The Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse

Supportive parenting programtotal served: 44 special needs parents improved their parenting skillspersonal safety program 6,416 children received lessons from our personal safety program including how to identify Abuse, how to keep themselves safe, and what to do if Abuse occurs. 675 adults learned the signs of Abuse and what to do if they suspect Abuse is occurring.continued on schedule oa 7 year old Child was away on summer break. While away, a family member sexually abused her. On returning to school the Child disclosed to a teacher that they had stood up to the person who inappropriately touched her by saying "no and telling her parent about the situation. The Child explained that a puppet named billy had taught them what to do if they felt worried and troubled by a touch. A report was made to the state central registry where investigators from our Child advocacy Center interviewed and arrested the perpetrator. When interviewing the Child, the Child was able to explain the purpose of personal safety lessons and how they knew the touch was not safe based off of lessons that were provided to her at the end of the school year. Child advocacy center614 children were welcomed in our Child advocacy Center to discuss potential Abuse. The Child advocacy Center (cac) is a safe, Child friendly location for families to come and speak with our trained interviewers and medical providers. Our multidisciplinary team consists of law enforcement, Child protective services, prosecution, mental health, medical health, and victim advocacy. This specialized team works together on sexual Abuse cases, the most severe physical Abuse cases, and all Child fatalities in dutchess county. This year the Child advocacy Center held its annual multidisciplinary team training to support the work of all our local agencies who work with this young population. Over 60 professionals attended the two day training from september 13-14 at the dutchess county department of behavioral and community health to increase their knowledge on interviewing Child victims with disabilities, internet safety, sex offenders and what they can teach us, cultural considerations of children you interview, and sex offender typologies. Although many of the attendees of this training were seasoned professionals, they found it important to attend our yearly training to improve their job performance. In addition to the training, the cac also had the support of the local community who contributed to many teddy bear and snack drives throughout the course of the year. Because of the generous donations the Child advocacy Center is able to comfort and support every family who is welcomed into our facility.