FLORENCE, Ky. – Each year, across the United States three million suspected cases of child abuse will be investigated.
In the Northern Kentucky region, about 25,000 children could be affected by this horrific crime and need the multi-disciplinary services offered by the Northern Kentucky Children’s Advocacy Center.
The Center’s staff provides comprehensive evaluation and treatment for children who have suffered severe physical abuse, sexual abuse, or who have witnessed a violent crime.
The Community Foundation of Northern Kentucky provides financial and operational support to the Northern Kentucky Children’s Advocacy Center.
The Northern Kentucky Children’s Advocacy Center now serves over 500 children annually. In April 2009, the Center moved into its new facility on Houston Road in Florence, Ky. This new facility offers a child-friendly, homelike environment for the children and non-offending caregivers who turn to the Center’s staff for assistance.
In addition to offering a warm, welcoming environment for the children, the Center’s design provides efficient work spaces for the multi-disciplinary team members who come together to address each child’s needs.
NKCAC staff provides crisis counseling, advocacy and support to the child and family. A trained forensic interviewer talks with the child, while representatives from law enforcement and the Cabinet for Health and Family Services view the interview from an observation room. Specially-trained pediatricians provide comprehensive child sexual abuse medical examinations at the center, and will testify on the child’s behalf in court.
The Center’s multidisciplinary approach ensures that child abuse treatment professionals, such as social service workers, law enforcement, prosecutors, victim advocates, and mental health therapists, maximize the effectiveness of each member of the team. This approach also ensures that critical services needed to protect a child are coordinated and comprehensive. In addition, the Northern Kentucky Children's Advocacy Center provides support, assistance and training to law enforcement, the Department for Community Based Services, prosecutors, mental health providers, court-appointed special advocates, guardians and physicians.
The Northern Kentucky Children’s Advocacy Center has served the regional since 1987. It was the first Center in Kentucky to provide a child sexual abuse medical exam. It was also the first to be designated as a regional advocacy center and the first to be accredited by the National Children’s Alliance.
This summer, the National Children’s Alliance awarded its 2009 Individual Volunteer Leadership Award to Barbara Lichtenstein of Cincinnati, who designed the Center’s new facility, volunteering her time and expertise.
Through a collaboration with the cities of Florence and Fort Thomas, the Center received a community development block grant which provided a substantial portion of the funding to build the Center’s new facility. The Foundation provided additional funding.
Although the Center now has a new facility, there is a continued need for support to help the Center sustain its services.
The Center is the charity benefitting from the 2009 Tour of Homes sponsored by the Charities Guild of Northern Kentucky. The Oct. 24 event offers tours of seven home in Ft. Thomas. Tickets and additional information are available at www.ohlia.com.
To learn more about the work of the Northern Kentucky Children’s Advocacy Center and the Community Foundation of Northern Kentucky, or to make a donation online, go to www.cfnky.org.
