{"id":23939,"date":"2026-02-12T12:30:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T20:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/?p=23939"},"modified":"2026-02-12T12:30:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T20:30:17","slug":"domestic-violence-shelter-to-open-in-ventura-heres-what-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/it\/domestic-violence-shelter-to-open-in-ventura-heres-what-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Domestic violence shelter to open in Ventura. Here’s what to know"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article was originally published by the VC Star. Read the full article here.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A short-term domestic violence shelter will soon open in Ventura, adding 10 spaces to what officials say is a limited number locally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ventura site will open at the Ventura County Family Justice Center, a one-stop place for victims of crime. The overwhelming majority of those who go to the center for help are survivors of domestic violence, said Brent Nibecker, chief deputy district attorney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plans have long called for adding a temporary shelter at the location, but funds weren’t initially available to do so. In 2024, around $1.6 million in federal funding was set aside for the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of those funds, roughly $600,000 is expected to be paid to the Coalition for Family Harmony to operate the shelter for the next two years, according to a proposed agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The county’s Board of Supervisors unanimously signed off on the agreement and a lease with the local nonprofit organization at a Feb. 10 meeting. The facility will be leased at no cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supervisor Matt LaVere called the project an incredible partnership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“People were getting the services, but they needed housing as well,” LaVere said. “This is going to meet that need.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did the county pay to build the shelter?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

District Attorney Erik Nasarenko told supervisors the more than 1,500-square-foot building will include six beds and two restrooms. He credited Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, with helping to secure the federal funds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The spot at the family justice center was briefly used for health care workers<\/a> who needed a spot to isolate after treating patients with COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The longtime medical offices, however, needed extensive work to be brought up to code, from adding sprinklers and water lines to redoing the parking lot. Around $1 million of the federal funds paid for construction costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Il Fondazione comunitaria della Contea di Ventura<\/a> also provided $440,000 to install four small pre-fabricated units and a restroom facility outside the building. The spots will allow rooms for those who may need special accommodations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We have come together to create a 15- to 20-day shelter opportunity for our domestic violence survivors,” Nasarenko said, during this week’s meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When will the domestic violence shelter open?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Caroline Prijatel-Sutton, the coalition’s executive director, told supervisors about the work to shape what would eventually become the family justice center in Ventura.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The dream was big to have a shelter as a potential at a family justice center in Ventura County,” she said. “Today, this dream is hopefully coming to fruition.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The shelter is expected to run 24 hours a day and has the advantage of “literally being a hop, skip and a jump” from the family justice center building, Prijatel-Sutton said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personnel will include a full-time onsite housing manager as well as client specialists and support staff. A therapist also is expected to be available at times, according to the agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The shelter is expected to open in early April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheri Carlson covers the environment and county government for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at cheri.carlson@vcstar.com<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article was originally published by the VC Star. Read the full article here. A short-term domestic violence shelter will soon open in Ventura, adding 10 spaces to what officials…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-coverage"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23939\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}