Rock Island County Child Advocacy Center shows off remodeled basement for added services

Quad City Times - 3/2/2024

Mar. 1—As the need for the services of the Rock Island County Child Advocacy Center has grown, so has the need for space to conduct interviews and therapy sessions.

The center now has the extra space it needed.

Thanks to the Moline Regional Community Foundation, along with Blackhawk Electric, Tim Gibbons Carpentry and Long's Carpet & Interiors, the center now has a finished basement for additional space.

The center hosted an open house for the new space Thursday evening.

"This house is about 17 years old," the center's Executive Director Marcy O'Brien said as she gave tours of the remodeled basement to the community on Thursday.

The organization's mission, according to its website, is to "reduce trauma to child victims of sexual and physical abuse by utilizing a multi-disciplinary team approach to investigations."

The center opened in 1998.

"Our partners are every law enforcement agency in Rock Island County," said O'Brien, a former detective with the Moline Police Department.

The Department of Child and Family Services, or DCFS, the sexual assault evaluators from the hospitals and Rock Island County Probation also are part of the team. They meet once a month to go over all of the open cases.

All of the cases the center works are referrals from DCFS or law enforcement agencies, O'Brien said. About 75% of their cases involve both DCFS and law enforcement while the other 25% are strictly law enforcement cases.

"We only do interviews for investigative purposes," O'Brien said.

Reports of abuse need to go through local police or DCFS, which will then make the referral to the Child Advocacy Center.

The center has been very busy, she said.

"Since July 1 we have done 200 interviews and we're on track to do 300 this year," O'Brien said. "That's high."

The staff at the center does all of the interviews, she said. There also are two advocates to work with the families, and a therapist to work with the children and families.

"We were running out of space, especially to do group therapy," O'Brien said.

With the extra space, the staff can have one-on-one and group therapy sessions going at the same time.

It took the Moline Regional Community Foundation and the others to get it all done, she added.

"People think we're under we're under the umbrella of the county, but we're a completely independent not-for-profit," she said, adding that a re-working of the name may be in order.

"We serve Rock Island County, but we're not under the umbrella of Rock Island County."

O'Brien said there are 42 advocacy centers in the state, and all are independent.

"Some are under state's attorneys, and some are medical. So, we're all a little bit different but we do have the same mission statement and same goals," she said. "We have a state chapter and a national chapter that we all work for, but we're each organized a little bit differently."

The county does provide a tax levy for the center, which helps fund the center. But much more is needed. With salaries, keeping up with all the new technology coupled with all the other costs to properly equip the center, its budget is about $500,000 annually, O'Brien said.

Numerous community leaders took a tour of the expanded facility.

Circuit Court Judge John McGehee, a former Rock Island County State's Attorney, said what the center does "is really crucial to the prosecution of cases, and a place for law enforcement to contact and work with the families of children who are put in very difficult, uncomfortable and just sometimes awful situations. It's a great opportunity for law enforcement to help people through the judicial system."

McGehee said that sex cases involving children "are the hardest cases."

"They're both tough emotionally and legally, and you have to present evidence in a court of law, and you have to have the proof," he said. "Without the proper preparation it makes it very difficult to get convictions in these kinds of cases. This environment is such a warm and help type of environment for children."

Former Moline 3rd Ward Alderman Mike Wendt noted the rooms are insulated, muting noises from other rooms, which is part of what lets the center hold multiple sessions at the same time.

"You don't want to hear other people talking when you're in the middle of a session with a kid that's about to open up," Wendt said. "You want to be able to have an area that's cozy and safe so that they can open up."

"This is a critical component to our court system and our partners in justice and it serves a much-needed niche in the building of a case for justice to protect kids and protect families," Clarence "Mike" Darrow, Chief Judge of the 14th Judicial Circuit.

"We're very fortunate to have such a dynamic advocacy center in Rock Island serving our entire community," Darrow said. "Hopefully it will be here for the long haul and every bit of support that we can provide it is needed."

Child Advocacy Center

Statistics from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023:

Types of abuse:

— Sexual: 219

— Physical: 34

— Witness: 9

— Other: 3

— Total: 265

Age and gender of children:

— 0-6 years: 57

— 7-12 years: 101

— 13-18 years: 107