A new trauma recovery center in Downtown Brooklyn opened on Tuesday, the fourth crime victim services center established in New York City.
The center, established with City Council funding, will provide free, trauma-informed care to survivors of physical or sexual violence, intimate partner or family abuse, trafficking, hate violence, homicide loss, incarceration or criminalization, and immigration-related trauma.
New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, City Council Members and the Center for Community Alternatives celebrated the opening of the newest TRC at 25 Chapel St. Officials said the center is also innovative because it brings specialized care that focuses on the intersection of violence and involvement in the criminal legal system.
“For too long, the communities most impacted by violence have had the least access to traditional victim services and the support needed to recover,” Speaker Adrienne Adams said in a statement. “With our opening of New York City’s fourth trauma recovery center, crime victims will have access to vital services that help them recover, and communities will be safer."
TRCs are designed to reach survivors of violent crime who have less access to traditional victim services and are less likely to engage in mainstream mental health or social services, according to officials. They provide wraparound services and coordinated care, including mental health, physical health and legal services, by utilizing multi-disciplinary staff that can include psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and outreach workers focused on providing survivor-centered healing and removing barriers to care.
Based on a model of care developed in 2001 at the University of California San Francisco, TRCs have been proven to improve economic, health and social outcomes of those who receive their services. They improve public safety by interrupting cycles of violence and increasing participation in the legal process, officials said.
The City Council has allocated approximately $15 million in new funding over the last four years to expand these comprehensive crime victim services, including the creation of Rising Ground in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island (JCCGCI) in Brooklyn and Astor Services in the Bronx.
