsizing of the Family Justice Centre was not mentioned when the council published a press release on its new domestic violence strategy this week.
The strategy predicts the domestic abuse advisor network will reduce the number of incidents by more than 1,800 over a ten year period.
It says there needs to be a focus on gender inequality and sexual violence "so that the high rate of sexual violence in Croydon can be tackled".
The report says more could be done to encourage the use of Claire's Law, which enables people to check the police record of their partners, in order to "give more control to women" and reduce serial offending.
A strategy is also being drawn up to address issues such as female genital mutilation (FGM), forced marriage and honour based violence.
The strategy says a pilot programme which taught primary school pupils about health relationships should be built on.
The agencies involved in drafting the plan, including the council, police and health services, considered reviews of two recent domestic violence related deaths in Croydon, including the murder of Rebecca Sessacar, who was stabbed 58 times by her partner at their home in Duppas Hill Terrace on December 20, 2012.
It said the cases highlight the need for better information sharing within the NHS and between the council and the police.
Cllr Watson said more money was being invested into tackling domestic violence and, while the budget will increase from £906,000 to £1.3 million next year, it is projected to fall for each of the following two years of the strategy.
In 2012 Labour protested outside the Family Justice Centre, accusing the then Conservative-led council of trying to close it, allegations they strongly denied.
Domestic violence in Croydon: The facts
- Between 2012 and 2014 there were three domestic violence related murders in Croydon
- Year to date statistics (September 2013- September 2014) show an increase in reported domestic abuse offences of 23.9 per cent, from 2,567 to 3,180
- There are currently 177 people convicted of domestic violence on abuse under supervision in the community in Croydon
- Between April 2013 and March 2014, the Family Justice Centre received 1,066 new referrals. 22 per cent of these cases were deemed high risk
- 30 per cent of users reported being victim of physical abuse. 8 per cent said they had been subject to sexual violence
- Between 2012/13 and 2011/12 there was a significant increase in actual bodily harm and malicious wounding allegations and a drop in common assault
- Rates of domestic violence (per 1,000 residents) are highest in Fieldway, Woodside, New Addington, Selhurst, Fairfield, Broad Green and Thornton Heath
- Estimates based on the British Crime Survey suggest 13,666 women and 8,810 men experienced domestic violence and abuse in Croydon during 2011/12
- It is also thought that, in Croydon, 12,163 women and 969 men experienced four or more incidents during that period
- Data between April 2008 and April 2009 showed the majority of domestic violence and abuse victims in Croydon are women between 21 and 30 years old
