CONWAY: Group seeks center for child-abuse victims

By Sara Greene

LITTLE ROCK — Tess Fletcher, executive director of Central Arkansas Advocacy Center in Conway, said too often children who are physically and sexually abused have to relive their ordeals by being interviewed multiple times.

That’s why the group is raising money for a central Arkansas child advocacy office where children would only have to be interviewed once.

“We need to do whatever we can so these children don’t have to relive this trauma over and over again,” Fletcher said.

By interested parties, such as law enforcement, social workers, medical professionals and lawyers hearing the same thing once, Fletcher said it improves the rate of prosecution and increases the number of cases heard by judges.

“Each time the child is interviewed, they may forget a detail or remember something,” Fletcher said.

Fletcher, who is also a volunteer coordinator for Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children, said victims would be questioned by a professionally trained interviewer.

“There is training called Finding Words on how to have the child open up to them and how to ask questions,” Fletcher said.

Interested parties such as law enforcement, lawyers and medical personnel would watch and listen, either through atwo-way mirror or via closed-circuit television. They would be able to contact the interviewer to ask additional questions if necessary. The center would also provide a needs assessment and other resources for the victim, such as counseling and support for non-offending family members.

“It is a team approach to provide these victims with what they need to get past this trauma,” Fletcher said.

Within the next months, Fletcher said the advocacy group will finalize its nonprofit status, begin applying for grants and looking for a building to rent.

She hopes to have a center up and running in six months. A three-year budget for renting and equipping the center, along with hiring people, would ideally be around $250,000.

Faulkner County has donated $5,000 to the group andFirst State Bank hosted a charity golf tournament in June, which raised $13,000. The funds from that event were split with Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children, a pool of trained volunteers appointed by judges to represent the best interest of children involved in court cases.

“My biggest challenge right now is just making the community aware of who weare, what we want to do and why. Sometimes a community doesn’t want to think about child abuse happening there,” Fletcher said.

According to a July 2006 report from the Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services, from January 2005 through March 2006, the state investigated 23,433 cases and found approximately 8,000 victims of abuse.

A native of Vidalia, La., Fletcher said she got involved child advocacy because she loves children.

“People don’t have to give money; they can give of their time. If families aren’t going to stand up for them, then someone needs to,” Fletcher said.

She has been a volunteer with Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children for seven years and has been the volunteer coordinator for five. Fletcher said her two children, Keegan, 13, and Abbey, 10, are aware of the kind of work she does and why it is needed.

“They know what CASA does. They gather items they don’t use any more for me to give to thekids at CASA. I think they enjoy the feeling that they are helping someone who maybe doesn’t have the best home life,” Fletcher said.

Fletcher said there is a great need for the child advocacy center, which would be a safe, child-focused, family-oriented facility.

“If there were not organizations like the Central Arkansas Children’s Advocacy Center and Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children, it is really scary to think about where kids would be,” Fletcher said.

River Valley Ozark, Pages 65, 68 on 08/07/2008