The Children's Advocacy Center of Jackson County

Tag: Ginny Sagal

  • One Thing You Can Do That Matters

    One Thing You Can Do That Matters

    By Ginny Sagal, Communication & Outreach Coordinator for the Children’s Advocacy Center of Jackson County

    You can’t read a newspaper or turn on a television without hearing about child sexual abuse.

    Do not feel helpless.

    There is one thing you can do that matters in addressing child sexual abuse.  You can take a child abuse prevention training through the Children’s Advocacy Center Protect Our Children Project.  

    When I read and hear these horrible stories, I think how wonderful it would be if all parents and caregivers knew how to recognize and respond to child sexual abuse.

    The Protect Our Children training guides you through 5 steps to protecting children from sexual abuse.

    The 5 Steps are:

    1. Learn the Facts: 1 in 10 children are sexually abused before the age of 18. Over 90% of them know their abuser. There is no more of this stranger danger thing. We need to go beyond that.
    2. Minimize the Opportunity: Decrease the risk of abuse by eliminating one on one situations.
    3. Talk About It: Have age appropriate, open conversations about our bodies, sex and boundaries. I think of the gymnast kids who were abused by their doctor or coach that the families had trusted.
    4. Recognize the signs: Why is this person giving gifts to my child? Why is this person always with the kids when he or she should be with the adults when we are at a party?
    5. React Responsibly: How you reacts matters. Go with your gut feeling!

    The Protect Our Children Project uses the Stewards of Children curriculum, developed by Darkness to Light.

    We believe that when adults take the class they recognized that it is all our responsibility to protect children.

    We believe that adults who take the class decrease the risk of the children in their life being sexually abused.

    The fact is that 99% of participants who take the training would recommend this training to a friend, family member or co-worker. (Study done by the University of Oregon Center for Prevention of Abuse and Neglect.)

    The Children’s Advocacy Center of Jackson County has partnered with The Ford Family Foundation to offer this training to anyone in Jackson County for FREE.

    Just think, in 2 to 3 short hours you can decrease the risk that a child in your life will be sexually abused. THAT IS BIG!!!

    Do one thing that Matters for the kids and teens in your life. Take a Protect our Children training.

    To register for a training for yourself or your group, business or organization go to: http://cacjc.org/services/prevention  or call Leah Howell, Protect Our Children Training Coordinator, at 541-734-5437 ext. 1013

    Ginny Sagal
  • Volunteers: The Heart of the Center

    Volunteers: The Heart of the Center

     

    By Ginny Sagal, Communication & Outreach Coordinator for the Children’s Advocacy Center of Jackson County

    It’s 9am and the Children’s Advocacy Center is open. Clients are coming in for a therapy session, therapy assessment, medical service, or forensic interview.

    They are greeted by a CAC employee and many times by a volunteer.

    This is a volunteer who has given their time and heart to help out at the Center. The volunteers who help out at the Children’s Advocacy Center are given a variety of tasks to do that are catered to their interest, skillset, and our client’s needs.

    Many come to the Center to be with the children.

    They play games, read stories, or just hang with them. Having kind and caring volunteers help out with the children makes the waiting sometimes not so scary. They also comfort the parents, who are sometimes just as scared and confused as the kids.

    We have volunteers that also help with filing and keeping our closet, where we store extra clothing for our clients, organized. Some volunteers love to get involved in our once a year Winter Gala fundraiser that requires many hours of their time.

    Once a week in the evening, we have a special parent therapy group that is totally run by the volunteers and facilitated by one of our therapists. The volunteers make dinner for the kids and parents. While the parents are in the group session with the therapist, the volunteers play games and make crafts with the kids. When the session is done, these dedicated volunteers stay to help clean up.

    Our volunteers come from all walks of life.

    We have some that are students who are working on college credits that pertain to social service and criminal justice work. There are companies that come to the Center as a team to help us out on a project. Many are retirees that have chosen our Center to help out in the next phase of their lives.

    The Children’s Advocacy Center has a child sexual abuse prevention training that is done by volunteers. This program is called the “Protect our Children, Darkness to Light, Stewards of Children” training.

    Being a volunteer at the Children’s Advocacy Center is like being part of a big family. Like most families, some days are easier than others, but the devotion and love that our volunteers give to our Center and our clients makes every day a special one.

    There is always room for more volunteers. Please let us know if you have a place in your heart to help children and their families. We can set up a time to for tour and talk about how they want to help the abused children and their families at the Center.   Contact Ginny Sagal at vsagal@cacjc.org or call her at 541 282 5474.

    Ginny Sagal

  • Transformation: Why CAC Matters

    By Leah Howell, Jackson County Training Coordinator, PROTECT OUR CHILDREN Child Abuse Prevention Training

    My son just started preschool this year.  Two days per week, he gathers with 10 other 3 year-olds and follows a routine of play, circle time, and snack.

    Right now he and his classmates are learning about the life-cycle of the monarch butterfly, and subsequently, they were able to capture two caterpillars. Inside an aquarium, and with assistance from a branch tilted at just the right angle, those caterpillars each made a chrysalis.  What an amazing process this insect goes through – changing from one thing, to something so different!

    I wonder if there is something innate in the caterpillar that realizes someday he will not be confined to such a small area of the world, eating every minute of the day, trapped in a slow moving, defenseless body.  Do they know, somehow, that there is more in store for them? Or if, when he sees other monarch butterflies, does he innately “know” that is what he will become?

    Children come into this world totally dependent and defenseless too.

    I do not know if each child is born with an innate knowledge of their potential, but I do know that the beliefs about their own worth can be easily influenced by negative messages: “You’re a bad kid,” “You’re too emotional,” “You are an inconvenience,” and “You are nothing special.”

    These messages early and often have the power to keep a kid on the ground, metaphorically speaking, dragging wings that seem like nothing more than a nuisance.

    I love being part of the Children’s Advocacy Center – an organization that prioritizes protection, support and care of kids,…a place where the employees and volunteers speak worth and potential into kid’s lives all day, every day… a place that teaches kids how to start to use the amazing wings they’ve got, and then, through amazing transformations, kids learn to fly!

    Come be a part of these transformations!

    If you have time, kind words, energy, and love to give – call Ginny Sagal our Volunteer Coordinator: 541-282-5474 Ext. 113.

     

     

  • Parenting Teens: A Mom’s Story

    By Ginny Sagal, Communication and Outreach Coordinator at the Children’s Advocacy Center

    Since starting my job as Communication and Outreach Coordinator at CAC, I have had some thoughts about my parenting.  Being an older mom with twins has been a wonderful journey.  When they were little I would be very careful where they went for play dates, and who was going to be at the house.  I knew it was my job to protect them. That was some time ago.

    As a parent of teenagers ready to go off to college in a year and a half, things are much different than when they were little.  No more play dates as they all seem to communicate with their friends on the internet.  I will walk into my son’s room only to find that he is online playing a game with five of his friends.  The new generation spends much time communicating with their peers online and texting.

    I am happy that when I do go into my son’s or daughter’s rooms that they can share with me what they are doing and have no secrets.  When they are on FaceTime their friends get to see me and I get to see who they are.  Communication is very important with teenagers.  It is important to let them know that you care and that you give them their space, but also that you are there for them if they need you.  You are their protector.

    I know with the parenting I have done, they will make good choices about who they will choose to be friends with and groups they will be part of once they get to college.  Protecting our children comes from good parenting and communication with your children.

    April is Child Abuse Prevention Month.  Every child is special and needs our care and protection.  With good parenting tools we can contribute to a safer community for our children.