Children's Advocacy Center will aid child sex abuse victims

May 06--Editor's Note: Children who have been victimized by sexual predators are sometimes 'revictimized' when they have to travel out of Randolph County for more medical evaluations and more interviews after they have already told their stories and been examined. Why? To get the best evidence to use in court. Next year, a new facility called the Randolph County Children's Advocacy Center will open in Asheboro to provide these critical services at home.

ASHEBORO -- The days are numbered when Randolph County children who may have been sexually abused must be shuttled to faraway facilities for medical exams and interviews.

Doctors, nurses and other professionals who do pediatric evaluations and interviews are specially trained. Their testimony and assessments are crucial if there are court cases down the road.

Now, Randolph children have to be taken to Winston-Salem or Chapel Hill for these specialized services.

If plans proceed on schedule, the services will be available in Asheboro next year at a facility called the Randolph County Children's Advocacy Center (CAC). The target date to open is Jan. 1, 2018.

There are just 35 accredited CAC locations in North Carolina, according to the Children's Advocacy Center of North Carolina. Plans to establish one in Asheboro have been in the works for years.

Thanks to the collaborative efforts of a multidisciplinary team -- including representatives from the Randolph County Family Crisis Center (FCC), the Randolph County Department of Social Services, the Randolph County district attorney's office, law enforcement, health care professionals and others -- the Randolph County CAC has received provisional status.

That will allow the facility to receive funding from the Governor's Crime Commission for staff, overhead and equipment, with up to five years to achieve accreditation.

The Randolph County CAC, with an annual budget of $200,000, will be an FCC program.

"We're really excited," said Dare Spicer, executive director of the crisis center. "This is going to be a great thing for these children and their families."

By the numbers

Every year, the Randolph County Department of Social Services (DSS) receives some 2,000 calls about possible abuse or neglect of children.

A preliminary screening determines if there's sufficient merit to delve deeper. On average, DSS workers investigate about 1,200 cases each year; about 100 of them involve serious sexual or physical abuse, said Richard Park, DSS business officer and assistant director.

"Those are big numbers for a small county," Park said.

About 85 percent of cases are closed because allegations or suspicions cannot be substantiated, Park added.

North Carolina law requires anyone who suspects that a child is abused or neglected to report it.

Information may come from a relative, a neighbor, a doctor, a police officer or school officials.

Some may show up at the police station or social services offices.

Some go to Family Crisis Center offices.

Some call 911 or a 24-hour hotline.

The DSS hotline number is 336-686-8200.

The Family Crisis Center operates three hotlines:

* Asheboro -- 336-629-4159.

* Archdale -- 336-434-5579.

* Troy -- 910-571-9745.

Evaluations

When DSS personnel receive word about alleged abuse or neglect, they find out where the alleged victim is and go. Before they do anything else, they determine if the child is in a safe environment.

"We start with safety and we end with safety," said Jaynetta Butler, the program administrator for Child Protection/Family Services at DSS.

As an investigation unfolds, getting the right information, in the right way, is essential to help protect children (for the DSS) and to hold abusers accountable (for the criminal justice system) in court.

A child may tell his or her story of abuse to a teacher, a preacher, a police officer, to a number of people, in fact, before eventually having to tell it all over again to a specially trained interviewer. The child may be examined at a local doctor's office or hospital, but eventually, the child will have to be examined by someone trained in such pediatric evaluations.

In a children's advocacy center, much duplication is eliminated because members of the multidisciplinary team work together. They reduce the number of interviews by sharing information. Evaluations, interviews and counseling all take place under one roof.

"One of the most important things to us is the independence of it," Park said. "The medical and psychological aspects have to be independently verified."

Andy Gregson, the Randolph County district attorney, agrees.

"The interview is crucial -- you've got to do it correctly."

Now, a DSS social worker in Randolph County calls Winston-Salem, and sometimes Chapel Hill, to schedule the appointment for a forensic medical exam and forensic interview. If alleged abuse just occurred, an evaluation will take place quickly. If it didn't, it may a while before an appointment slot is open.

"That is difficult for the child -- and the outcomes," Butler said. "The sooner we go, the better. You get the best information as close to the incident as you can."

Simply having to drive an hour to an appointment can be a problem. Some families cannot afford it. "There have been numerous times," Spicer said, "when we have gone to the hospital to give gas cards for folks just to get to Winston-Salem."

Also, as time passes, memories fade. Time also gives people the opportunity to try to influence a child to tell -- or not tell -- what happened.

And sometimes more than one trip is necessary.

"We try to get everything done in one setting," Butler said, "but the kids have to establish relationship and trust with an interviewer. That may require more than one visit."

Close to home

The CAC approval process is strict.

"This is not just a matter of putting a shingle up and calling yourself a children's advocacy center," Gregson said. "This is the kind of stuff that government ought to be doing. This is the one where we're protecting our most vulnerable citizens."

When the Randolph County CAC opens, there will be greater control over when a child can get an appointment -- and even the quality of the services.

Regular hours will be 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday. But personnel will be available -- and a phone call away -- on nights and weekends.

The CAC will offer counseling and therapy.

"It's also a real benefit to the child 'cause now they have a place in the community where hopefully they can get help and healing," Gregson said. "And they're not going to travel to Greensboro or Winston-Salem to get that therapy."

Tammie Johnson will double as the center's director and the forensic interviewer. Johnson, the former director of a foster care agency, has been employed with the Family Crisis Center since March. Drs. Kathleen Riley and Edward Sanger of Randolph Health Pediatrics will handle medical evaluations.

"It's a very good thing," Butler said. "It's a very, very good thing for child victims of sex abuse."

The future

The Family Crisis Center owns the former dwelling on Academy Street that will be renovated to house the CAC. S.E. Trogdon and Sons Inc. will do the work at a projected cost of $175,000.

In March, Spicer and Gregson asked members of the Randolph County Strategic Plan's implementation committee for $50,000 to help with renovations. Committee members voted unanimously to raise it to $100,000. The request will be presented to county commissioners at their May 8 meeting.

The city of Asheboro plans to contribute $25,000; Spicer is seeking $20,000 from Archdale and hopes the balance will come from a foundation grant.

"We'll need additional resources as we grow," Spicer said.

Spicer said she plans to use the $41,000 the Family Crisis Center receives as an annual appropriation from the county for the CAC. And, she added, if someone donates materials, such as flooring, or time -- painting or moving things out of the building before work begins -- the cost of renovations will be reduced, leaving more money for operations.

In the last six months of 2016, Spicer said, 75 cases of child sexual abuse were reported in Randolph County. "Those were the ones reported. When you have a place to get help, more people will come forward."

When Davie County opened a CAC, she said, planners made projections based upon historical data. They expected to serve 50 children and families in the first year. They served more than 200.

"I know a lot more people will come forward," Spicer said, "if there is a place where they can get help and there is trust -- if they believe there is a place where they can get help and there is trust. But that takes time."

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