New child advocacy center to work with county schools
Published 6:00 am Thursday, December 14, 2000
For children and families in abusive situations, help is on theway in the form of a new child advocacy center and twoorganizations associated with the Lincoln County SchoolDistrict.
The new Southwest Mississippi Children’s Advocacy Center,headquartered in McComb, serves the 14 counties of the Departmentof Human Services’ District 5. It is one of five non-profitindependently owned and operated centers in the state.
“The centers offer a new way of serving abused children,” saidBente Hess, the southwest center’s director.
Services include a comprehensive approach to helping victims andfamilies. Among them are community education efforts on childabuse, on-site therapy services for children and family supportservices.
Another focus area is the coordination of the investigation andinterviews when a child abuse case is reported. Hess said thecenter will work closely with law enforcement agencies, thedistrict attorney’s office, DHS, mental health officials anddoctors.
“The basic concept is to reduce the number of times the child isinterviewed after disclosing physical or sexual abuse,” Hesssaid.
Hess estimated a child tells his story of abuse 13 times betweendisclosure and trial.
By providing a child-friendly environment, the child can beinterviewed by an unbiased person while investigators and otherscan watch via closed circuit television, Hess said. Observers willalso be able to secretly communicate with the interviewer in aneffort to get information needed for an investigation.
Hess said the goal is to not re-traumatize the child with eachretelling of the story. Center interviews will be video taped forpossible use later at trial.
“We’re hoping they can use that testimony in lieu of the childhave to get up on the stand,” Hess said.
Hess also mentioned center efforts to make sure false abuseallegations are discovered.
In the past, interviews of suspected child abuse victims havehad to be referred outside the area, such as to Jackson or Hammond,Hess said. The southwest center is located in McComb, but satellitecenters are a possibility.
“We hope to have a satellite center in Brookhaven as fundspermit,” Hess said.
According to DHS statistics, there were 18,389 reports ofsuspected child abuse or neglect cases reported in the state in1999. Of those, 265 were in Lincoln County, Hess said.
Community education on prevention and intervention related tochild abuse cases is another service area for the center.
“That plays into what we’re doing with the Families Firstcenters,” Hess said about its providing contract services forschools in Lincoln, Pike, Walthall and Marion counties.
In Lincoln County, the advocacy center is associating with thePrevention and Intervention program with the county schooldistrict. Through a grant from DHS, center and program officialswill be going into schools several times a year to educate childrenabout child abuse.
“A lot of kids have this going on, and they don’t know it’s notsupposed to be going on,” said Jason Case, programs coordinator forthe county school district. “It’s an awareness program.”
School-related efforts will target the fourth and fifth grades.Hess said the grant is aimed at 10 to 18 years old, but there is atwo-year leeway period on either end.
“We targeted the lower end of the grant,” Hess said.
Case and Hess said the county program will also work withteachers, school staff and law enforcement on dealing withsuspected child abuse cases.
Other target areas for the prevention and intervention programare drug and substance abuse education and abstinence education,Case said. The idea is to prevent children from getting into a badsituation or help them get out if they are in one now.
“The program is geared toward anything that would be an at-riskactivity,” Case said.
Another effort to help families is the Lincoln County FamiliesFirst Resource Center. It and the prevention-intervention program,both funded through DHS grants, are housed at Eva HarrisSchool.
Among services to be offered by the resource center are positiveparenting classes, after school tutoring, teen parenting classesand respite care to allow parents time away from a child whorequires constant attention. Director Chris Holmes said the centerhas also developed a resource directory for identifying otherplaces where families can get help.
“If we can’t offer it, we can tell them who can,” Holmessaid.
Holmes said the center can receive referrals from not onlycounty schools, but city and private schools and churches aswell.
Families First positive parenting classes are expected to startin January. Some tutoring programs offered by Families First andPrevention-Intervention are either in place or close to it.
Holmes said Families First tutoring is offered at the resourcecenter and at West Lincoln. Case said Prevention-Interventiontutoring is in place at Loyd Star and West Lincoln.
“Hopefully, we can start up at Enterprise and Bogue Chitto nextweek,” Case said.
Some of the center’s services are still being formed.
“Pretty much, everything will be up and running by the end ofJanuary,” Holmes said, adding that the center is taking resourcematerial donations to help build up its library.
Hess said the Exchange Club, Bogue Chitto Exchange Club andJunior Auxiliary are helping the advocacy center try to find aseparate building for its children and family services. The centeris also working on getting inter-agency agreements with thesheriff’s department and police department for investigationcoordination and other services.
Hess, Case and Holmes said their three agencies will be workingclosely while trying to help families and prevent child abuse.
“We’re trying to build on each other’s strengths,” Hesssaid.