LA Board of Supervisors Approves Hospital as Temporary Shelter for Domestic Abuse Victims

The Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to offer temporary shelter to victims of domestic violence at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center campus as part of a Family Justice Center there.

Supervisors Hilda Solis and Sheila Kuehl proposed designating space on campus, free of charge, for the East Los Angeles Women's Center and the Los Angeles Police Department.

"This multi-agency and multidisciplinary collaboration will bring together law enforcement, medical and social services for victims of violence and abuse, instead of letting them navigate alone through complicated and cumbersome bureaucracy to get much needed assistance," Solis said.

The women's center will occupy about 5,400 square feet and offer victims and their families temporary shelter and a chance to transition to new lives.

LAPD officers and investigators were granted the use of 4,750 square feet of office space. That will allow officers to interview victims and their families and work together with staffers from the LAC+USC Violence Intervention Program, the medical center and sheriff's deputies, a collaboration that Kuehl called an "excellent one-stop shop model for combatting family violence."

The center is a partnership with the city of Los Angeles, USC and a number of community organizations.

"No one should be afraid in their own home," Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement. "This new center is an important step to help families escape the tragedy of domestic violence, and I applaud Supervisor Solis and the entire Board of Supervisors for giving it a home at LAC+USC Medical Center."