Child Advocacy Centers Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Senate Recognizes Child Advocacy Day

Monday was Child Advocacy Day at the Capitol, bringing together child welfare advocates to provide resources and educate the public.

The Senate passed a resolution making Monday Child Advocacy Day at the legislature. Special guests from the West Virginia Child Advocacy Network, or WVCAN, were set up outside the Senate chambers to spread their message.

Kate Flack is the CEO of WVCAN. She said the group was at the Capitol to celebrate the work of local child advocacy centers and their multidisciplinary teams in the past year and to urge the lawmakers to continue to support services to child survivors of abuse.

“Every year, we want to make sure that kids are as safe as possible so that we have laws that keep them safe, that makes sure that those who perpetrate child abuse are held accountable,” Flack said. “We also make sure that the folks who are doing the hard work of supporting children and their healing journey are supported financially, that CPS has support, that law enforcement has support, that prosecuting attorneys have support and that kids have access to mental health services and medical services.”

According to Flack, in the last year 4,879 new children were served by WVCAN’s 21 child advocacy centers.

“A child advocacy center is a child-friendly facility where treatment professionals and investigative professionals work together to hold offenders accountable and help kids heal,” Flack said. “So that includes law enforcement, CPS prosecuting attorneys, mental health providers, medical providers, our forensic interviewers and family advocates at the child advocacy centers. We meet monthly with each of those multidisciplinary investigative teams to coordinate on case outcomes to make sure that kids can heal and offenders are held accountable.”

WVCAN serves 46 of West Virginia’s 55 counties.

“We’re really proud of the work that’s being done, more than 10 percent increase in kids served in the last five years,” Flack said. “We know the services are no less needed now than they were before.”

Flack said WVCAN is expanding its mental health services through support from the Highmark Foundation.

“We’re looking to expand those services even further because we know that kids who have trauma histories do so much better when they get the type of support and medical and mental health support that they need,” Flack said.

A recent study of WVCAN’s services found that West Virginia children are 4.7 times more likely to encounter drug endangerment than the national average.

“Child advocacy centers really helped communities thrive, they are restoring the fabric of our society,” Flack said. “One in 10 kids will be sexually abused by their 18th birthday. So this is not a small problem. We need all hands on deck to support these children. And so we are hopeful that the legislature will continue to do so.”

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Charleston Area Medical Center and Marshall Health.

West Virginia Child Advocacy Network Releases Annual Report

In the past year, Child Advocacy Centers in West Virginia served 4,703 children which was a 20 percent increase in new children served in the last five years, according to a new report.

On Tuesday morning, The West Virginia Child Advocacy Network (WVCAN) released an annual report of service from the state’s 21 Child Advocacy Centers (CACs) where child protection, criminal justice, and child treatment professionals work together to investigate abuse, hold offenders accountable, and help children heal.

Kate Flack, CEO of WVCAN, said operating under the CAC model, instead of referring victims between agencies where children may be subjected to multiple interviews, is proving more effective.

“They coordinate the response around the child for an effective child-centered healing process,” Flack said. “We support multidisciplinary approaches to ensure that child victims of abuse have the best outcomes in our state. So we also work to make sure that local communities are empowered to provide this comprehensive, coordinated and compassionate services to victims of child abuse.”

WVCAN currently works with 45 of West Virginia’s 55 counties, serving 94 percent of the state’s population. But Flack worries about the six percent of the population not served by a CAC, leaving 33,770 children without these resources.

“For a community to decide that they want to do that, they’re making a really big statement in support of their kids and families in their communities,” Flack said. “So it’s a lot of work, but we do want to show that in West Virginia, even in the last 15 years, we went from only a couple of CACs to now 21 serving 45 counties.”

In an effort to bring awareness to children’s health needs and destigmatize the issue, the report includes data on victim demographics and statistics.

“By providing very positive messaging and education around what support exists and how children can go on to lead very healthy, happy lives, even in the wake of abuse, we are seeing a de-stigmatization of being a survivor of child sexual abuse,” Flack said. “Overall in thecountry, the prevalence and incidence of child abuse is decreasing overall, especially in the sexual abuse arena, and we really attribute that to education, awareness, and more quick reporting.”

If people suspect that a child is being abused or neglected, they can call the West Virginia hotline at 1-800-352-6513 or visit WVCAN’s website.

With Schools Closed, Child Advocates Get Creative To Reach Vulnerable Children

For many children in West Virginia, school is a respite; it’s a place where they get two meals a day and where teachers and counselors keep watchful eyes over them. But schools have been closed for a month and will remain closed for at least another two weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic. The situation has child welfare workers concerned that children in vulnerable situations may be going unnoticed.

Teachers and school counselors are mandatory reporters of suspected child abuse or neglect. Referrals to the state’s Child Protective Services are down. According to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, referrals were at least 49 percent lower between March 13 and April 13 than during any month over the past year.

Even though the number of referrals has dropped, child advocates are worried that instances of abuse and neglect have not. Rather, with children at home, there are fewer eyes on them. Teachers, school counselors and social workers are getting creative with ways to reach children they used to see regularly.

Cindy Rubenstein is an elementary school counselor in Taylor County. During a normal school week, she would talk to kids going through all sorts of situations from academic struggles to parents getting divorced.

“Not seeing the kids face-to-face, not having access to them all the time, has been a challenge,” said Rubenstein.

Rubenstein has delivered meals to students’ doorsteps on behalf of the school system, and she’s been checking on students over the phone.

“There have been a few that I haven’t been able to get in touch with, which is worrisome,” she said.

After following-up with Child Protective Services, she learned all are OK.

Meanwhile, life goes on for the 7,233 children who are in the state’s foster care system. Agencies that oversee children once they enter the system are trying to help kids cope in new ways. Siblings sent to different placements have been connected through video chats.

“That just brought me to tears, when they were able to see each other over some type of video chat, they were just in tears,” said Michelle Vaughan, director of shelter services for the Children’s Home Society of West Virginia, describing a reunion of sorts between two siblings at different emergency shelters.

Visitations with biological parents are happening over video conferencing, too. Where the technology isn’t available, foster parents are sending photos through the mail.

At an emergency shelter operated by the Children’s Home Society of West Virginia, Delvin Johnson’s responsibilities have grown. He manages the shelter that has 10 beds for children ages 12 and older. All the beds are taken currently, as they usually are, a result of the state’s ongoing battle with the opioid epidemic.

Johnson’s days are spent helping kids do school work and trying to keep them active while not being allowed to leave the shelter’s grounds.

“These kids are resilient. They are brave. They’re helping staff. They know what’s going on in the world,” Johnson said.

While referrals to Child Protective Services are down and movement in the foster care system has slowed, there is increased interest in foster parenting. Agencies have moved trainings online and seen enrollment grow. And child welfare workers, who are considered essential workers during the pandemic, continue to help children and families.

Angie Hamilton Thomas is an executive director with Pressley Ridge, which offers youth education, treatment and foster care programs. She’s worried about the stress some already fragile families may be under.

“You know if you think about kids and families being more shut-in, more isolated in a lot of areas, some of the mental health issues and problems that children and families face can be escalated,” Thomas said.

Pressley Ridge is also using video chats and checking-in with clients more frequently than when visits were in-person. They’re looking for signs of distress that would prompt an in-person visit, even during a stay-at-home order and social distancing.

“We would practice the safety precautions, we will practice the CDC guidelines,” Thomas said. “But we would still have an obligation to be responsive to those families.”

04/20/20 9:20 a.m.: This story was modified to better reflect current information on adoptions.

Demand for Child Advocacy Increases in State

West Virginia’s Children Advocacy Centers are seeing an increase in the number of children needing services.

A new report says the number of children served by the state’s 20 centers increased by 14.6 percent to 3,294 during the 2014-2015 fiscal year.

Advocacy centers treat victims of both physical and sexual abuse, as well as children who witness violent crime or are mistreated in other ways. They work to hold perpetrators accountable while getting those children started on a path toward healing.

Monday’s report by the West Virginia Child Advocacy Network says 75 percent of the children served during the past fiscal year were under the age of 13. Fifty-three percent of the alleged offenders were a parent or other family member.

State Awards $1.5 Million to Child Advocacy Centers

More than $1.5 million has been awarded to child advocacy centers in West Virginia.

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s office says the funds will go to 20 projects across the state. The money will assist local non-profit child advocacy centers in addressing child abuse and neglect.

The state grant funding is coordinated through the West Virginia Division of Justice and Community Services. It provides financial support to child advocacy centers in need of supplemental financial assistance.

Lawmakers Joining Fight to Restore Child, Family Funding

Lawmakers are joining community action groups in asking the governor to restore funding to what they call critical childhood and domestic violence programs across the state.

The cuts came after the 2014 legislative session in the form of a line item veto- one that took $1.06 million from in-home family education, domestic violence services and child advocacy centers.

Governor Tomblin announced Wednesday he was restoring about $260,000 worth of funding, but took the money from a trust fund for future children’s programs.

Now, members of the Select Committee on Crimes Against Children are calling on the governor to restore the full million dollars he cut through a supplemental bill during May’s special legislative session.

Delegate Nancy Guthrie spoke to group of family and child service workers about the restoration during at a press conference at the Capitol Thursday.

“A million dollars is not a lot to ask for to make all of you whole, to allow you to be the troops that we need on the ground, in the communities, serving the people that you know,” she said.

“We know that the work that you do is not only important, but it’s crucial to keep our communities strong.”

Because of the cuts, advocates say more than 80 jobs will be lost from family resource centers and domestic violence programs across the state.