‘We’re really excited’: Children’s Justice Center to expand thanks to charitable land lease agreement

ST. GEORGE — The Washington County Children’s Justice Center will be able to expand its services thanks to a charitable land lease agreement with Intermountain Healthcare.

In this file photo, Kristy Pike, director of the the Washington County Children’s Justice Center speaks to the Washington County Commission, St. George, Aug 3, 2021 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

The Washington County Commission approved Tuesday the lease agreement for 1.22 acres immediately adjacent to the children’s justice center on 500 South. The added ground will allow for the building of the new facility that will serve as the home of the center’s mental health therapy program and pediatric abuse medical team.

“We can expand our campus and our services and we’re really excited about it,” Kristy Pike, the center’s director, told St. George News prior to the commission’s approving the deal.

The Children’s Justice Center provides a place where children who have experienced abuse of any sort can be interviewed in an environment geared to feel more inviting and open than a police station.

Once inside, the child meets with a forensic interviewer during a session that is also recorded and watched by law enforcement and others in another room. From there the child is referred to medical and mental health services as deemed necessary.

Other services the nonprofit center offers include victim advocacy, preparing protective orders and helping the children and their families find aid in various ways.

A map showing the location of the Washington County Children’s Justice Center and the lot between it and the Jubilee Home. The vacant lot will soon be the site of an expansion of the children’s justice center in St. George | Map courtesy of Google Maps, St. George News

The center served 401 primary victims of child abuse in 2021, the majority of which were also victims of some form of sexual abuse or assault.

“We’re about helping kids be as safe as possible,” Pike said. “Nine out of 10 of the leading cases of death in the United States – your risk factor for those increase if you’ve had an adverse childhood experience. Those adverse experiences are compounded if a child has experienced sexual abuse. Those are the kids we serve.”

As the center helps these children, it is hoped the adverse experiences are buffered so there can be better lifetime outcomes for the children involved, she said.

“Improving access to behavioral healthcare for children in Washington County is directly aligned with Intermountain’s ‘Primary Promise’ to build the model health system for children,” Mikelle Moore, Intermountain Healthcare’s chief community health officer, said in a press release. “We are grateful to the Children’s Justice Center for converting this empty lot into a place of healing and look forward to continuing to provide services for the CJC’s patients.”

Talks between Intermountain Healthcare and the Friends of the Washington County Children’s Justice Center about the vacant lot have been underway for over 18 months, Pike said. The Friends group is a nonprofit organization set up to support the center,

A part of the vacant lot next to the Washington County Children’s Justice Center that Intermountain Healthcare has provided for the center’s expansion, St. George, Utah, April 19, 2022 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

This is not the first example of the collaboration between Intermountain Healthcare and children’s justice center.

The first Washington County Children’s Justice Center opened in 1997 in a small home donated by what was then Intermountain Dixie Regional Medical Center. From there, the Children’s Justice Center moved to its current location on 500 South in St. George on land also donated by Intermountain. Medical services are provided by Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital employees.

“We are appreciative of the great collaboration between Intermountain, Washington County, the City of St. George, the state of Utah, Children’s Justice Center staff and private partners to quietly care for the most vulnerable in our community – our children,” Washington County Commissioner Gil Almquist said.

Pike said she anticipates ground being broken for a new building by the end of the year.

For those who believe they or someone they know needs the help of the Washington County Children’s Justice Center, call 435-634-1134, visit the center’s website or call Utah’s 24-hour child abuse reporting hotline: 1-855-323-3237.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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