Agenda - 01-22-2015 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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1 2 Joey Honeycutt read from the following prepared statement: 3 Good evening. My name is Joey Honeycutt, and I'm the Crisis Response Coordinator for the 4 Orange County Rape Crisis Center. As part of my role, I coordinate the Orange County Sexual 5 Assault Response Team (or SART). 6 7 In mid -2013, the SART began to focus its attention on gaps in service impacting children and 8 adolescents who have experienced sexual violence. Our current system of care for children 9 who are victims of sexual violence is very fractured. Children are seen in a "floating" clinic at 10 UNC Hospital that may be in the Emergency Department one day and the Pediatric clinic the 11 next. These already- traumatized and frightened children are often surrounded by chaos - 12 beeping machines, screaming children who are getting shots, medical staff rushing around. 13 There are often no confidential spaces for the children or their families to talk to law 14 enforcement officers or to social workers, and in many cases children are further traumatized 15 by being asked to repeat their story multiple times to different professionals. Making matters 16 worse, there are often multiple follow up appointments scheduled at different locations around 17 the community. In short, our system of care, for all that it is well- intentioned and staffed by 18 wonderful people, is simply not meeting the needs of traumatized children and their families. 19 20 In recognizing these barriers within our current system, the SART began to discuss the need for 21 a Child Advocacy Center in Orange County. Child Advocacy Centers (or CACs) are designed 22 to be a "one stop shop" for children and families who have experienced a traumatic event. 23 These facilities are child - friendly spaces where a child can be seen by a doctor, interviewed by 24 a trained forensic interviewer, be connected with an advocate, and receive therapy services. 25 CACs are able to facilitate better collaboration among community professionals through the 26 Multi- disciplinary Team (MDT), a team of professionals who focus exclusively on cases 27 involving children to ensure that all bases are being covered in providing service and access to 28 the child and their family. Orange and Chatham Counties are two of only 22 counties in North 29 Carolina that do not currently have a Child Advocacy Center. 30 31 In spring of this year, Sarah Furman and I hosted a meeting to which we invited community 32 partners across Orange and Chatham counties to discuss our need for a CAC to serve both 33 communities. From that meeting, we agreed to divide into two task forces: one task force 34 would be responsible for figuring out the logistics of bringing a CAC to Orange and Chatham 35 counties — funding, location, service model, etc. The other task force would begin the process 36 of creating a protocol for a MDT to begin reviewing current child sexual abuse cases in Orange 37 County. The MDT has been a particular priority for two reasons: 1) because having a 38 functional MDT is a requirement for CAC accreditation; and 2) because a MDT will allow us to 39 optimize collaboration and service within our current system while we also work toward creating 40 a better system overall. 41 42 Carmen Coley read from the following prepared statement: 43 My name is Carmen Coley, and I am Coordinator of Child Victim Services for Chatham County. 44 I provide advocacy and support for sexually abused children and their families in Chatham 45 County and chair Chatham County's Multidisciplinary Child Sexual Abuse Team. Our 46 Multidisciplinary Team was formed in 2001 to review all open child sexual abuse cases in the 47 county to ensure that investigations are well- coordinated, thorough, and appropriate and that 48 children and families receive the medical and mental health care, advocacy, and support that 49 they need. Team members include our Managing Assistant District Attorney, the Department of 50 Social Services Investigations Supervisor, juvenile and family violence officers from our three