Friday, 08/12/05

The new Child Advocacy Center serving abused children in the five counties that make up the 23rd Judicial District opened its doors in Burns last week and as of yesterday had already assisted six children and their family members.

“That says a couple of things: it obviously shows the need for the center and the brevity of what’s going on in our community,” said Executive Director Kim Stringfield.

The CAC is at 1465 Spencer Mill Rd. in Burns and has an observation room with a video camera and tape recorder strategically placed so abused children can tell their stories in a comfortable, child-friendly atmosphere without feeling intimidated.

All of the agencies involved in a child abuse case come to the CAC once the case has been referred by the Department of Children’s Services and observe the child, who only has to tell their story once instead of repeating it to every agency involved.

The recorded information is then burned to a CD and used to help move the cases through the system, according to Stringfield.

Stringfield said two of the cases this week were from Humphreys County and four were from Dickson County.

The 23rd Judicial District is comprised of Dickson, Humphreys, Houston, Stewart and Cheatham counties.

She said all of the counties in the district are participating.

“Everyone is getting on board,” she said. “We’ve had great feedback. All the counties have been real excited about this facility. We’ve started to receive the referrals that are coming in from all the different counties.”

She said the CAC tracks each case in the counties from the time a case is reported through the prosecution.

“That way none of the cases or the children fall through the cracks,” she said. “We make sure every child receives every service they need, that the case has every bit of evidence that they have put together. We have it all collected and ready to present to the assistant district attorney.”

Stringfield said that per capita Dickson County ranks slightly higher than Davidson County in the number of child sexual and physical abuse cases reported to the Department of Children’s Services and that Humphreys County has the highest number of cases of child abuse in the district and the third highest in the state.

The aesthetics of the center include bright, primary colors of red, blue and yellow and there are toys in plain view that the children can play with. Visitors will find cartoons playing on the television, drawing boards and other child-friendly objects to make the children as comfortable as possible as they go through the process.

“The children tend to be more relaxed but the setting is such that it is conducive to the interview. They don’t feel pressured, they don’t feel scared,” Stringfield said.

“As a matter of fact we had a parent come in recently who was very apprehensive about her child being interviewed. She felt like he would be really scared and she was relieved to hear him laughing down the hall. He was not intimidated in any shape, form or fashion. He was laughing, making jokes. That kind of gives you an idea of how it puts the parents at ease as well.”

On one wall is a mural of the Yellow Brick Road from The Wizard of Oz and the names of everyone who donated time, money and materials to the renovation of the building, which was donated by local businessman Phil Hall, will eventually be placed on the “bricks” that comprise the Yellow Brick Road, Stringfield said.

“We’re going to have an assistant district attorney housed here and he will specialize in domestic violence,” Stringfield said. “He will be available to families who come that might have legal issues.”

She said the ADA will assist child victims of domestic violence and their families.

“He’s not going to be free legal aid but he will be here and more than willing to answer any questions the family may have,” she said.

In addition, the center is in the process of hiring a family advocate that will work specifically with children who have been removed from homes where there’s methamphetamine production, she said.

“The advocate will be helping the family get any type of services they need,” she said. “It may be the foster care family that the advocate works with. They will just follow that child all the way through the process to get housing, to get finance, anything that they need.”

An open house is set for 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. tomorrow for ministers in the five counties that make up the district.

Stringfield said more than 300 invitations were mailed out to the churches inviting the ministers to come and see the facility and give them the opportunity to find ways to help keep the CAC going as well as see what they have already done through their donations and how much their efforts are appreciated.

“Because we are a non-profit organization we function solely on grants, fundraising and so forth,” she said. “We have had a really good response from churches that are giving us support.”

She said many of the churches have offered single “love offerings” a year.

“With the number of churches we have in the five counties, if each church gave one love offering a year that would help funding quite a bit,” she said.

An open house at the CAC for the general public is set for Sept. 10 and will include hot dogs, cotton candy, clowns, face painting and a flea market. Flea market tables will be available to sellers for $20. Anyone interested in renting a table can call the CAC for more information.