The Children's Advocacy Center of Jackson County

Tag: forensic interviews

  • Center Open, but limited to Emergency & Crisis Situations

    Center Open, but limited to Emergency & Crisis Situations

    IMPORTANT MESSAGE

    The Children’s Advocacy Center of Jackson County will remain open but limited to emergency and crisis related situations.   Our therapy department will be moving to providing services by phone or a HIPPA complaint web based platform.  This week most appointments were cancelled in order to work out a process to move in a way to be able to continue to provide interventions in a safe way.

    We will continue to schedule, on an emergency basis, forensic interviews.  As always these will be scheduled through law enforcement or child protection and we will work those entities to do so in as timely and in accordance to CDC recommendations.  We will be evaluating this daily based on the latest recommendations and what we learn about the spread of COVID 19.  “Emergency Basis” is being defined by law enforcement and child protection protocols and the ability to secure safety of the child needing the interview.

    We are increasing our cleaning of our building wiping down surfaces throughout the day.

    We are going to a smaller staff being on site at any given time.  If the phones ring longer or go to voicemail more frequently please be patient.

    We know that child abuse does not stop for any reason and we are working on being as responsive as we can and still help stop the spread of  COVID 19.

    We will be limiting the number of people in our work spaces.  What that translates to is we are trying very hard not to have more than one family in our building at one time.  NO ONE will be allowed in the building who is currently ill, running a fever or has had flu like symptoms in the last five days.

    We are not accepting donations of any used or gently used items at this time.  We are accepting snacks that are prepackaged by the manufacturer (i.e. goldfish, animal crackers,  etc.)  While we are not serving the usual number of children, we will be very soon have an increase once the CDC recommendations are lifted.

    We are also accepting donations of cleaning supplies such as Clorox, Lysol, or cleaning wipes.  These are in high demand.  We have some supplies right now but like you are uncertain how long this may be a need.  We are not assembling a stockpile of any supplies which means at the rate we are going we will run out.

    Additionally we are accepting gift cards in ten dollar increments to grocery stores in order to help out the families we serve who may not be receiving an income right now or may be facing reduced income or will need help with food even after the immediate concern is lifted.

    At this time all Protect Our Children trainings are cancelled or postponed.  After April 15th we will reevaluate based on the most current recommendations from the Governor and CDC at that time.

    Thank you

    Tammi Pitzen, Executive Director of the Children’s Advocacy Center of Jackson County

  • Birthday Wishes: Believe a Child or Not?

    By Tammi Pitzen, Executive Director of the Children’s Advocacy Center of Jackson County

    I have a birthday in April. I have no qualms about the number. I will be turning 47.

    26 of those years have been spent working in one role or another in the field of child abuse. Wow!

    That equates to more than half of my life spent responding to child abuse and trying to bring awareness to one of the most pervasive public health issues of modern times (or at least in my opinion.)

    The pendulum has swung from one end of the spectrum to the other and everywhere in between, as far as practice in securing safety and investigation of child abuse during my career. When I began, you were told to believe everything a child told you and then, later, it was to be suspicious of everything a child told you.

    Somewhere along the way, there were guidelines put in place for talking with children in a way that invited an open narrative, that minimized contamination of the information and was more trauma informed.

    There are still people who will never believe what a child tells them about abuse. If I had any advice for anyone trying to figure this out in their own life — it would be that it is better err on the side of keeping the child safe.

    Here are some things that I have learned along the way about figuring out next steps and what to believe, and because I think ranking is overvalued, they are not in any particular order:

    • In most cases, there are only two people in the world that can be 100% sure of exactly what happened in suspected child sexual abuse cases…the child and the perpetrator. These things do not generally happen with witnesses around. Child sexual abuse events generally do not generate C.S.I. type evidence.
    • Ask yourself what the child victim has to gain by making a false allegation. Usually the answer is — nothing but heartache. In my career I have spoken to literally thousands and thousands of children, some in a forensic interview and some out in the “field” on scene and otherwise, and what my experience has been is that most of the time if you asked a child what they wanted to happen to their offender (and by the way this is a BAD idea for a lot of different reasons) they generally would tell you they want the abuse to stop. They do not launch into a tirade about wanting him/her shot, hung, or otherwise dismembered. They do not spout off about wanting to ruin them. Many times child victims of all ages lose so much. They lose friends, family, and stability to name a few. And they gain anger, pain, blame, ridicule and shame many times.
    • On the flip side of the last one, what does the person accused have to gain by lying about what happened? If there is more than one person making an accusation, I generally go with the “where there is smoke, there is fire” line of thinking. This is particularly true when the children do not know each other or have no contact with each other. Believe it or not there are not groups of children plotting to ruin the adults in their lives.
    • NO MATTER what age, no matter what clothes they had on, no matter how “bad” they are, no matter what their grades are in school, the child did not ask for it. The adult is ALWAYS responsible for what happens between an adult and child. ALWAYS.
    • Offenders are not the scary people we do not know…they are people we like. They are people we love. They are people in our life. They are people who are respected. They are people we have previously deemed to be safe to be around our children. I know. I know. This one is enough to make us become paranoid and distrustful of every one.
    • Identifying and responding to physical abuse many times is easier for all of us. We see a child who has sustained injuries at the hands of an adult and we pretty much understand that should not happen. Although, I still occasionally run into people who feel like it is a parent’s “right” to do whatever they would like to their child. In fact, I have, in a few instances, had said parent yell that in my face.

    Most non-offending caregivers want to believe their child and want to believe the abuser because what does it say about their character to not believe their child? And WHAT does it say about their character if they allowed an offender into their child’s life. Those offenders are tricky and manipulative. You can do everything right and they still are able to slip into our lives. So what does it really say about them? Does it mean they are a terrible parent? I do not believe so. Does it mean they do not love their child? I do not believe so. Does it mean they are a horrible person? Nope. The really important thing is once they learn of the abuse, what is their response to their child? Do they do whatever needs to be done to keep them safe? Do they do whatever needs to be done to help their child begin healing? Do they engage in that healing process with them? We always hope so.

    When faced with having to make a decision on whether to believe a child or the accused offender, you should never base your decision on what the offender tells you.

    If there is an investigation (and there should be, because if a child tells you something, you should report it so that it can be fully investigated by professionals specially trained to do so, in order to get unbiased opinions and to secure the safety of your child) then talk to the professionals investigating, talk to people who work with offenders in a treatment process, talk to anyone involved who will talk to you. Listen to what they have to say. Listen to what their opinion is. Then carefully make a decision.

    But don’t make a decision out of fear…fear of not having money to pay the bills, fear of being alone, or fear of the unknown. Don’t make a decision that is based on the least painful path.

    Believing a child, keeping them safe, loving them, and giving them support does not sound painful, but it can be. But know that however painful it is for you, it is much more painful for that child. Children are very protective of the people they love. It is painful for them to hurt the non-offending people in their lives. They know that their words will change the world. They know their words can bring the walls in on top of them. They know their words will bring on a domino effect that cannot be reversed.

    My birthday wish this year is that if you are struggling with making a decision of whether to believe or not believe your child…..that you will reach out …..to someone who is unbiased, who has some experience in dealing with this issue, to help you.

    If you reach out to me, know that I will help you, but also know that I will make a report to either law enforcement or child protection. Your child’s health, happiness and future depends on my doing so.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Hope in the most unlikely places

    By Tammi Pitzen, Executive Director of the Children’s Advocacy Center of Jackson County

    April brings spring, renewal, energy and awareness on a very tough topic — Child Abuse.

    I recently had a conversation with a woman who, like many other people who talk to me about my work, was very focused on the “depressing” part of my job. The conversations usually begin and end with something like, “You hear a lot of horrible things” or “ How do you sleep at night?”

    I have even had people ask me what my job was and when I answered, they turned around and walked away. There were times in my younger years where people would not be friends with me because of what I did as a job. There were times that people would not date me because of what I did as a job. They would say things like “You are really nice, but I just don’t want to be around that stuff”.

    I look back now and shake my head and wonder what in the world they thought I would be talking about with them. Most of the things that happened during the course of my work day were confidential and not things I could talk to anyone about. AND it is not like child abuse is contagious like the flu. When people have asked me to speak at an event or to talk about what I do, they always ask that I keep it light.

    Here are the cold hard facts. Child abuse is not pretty. Child abuse is not glamorous. There are not many ways to keep that light and joyful. There are children who are hurt by someone they love multiple times a day, every single day. Child abuse is real. Child abuse is happening. Child abuse is being perpetrated by people I know. Child abuse is happening to children I know. Child abuse can be heinous and life impacting both physically and emotionally.

    If there is one thing that working 26 years in the field of child abuse has taught me, it is that there is another side to the story.

    There is much to be hopeful about. Yes. You read that right. I am hopeful.

    When I was working as a forensic interviewer, I was happy to see children come to me. It made me feel relieved, even if for only a fleeting moment. The day they came through the door was the day that, just maybe, an adult could help make the abuse stop.

    When I was working as a caseworker, even under the most stressful situations, I was glad to get reports assigned. It meant that someone cared enough about a child to pick up the phone and make a report. On the days that there were too many children and too many cases being sent my way to deal with, I knew that, for those children, there was hope. Hope for recovery. Hope for safety. Hope for a better tomorrow.

    There is much to be hopeful about if we are all doing our part.

    It is everyone’s responsibility to keep children safe. We can make a difference in the lives of our children and in the lives of children of future generations.

    But… there is a price to be paid for that hope.

    There has to be a shift in societal thinking and values. We HAVE to be able to talk about child abuse in order to educate the world about the scope of the problem. I truly believe that people in general do not understand the scope of the problem. We have to be able to talk to our children about appropriate boundaries. We have to be able to talk to the adults in our child’s life about what will be tolerated and what will not be tolerated in regards to behavior with and around our children.

    We have to be able to talk to our legislative representatives about why child abuse prevention needs to be a top priority. We HAVE to end the silence. We HAVE to end the shaming of victims of child abuse. We HAVE to end the blaming of child abuse victims.

    Child abuse is not a “child” problem. It is an “adult” problem. The problem is not with the child’s actions but with the adult’s action or reaction.

    What if we all decided every morning that we were going to do one act during the day on behalf of a child? What if we all decided that today… right now… was the time to end child abuse?

    I AM so hopeful. Children are continuing to need interviews, medical examinations and therapy assessments. We are overwhelmed some days with the amount of referrals and work there is to be done right here in Jackson County, but I am so hopeful.

    Children mean that reports are being made. Medical evaluations mean that children get to learn that their bodies have not been broken by abuse. Therapy assessments mean that children get to learn that abuse has not made them worthless. Interviews mean that children have an opportunity to talk about what has happened and that an adult in a position to help make that abuse stop is ready to help them.

    It is not hopeless. We only need to decide that we will be part of the paradigm shift that is needed in our world by starting to talk about what is child abuse and how to keep our children safe.

    We are not powerless.

    If we teach our children about what is abuse and if we talk about what will not be tolerated behavior with the adults in our children’s lives, we take back the power and we give to our children.