MURRAY — It took Melissa Behunin several attempts to leave an abusive situation, largely because she feared leaving her young daughter alone with her husband.

She kept going back, even once the divorce was finalized, so she could oversee interactions between father and daughter.

"I was able to have control and monitor the situation," the 27-year-old woman said Wednesday at the opening of All-R-Kids, a new, first-in-Utah center where victims of domestic violence drop off their children for parental exchanges or supervised visits without having face-to-face contact with their abuser. "If something was available like this I probably would have left years ago," Behunin said.

Such interactions often turn deadly, officials said Wednesday, citing the August slaying of 29-year-old Janeil Drommond, a Woods Cross woman shot and killed while dropping off her 6- and 4-year-old sons for a visit with her ex-husband. Drommond was accompanied by her father, who was injured in the altercation.

David Drommond has been charged with capital murder, first-degree felony aggravated attempted murder and class A misdemeanor violation of a protective order.

"Domestic violence escalates during separation and divorce," state Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said. "Bringing your child to visit with a parent should not risk life."

At All-R-Kids, victims and alleged perpetrators, often granted visitation with their children through court orders, enter the center through separate doors. The center is equipped with panic buttons, and each employee and volunteer will receive ongoing training on safety issues, said center director Amy Jensen.

Each room of the 80-year-old historic house-turned-center is equipped with security cameras, and arrival and departure times are staggered to prevent contact between victims and abusers.

"We'll add that extra layer of protection for the victims," said Paula Houston, director of South Valley Sanctuary, a local domestic violence shelter that will operate All-R-Kids under a two-year grant awarded to the state Attorney General's Office by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Similar services are available privately, Houston said, but high costs often are prohibitive for many families. "This is a gap that has existed for a very long time," she said.

Visiting parents will be charged to use the facility on a sliding-fee scale based on their income, with prices ranging from $10-$50 for intake fees, $1-$30 per child exchange and $1-$50 an hour for supervised visits.

Victim parents will not be charged to use the center.

All-R-Kids has been in the planning stages for nearly four years. And on Wednesday, advocates for victims of domestic violence praised it as long overdue.

"We have been waiting for this for years," Jensen said. "This has been a service that has been needed for a long, long time."

Between June 2003 and June 2004, nearly 3,000 Utah children lived in domestic violence shelters, said Judy Kasten Bell, executive director for the Utah Domestic Violence Council.

"All-R-Kids will be a safe place for children to visit with a parent who is not safe to live with at home," she said.

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For Behunin, whose ex-husband is in jail pending sentencing on unrelated charges, and her now 8-year-old daughter, the center will serve a vital community role.

"It was a very humbling day when I realized I couldn't keep my daughter safe by myself," Behunin said. "There's other people other there, too, who need help."

For more information about All-R-Kids, call 1-801-747-2130.


E-mail: awelling@desnews.com

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