The Children's Advocacy Center of Jackson County

Tag: Cherish a Child Luncheon 2017

  • The Many Faces of Healing: Emily

    The Many Faces of Healing: Emily

     

    Emily, a ten year old intellectually disabled child, came to the Children’s Advocacy Center as result of concerns for her safety. A teacher noticed that this normally very polite, quiet child began having problems in school.

    Emily began acting out sexually on the playground. The teacher became concerned and made a report.

    Emily’s medical evaluation helped determine that she had been physically and sexually abused. During the evaluation, she also disclosed that she had been made to watch pornography. The very specialized medical evaluation from the Children’s Advocacy Center’s pediatrician also found substantial untreated medical issues that indicated long-term neglect. Our doctor was able to make referrals to a primary care physician to help resolve these issues.

    Through the investigation, it became apparent that Emily could not remain in the care of her parents. She was placed with a loving relative who is receiving support services through the Children’s Advocacy Center to help her care for a child who has experienced trauma.

    Emily is safe now and is engaged in therapy services.

  • “My family survived” because of the CAC

     

    This is a speech by Lori Phillips

    The year was 1993. My oldest daughter, Jennifer, came to me one evening and disclosed a horrific truth.

    Her father had sexually molested her.

    She was 11 years old that year. The specific abuse had taken place many years before. She had blocked it out, only to remember on a cold and windy October afternoon.

    I believed her, but I didn’t want to believe that the one person I trusted most with her care, could commit such a vile act and hurt my child so deeply. I contacted the authorities. And I waited.

    Once she disclosed her abuse, the floodgates opened. Her memory, her pain began to spill over, threatening to drown us all. I took to my journal, and wrote:

    “We are hiding out at Mom’s, partially because I need the support. My sweet beautiful child has been hurt so deeply. The days pass and more is disclosed. I want to help her, to take it all away. I want to see him suffer. Death is too easy. How can anyone do this to an innocent child? Of course, he has taken that from her.”

    The next few weeks were wrought with anxiety and tension. Never sure what would be around the next corner. Sometimes the days seem so endless. I want so much to help my baby girl, but I don’t know how. I see a facade during the day, but in the evening when we are alone, I see the raw ugly truth.

    “I watch as she plucks out her eyelashes and brows. I place a pillow under her head as she bangs it against the hard floor. I want to scream, cry and vent my anger. I grieve for what is lost, for the innocence that was taken from her. She can never go back, will never have a normal childhood or adolescence. I’m angry, sad and frightened. How am I to deal with all of this?”

    Navigating the legal system is confusing and frightening to most of us. It is especially frightening to a mother trying to protect her child from further harm, all the while dealing with the emotional hurricane that had laid waste to our lives.

    The Task Force was a safe port in the storm directing us to the shelter of the CAC. Feeling confused, lost and alone, I placed my broken family in the capable hands of the CAC staff.

    Jane welcomed us with warm open arms and provided the knowledge and support that we so desperately needed. It was here we started our journey of healing. My questions were answered as the entire staff held us up through each step on the road to recovery – the road that takes each of us from being a victim, to that of a survivor.

    I became active in a parent’s support group at the Center. There I gained essential knowledge of the process we were to experience, from the Grand Jury to the courtroom and beyond. It was this amazing group, run by the CAC staff, that shared with me valuable insight into the world of not only the perpetrator, but the victim as well.

    I came to understand how it happened without my knowledge, and how to help my daughter.

    Therapy is a wonderful tool, and with a non-offending parent involvement, the path to healing can begin. It really does take a village to raise a child.

    I recently had the honor to tour the expanded facility of the CAC. I was excited to view all the new opportunities the center has to help those who pass through the doors. Yet it saddens me to realize there is still a need, and that there always will be. Child sexual abuse has always been present in our communities, hiding in the threads of secrecy.

    We need the CAC to help those who have been abused, their families and to educate those that have not.

    I am honored to tell my story. My family supports me now, as the CAC did so many years ago. They were my lifeline, my hope that someday I could say with conviction, “My family survived.”

    I am so grateful to the CAC and all its supporters, volunteers, staff, and sponsors. Because of them, my family is healthy and whole. They made the difference in our lives.

     

  • Putting kids back together starts at the CAC

    Putting kids back together starts at the CAC

    Bylle McCulley

     

    This post is from a speech by foster parent, Bylle McCulley

    I would like to share with you my personal experiences while receiving the services of the Children’s Advocacy Center.

    10 years ago, my husband and I became foster parents here in Jackson County and we received children on an emergency placement.

    Usually, our first stop was the CAC.

    I was awe struck at how kind, gentle, and supportive the staff was, not only to the child, but also to me as the foster parent.

    When I held a little girl’s hand while she was being examined, it required all the strength I could possible muster to say, “You can trust me. I’m not going to leave you.” Those reassurances had an impact, not only on the child, but also on me as a person.

    I know from experience that putting kids back together again starts at the CAC.

    We were able to adopt a special needs child from the foster care system.  He came to us when he was 17 months-old and he’s now 12.  During our 6-year journey, we received help first from the Children’s Advocacy Center, then Family Nurturing Center, Community Family Court, Jackson County Mental Health, and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program.  I will always be grateful for the guidance and direction they provided to my family during this stressful time.

    The most effective response to abuse and neglect requires a collaborative approach, which includes: teachers, first responders, law enforcement, medical, Community Family Court, attorneys, judges, CASA, elected officials, foster parents, the faith community and all the community partners who so generously come along beside us.

    The process starts with the CAC to identify, investigate and provide treatment.

    Please donate to the Children’s Advocacy Center now and don’t put it off. We either pay now or we pay more later. It will cost more later in mental health issues, chronic diseases and possible even the involvement of the criminal justice system.  Join us. We we are always looking for community partners to plant a seed of healing for the abused children and teens of our community.

     

     

  • Community “Farmers” Planting Seeds of Hope

    By Tammi Pitzen, Executive Director of the Children’s Advocacy Center of Jackson County — from her speech at our October, 2017 Cherish a Child Luncheon

     

    A wise man looked at the response in place in Jackson County for victims of child abuse and thought there was opportunity to improve this response.

    That wise man was Mark Huddleston, or as we like to refer to him, Our Founding Father.

    I am so thankful for his vision. His vision became the Jackson County Child Abuse Task Force.

    In March 1991 the Children’s Advocacy Center was opened. The Center had two employees. The only statistic that we kept was that 229 cases were staffed by the multi-disciplinary team. In 1991 our budget was $56,000. The next year the budget increased slightly and we staffed 236 cases and there were 167 interviews completed.

    In the 1993-94 fiscal year, the state of Oregon decided to get serious about how it handled child abuse cases and passed HB 5061. This bill established the Child Abuse Multidisciplinary Intervention program and provided MDT’s across the state with funding. This funding has continued and provides sustainability to services provided in our community to victims of child abuse.

    That same year, the CAC of Jackson County began offering therapy on-site under a contract. In 1994 the CAC of Jackson County became one of the very first centers in the country to become an accredited member of the National Children’s Alliance. We also purchased the building that we still reside in at 816 W. Tenth Street.

    Along the way we added services. We increased the number of children served. We increased the budget. Growing. Stretching. To serve the abused children in our community.

    In 1997 we began doing medical exams utilizing local pediatricians. The next year we added a nurse and an interviewer to staff and hired the first office manager. At that time the position was called an administrative secretary. Some people may not know this, but that first office manager was Laura Horton, who is now our Board President.

    In 1999 we entered into our first partnership with Asante Health System. They provided a full time pediatrician to provide medical evaluations to abused children.

    In the years to come, we added on to our space. We even expanded across the parking lot.

    Today the CAC has 15 employees. We have three full time therapists. We have two medical providers and, for the first time in a long time, our medical clinic is providing services for 40 hours a week. We have one and a half forensic interviewers. One of them is bilingual. Jennifer is the first bilingual forensic interviewer on the Jackson County MDT.

    We have a Family Support Team that provides support and advocacy services to abused children and their non-offending caregivers in Jackson County. There are 5 members of this team. Four employed by the CAC, and one is part of a special project with Community Works.

    We have an outreach team made up of a development director, an outreach coordinator and two contractors working on prevention and community education.

    We have an executive director and an office manager.

    We have a board made up of 18 extraordinary community members and an advisory council made up of ten very wise advisors.

    Stay tuned. We need to grow a little more to meet the increasing needs of the abused children we serve.

    Our theme this year is “Planting a Seed”. I decided to do some research using my top advisor, Google. Here is what I learned:

    • Plants cannot grow strong without proper care.
    • Plants can’t take care of themselves.
    • Some plants are thorny and seem to lash out at anyone who comes near, but these same plants grow into some of the prettiest, sturdiest, and sweetest smelling flowers.
    • Plants cannot find their own water or their own light or their own environment in which to grow.
    • If you want tulips in the spring, you have to get your hands dirty in the fall.
    • Sometimes you need to clear weeds away so that the plant can thrive.

    With those concepts in mind, let’s think about abused children and how this theme might fit:

    • A child cannot grow strong without proper care.
    • A child can’t take care of themselves without some help.
    • Sometimes the child who needs the most love asks for it in the most unlovable ways…but just like that thorny plant…if we nurture and care for that child and give that child love, he can grow into this amazing functioning adult.
    • Sometimes you need to clear the hurts away so a child can thrive.

    In last year we served 695 children and 414 non-offending caregivers with nearly 5,000 services. Amazing. 1,109 seeds planted.

    We are here because of support from the community. We are here because there are people who want to help abused children recover from their trauma.

    I will be honest. It has been a hard month for children in Jackson County. There are many seeds that need to be sowed. Many hurts that need to be cleared away.

    I am so thankful that our staff and our MDT–our partners here–are able to show incredible strength and love for the tender souls of the children suffering from trauma from abuse.

    Child Abuse happens. It happens here. It happens way too frequently. When I am still…when it is quiet…and I am alone with my thoughts…I am thankful, not discouraged. I am thankful that I live my life in a community where children are priority.

    I am thankful that I live my life surrounded by “farmers” planting seeds of hope for the future.

    Child Abuse is a community problem and requires a community response.

    My promise to you—as a community partner, a MDT member, a staff member, a CAC volunteer— is that every single day I will meet you in the garden. Ready to get my hands dirty. Ready to clear away the hurts.

    If you would like to make a donation to Cherish a Child and support the CAC’s work of healing and preventing child abuse, please make a donation of any amount below.