Friends of the Salt Lake County CJC

At the Friends nonprofit, our mission is to empower child victims of crime and their families to transform trauma into resilience. We do this by raising awareness and critical funding to ensure the Salt Lake County Children's Justice Center (CJC) program can continue offering a safe, child-centered environment where young survivors can tell their stories, seek justice, and begin healing through comprehensive wraparound services.

For more than 30 years, the Friends nonprofit has served as the CJC program’s dedicated philanthropic partner.

Each year, the Friends nonprofit fundraises for essential items and services the CJC program cannot obtain through public dollars: everything from emergency basic-needs support and therapeutic tools to facility improvements, specialized equipment, and enrichment resources that help children feel safe, seen, and supported.  

At our core, we believe every child deserves safety, justice, and hope—and we work every day to ensure the CJC program has the resources to make that possible.

CJC Program Information

The award-winning CJC program provides a successful multi-disciplinary team response for more than 1,700 children each year—ages 17 and under—who have experienced Salt Lake County’s most severe crimes, including physical abuse, shaken baby syndrome, sexual abuse and exploitation, drug endangerment, domestic violence, trafficking, and child homicide. 

The program offers comprehensive wraparound services, including:

• Forensic Interview in a Child-Friendly, Trauma-Reducing Setting
• Client Emergency Funds
• Transportation Barriers Removed
• Immediate Trauma-Informed Interventions & Therapy Connections
• Ongoing Support Through the Criminal Justice Process

Testimonials from children:

“Thank you for treating me with such patience and respect when I was there. I'm glad there is a place like that for kids who have been through stuff like I have. I wish there didn't have to be a place like this but I am thankful that there is because if people would stop abusing kids then there would not have to be a place like this. :)”  ~ message from a 13-year-old girl

“I will never ever forget all the people who helped me, I was in real danger” ~ Message from a 10-year-old girl

“Thank you for listening to me” ~ Message from a 7-year-old boy

Testimonials from parents:

Parents consistently rate our program as outstanding and that their child is doing much better after receiving services at our program.  

Success story:

The mother of a 6th-grade boy called to say thanks for all that we did to help her family six years ago and now they wanted to give back to the Children’s Justice Center.  Her son still remembers being very scared at first, but once they got to the Children’s Justice Center everything turned out to be a positive experience because everyone was so nice.  He still has the stuffed animal that he got from the program and it is very special to him.  Her son is doing great now is even the student body president at his school.  He expressed a desire to give back to the Children’s Justice Center through volunteering so that other kids in the same situation will not be afraid.  He created a collection drive at his school and at his church group to obtain items on our needs list and was proud the day he came back to the Children’s Justice Center to donate the items to benefit the children we are now serving. The mother was very thankful, and through her tears said they would do anything for us. 

“There is nothing worse in life than losing a child or having a child molested by someone you trust. In my opinion, if this is what my tax dollars are paying for then tax me to death because we could not have gotten through this traumatic experience without the help of the Children’s Justice Center”. ~ Message from a parent

 Supporting The Friends of The Salt Lake County Children’s Justice Center means you are joining thousands in giving a voice to children when they need us most in life.

The program relies on donations from individuals to provide extensive services and resources to help 1,600 child victims of crime each year.