Wasatch County Children’s Justice Center Director Kurt Hoffman knows there’s room for improvement at the Heber City-based organization. The home could use a few upgrades, he said, that will help staff better serve the community.
The Children’s Justice Center is part of a state program run by Utah’s Attorney General’s Office. There’s a center in nearly every county with designated staff and local partnerships to help children who have experienced trauma and abuse, according to Hoffman. About 70% of children served in Wasatch County are middle and high school-aged children between the ages of 10 and 17 years old.
The three highest case types have been sexual abuse (26%), physical abuse (23%) and domestic and family violence (20%). Other primary cases include drug endangerment, neglect and sextortion — where children are coerced into sharing explicit photos or content, which is then used as blackmail against them.
Hoffman said one of the main priorities is ensuring children and teens feel safe and secure at the Children’s Justice Center. It helps them feel more comfortable when they are immersed in an inherently uncomfortable or traumatic situation. That’s why the center needs a clean, welcoming home for children to find help.
Because as Wasatch County grows, the number of children served increases alongside the population.
Hoffman said that in the past five years, the number of primary victims served by the Children’s Justice Center has increased 58% total, with 180 children helped. The steady increase mirrors overall growth in Wasatch County.
Historically, when there’s a case of abuse, Hoffman said a victim would have to tell their story multiple times before any consequences for the perpetrator took place.
“As you can imagine, for a number of reasons, that’s traumatic for the victim to have to keep retelling their traumas,” Hoffman said, adding that the center changes that system. “The victim can come to one place, receive coordinated service, and the government services come to them.”
Law enforcement, victim advocates, forensic interviewers, medical staff and mental health professionals all work with the Children’s Justice Center in Wasatch County.
In terms of reporting, Hoffman said the increased number of reporting shows that the center is serving its purpose for the community.
“We think it’s a good thing that kids are being brought to the right place to have the right discussions, and that they’re opening up more about things that have always happened,” Hoffman said. “That coordination makes all the difference.”
It helps keep families in the loop, he said, to have coordinated services across the board.
“They’ve always got a contact with somebody here at the (Children’s Justice Center) that can answer the questions that come when you’re in the chaos of a child abuse investigation,” Hoffman said.
Tori Durr, a Friends of the Wasatch County Children’s Justice Center board member, said that when she brought her 3-year-old daughter to the center to accompany her on her first week on the job, it felt like a home.
“There are all these toys and just couches, and it looks like a house,” Durr said. “She was comfortable, and it felt like a safe place to her.”
Durr said the staff is “welcoming and happy” — another cue for comfort.
“All the new updates they’re going to do, they really have focused on like, ‘Let’s make it a happy, safe place in a hard time that kids can come to and parents can come and they can sit together, their kids can go play for a little bit,’” Durr said. “I think that’s an important thing that maybe the community doesn’t know about, that it really does feel like a safe place for people and for kids.”
The center, which is located near Timpanogos Middle School in Heber City, was built in 2005 and is just over 20 years old. It is not ADA-compliant under current standards, and areas such as parking need attention.
Hoffman said there also needs to be an additional conference room to provide a more conducive meeting area for the team, now run out of the center’s kitchen. It would be attached with its own entrance and could be secured from the main center for after-hours parenting and similar services.
“That is a community need in terms of the education and treatment part,” Hoffman said.
The center has approval stamps for building permits. Next: Hire a contractor and continue raising funds for the project.
Under state code, the Children’s Justice Center is required to have a blended funding model with federal, state, county, local and private dollars. Hoffman said some state dollars will help pay for an elevator and county dollars may help pay for the conference room.
“It’s meant to be that collaborative, supportive approach,” Hoffman said. “Our Friends nonprofit money helps support our building, as well as providing trauma services like mental health counseling or direct service needs.”
The Friends of the Wasatch County Children’s Justice Center’s priority is to support the center’s main needs and help raise funds to sustain it.
As visitors walk in, there is a homey living room area for intake. Kids and teens can sit on comfortable couches or spend time in a small play area. Then, parents and children are taken back for interviews one at a time. They sit in a large kitchen area at a dining room table, talking through the situation and what home life has been like.
The center is fully operational and is much more spacious on the inside than it looks from outside. It’s clear the staff care for the space and incorporate as many aspects as possible that make it feel like a home — sitting areas, books and snacks, play rooms and more.
In one of the more private interview rooms, there is a mural of “The Little Mermaid” characters, including Ariel and Flounder. Bright, colorful art peppers the walls of a second interview room. The wall paint itself is also colorful and clearly designed to capture a playful essence.
But Hoffman said that, when the center was designed 20-plus years ago, it was not made for the long haul. As the center moves toward an upgrade, design features will be incorporated with the perspective of child psychology. There will be dimmable lights, more neutral wall paint and maybe one or two calming pieces of art in each room.
The key, Hoffman said, is to not overstimulate or overwhelm visitors. Yes, the current setup is playful. But comfort is the goal, he said.
The center is designed for advocacy, Hoffman said. The center’s staff and all partners, he said, are dedicated to providing the best services possible for children and families who need help in the Wasatch County community.
After the center provides help to victims and family members, Hoffman said the biggest thing staff tries to impress on them is hope.
“That there can be healing,” Hoffman said. “That they have a whole team that’s on their side that’s working for them. That they’re not alone, because abuse thrives in secret and in darkness.”
Durr said the best way for the nonprofit’s board and the entire community to support the center and its upgrade project is through fundraising. This year, there will be two main events to be hosted this fall and winter.
The Utah Arts Collective Foundation Nutcracker Tea Party is an annual event where 100% of the proceeds are donated directly to the Children’s Justice Center. The Children’s Justice Center board will also host Cottages for the Children — a festive gingerbread house-building activity — to raise money.
Dates for the fundraisers are still to come, though it is all but certain they will be held in November and December of this year.
Hoffman said that donations are always welcome and incoming. When children come for help, they often walk away with a new toy or one of the many blankets that are stacked floor to ceiling in the center’s donation room.
If community members want to aid the Children’s Justice Center in other ways, Hoffman said reaching out to center staff is a great way to learn more about donations, fundraising and more.