Child Advocacy Center of Cullman, Inc

Opening in September, 1997, the Child Advocacy Center of Cullman had been a long-held vision of the Cullman County District Attorney, Len Brooks, and other concerned community leaders and organizations who wanted to address the problem of child abuse that is so pervasive in every community in America. All of us would agree that child abuse is tragic to society and often devastating to the child victim; logic dictates that if we protect the child, we would thereby be protecting society and our community. However, what many of these concerned citizens were seeing was a "system" of protective services, law enforcement investigations and prosecution that very often inadvertently subjected the child victim to further traumatization. It was this "re-victimization" these citizens sought to end.

The Child Advocacy Center of Cullman operates via a multidisciplinary team approach which brings together representatives of protective services (DHR), law enforcement (municipal police forces and the Sheriff's Department), prosecutors (District Attorney's Office), professionals from the mental health and medical fields, as well as other involved individuals to address reported cases of abuse as well as monitoring the status of cases in progress. The reporting procedure for abuse allegations has remained the same: initial reports are made to DHR and legal investigations are initiated by making an "offense report" with pertinent law enforcement. However, through the strong collaborative efforts of all the organizations noted above, how each case proceeds from there makes all the difference in the outcome for the child and family.

After receiving a report alleging abuse (physical or sexual) and conducting preliminary questions regarding its merits, DHR contacts the Child Advocacy Center to arrange for the child victim to be interviewed regarding the abuse. All interviews of child victims under the age of 12 years are videotaped at the CAC. These taped interviews are monitored by the multidisciplinary team who can cue the forensic interviewer regarding what specific information will be needed for a strong case. Therefore, the child victim is interviewed once rather than multiple times. The interview takes place in the child-friendly atmosphere of the CAC, not a police station or a cold, stark office. The videotape is available for any absent members of the team to review as needed.

While the child is being interviewed, the non-offending parent/guardian is meeting with a CAC staff member who is gathering intake information, assessing child/family needs and obtaining vital information pertinent to this particular case. Following the interview, the team meets with the parent to answer procedural questions and provide support and reassurance. If the child or family needs immediate counseling, arrangements are made for such. The CAC has a licensed counselor on staff who is available to provide this at no cost to the family. If other needs identified are related to the child's immediate health or safety, referrals are made to community providers.

As a case progresses, support groups are available to the children and parents. As a case nears court, the children and families are prepared for what's to come via "court school." Throughout our association with a child and his/her family, the CAC is available to provide continuing support, encouragement, reassurance, counseling and advocacy services.

As noted earlier, child abuse is at an epidemic level in American society. The 1998 Federal Register cites United States Department of Justice (Office of Juveniles Justice and Delinquency Prevention) statistics that reflect 3.1 million children reported to public welfare agencies for abuse or neglect in 1996. Nearly one million of those reports were substantiated, and usually the abuse was inflicted by someone the child knew.
In Cullman County alone during 1996, there were 117 cases of sexual abuse reported, and 197 cases of physical abuse. Comparatively, there were only 59 cases of child sexual abuse reported in Cullman County in 1987. This represents a 51% increase in child sexual abuse cases reported in those intervening years. Since opening its doors in September 1997, there have been 61 cases of reported child abuse (physical and/or sexual) referred for review by the multidisciplinary team of the Child Advocacy Center. Even though not all of these result in arrests and prosecution, the support services of the CAC are available to those children and families involved.

The Child Advocacy Center of Cullman has recognized the need to coordinate the efforts of all involved organizations and/or individuals responding to a child's identified needs. Two of the CAC's primary objectives are to effectively deal with the consequences of the abuse and to decrease the child's risk for future abuse. The CAC offers on-site individual and family counseling at no cost to the family or child. Support groups are available for the children as well. Through these efforts in working with the child, he/she regains a sense of control in his/her life by helping the child learn to identify and healthily express feelings of sadness, hurt, frustration, and anger. The children see there are other children just like them that have experienced similar trauma, and their "normalcy" is reinstated and affirmed. Being exposed to caring adults who value them goes a long way toward allowing these children to trust again, perhaps one of their biggest hurdles. The children work to reframe the negative the negative experiences of their abuse into a more healthy perspective of their life. The non-offending parents are also assisted via individual counseling, advocacy services throughout the legal and court process, and groups with other parents where they receive both support and education to return the family to a more stable level of functioning. Through regular reviews by the multidisciplinary team, problems of the child are constantly being monitored and addressed with referrals to appropriate services, i.e., problems at school (behavioral or academic), the need for ongoing parenting education or counseling, medical evaluations/services, or more crisis-oriented help.

The United States Department of Health and Human Services upholds and validates the CAC's community-wide response to the problem of child abuse. In their 1993 manual of "Child Sexual Abuse: Intervention and Treatment Issues," Kathleen Coulborn Faller writes, "Impressive progress has been achieved in the child sexual field in the last 10 years. Advances have been made in identification, investigation, intervention, and treatment. Sexual abuse cases, perhaps even more than other types of maltreatment, require multidisciplinary, multiagency collaboration in order for processionals to effectively act in the victim's and family's best interest. Many communities have developed guidelines and protocols for handling these cases." Cullman County is one of those communities. Through mutual agreement and full-fledges support, the District Attorney's Office, The Department of Human Resources, The Sheriff's Department, and the City Police Department, as well as other service-related agencies, pledges to uphold the rights of child victims by forming the Child Advocacy Center of Cullman, Inc.

Currently all programs offered by the Child Advocacy Center are provided by its three full-time staff members. Susan Martin Hauk serves the Center as its Executive Director and Licensed Professional Counselor. Leah Abbott, Program Coordinator, arranges all videotaped interviews, multidisciplinary team meetings, and maintains statistical data necessary for continued funding. Cindy Gonstad serves as Intake and Support Services Coordinator, interviewing all parents of referred children to assess needs, gather crucial historical data about the child's and family's functioning, and coordinate referrals for outside services. Ms. Gonstad also prepares the children and families for court appearances. Both the City Police Department and the County Sheriff's Department have each designated a single investigator to be assigned to the child abuse cases, which further streamlines the investigative process. Currently, the CAC is fortunate to have Rebecca Evans as a senior social work student intern from the University of North Alabama to assist in providing programs. The Child Advocacy Center is governed by a Board of Directors made up of 20 local community leaders.

The Child Advocacy Center's 1997-1998 funding is provided by a one-year grant from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs/Law Enforcement Planning Division. The grant stipulates a monetary "match" of locally generated funs amounting to 20% of the total budget of the Center. Early in 1998, the CAC also received a small program support grant from the National Network of Children's Advocacy Centers as well. Since the Child Advocacy Center of Cullman has now met all standards and guidelines required, it has achieved full membership status in both the National Network of CAC''s and the Alabama Network of Child Advocacy Centers.