Crystal Jensen Family Justice Center describes expanded services, language access and space needs to Tacoma committee

The Community Vitality and Safety Committee on April 23 received an update from the Crystal Jensen Family Justice Center outlining the nonprofit’s survivor‑centered, collocated model and 2025 service metrics.

Madeline Mann Adder, who identified herself as the center’s director, told the committee the center’s model brings partners into one location to provide warm handoffs and coordinated services, “so survivors can more easily navigate systems and resources.” She described the center as a place where survivors can get safety planning, domestic‑violence education, help with protection orders and direct referrals to family‑law supports.

The center reported its 2025 activity included just shy of 6,000 helpline calls, more than 2,000 on‑site visits and roughly 2,000 follow‑up contacts. Mann Adder said staff reached out to individuals identified through police reports and forensic nonfatal‑strangulation exams and that a large share of clients are Tacoma residents. She said 45 percent of clients reported household income under $20,000 and notable shares of clients reported histories of strangulation or other components of intimate‑partner violence.

Committee members heard the center’s efforts on language access and workforce development: Mann Adder said the center supports speakers of multiple languages (the presentation cited six on‑site languages and support for 11 languages in 2025) and has revived an internship program that hosted 12 interns from six universities last year. The center also described emergency supports the team provides — from food and hygiene items to pet assistance — and said all services are confidential and free.

Mann Adder described facility constraints and fund‑raising plans. “We have a small but mighty team,” she said, and added that the center would like to move to a more trauma‑informed space with windows and room to expand programming. She noted a July 17 taco fundraiser to support emergency victim services and said the center is working with Pierce County and the city on an interlocal agreement that supports the center’s administration.

Why it matters: committee members repeatedly flagged the center’s role connecting survivors to multiple systems and asked about jurisdictional reach, local client counts and options for expanding capacity. The center said it serves many people from across Pierce County and approximately half of those clients are city residents; staff said the interlocal agreement under discussion may shape broader regional participation.

The committee had no vote on funding for the center during the meeting; staff and councilmembers said they would follow up with questions about the center’s budget, the proposed interlocal agreement and next steps for facility expansion.