By China Cassidy For children and victims of abuse, the Navajo County Family Advocacy Center is a vital resource in their journey to resolution and recovery. Part of that recovery is to provide comfort items to give to child abuse victims and the center is in need of supplies. Crisis Response Family Advocate Nicole Kester offered some insight to some of the services at the center, “We provide victim advocacy for the non-offending parents and for children who have been physically abused or sexually abused.” The program helps link victims and their families to resources such as counseling, or shelter and is the centralized location where interviews done by healthcare professionals, law enforcement and child protective services, can be done once rather than multiple times. “We have a forensic interviewer who does the child focused interview to basically have them disclose what has happened to them. It creates a place where they only have to make that disclosure once instead of to multiple different agencies. It is supposed to take the revictimization and the trauma to a lesser point than what there used to be prior to that,” explained Kester. Before going home, the kids get to choose an item from a variety of toys, blankets and other things collected at the center. “They’re called comfort items. After the interview is completed and the medical exam is completed, we allow them to select an item to take home with them. It gives them their power back and allows them to make a choice that maybe was at one point taken from them. It’s something special, to help them feel cared for as they leave the center,” said Kester. Professionals at the center also explain to the families what kinds of behaviors to expect from the child after they disclose and follow up with the victims for weeks after their abuse occurs. Kester offered, “We do try to follow up on the two-week mark and the four-week mark after they’ve been at the center to kind of make sure they’re doing okay.” In response to whether child abuse cases have increased since COVID restrictions shut down earlier this year, Kester said, “Our numbers are actually lower this year but we have spoken with other people from different centers and their numbers are also low but the cases that we are seeing are worse, as far as the abuse. We have the belief that because kids aren’t in school with their mandated reporters and they are at home with their abusers most of the time, they’re not reporting. As soon as school reopened, we saw a huge influx and now that school is going back to being closed, we’re seeing a decline so it kind of proves the theory.” Because it is important to maintain confidentiality for the victims, anyone wanting to donate new items or make a monetary donation are encouraged to contact the center to make an appointment prior to visiting. The advocacy center prefers that items be new and it was noted that the items mostly selected are things like blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, toys, small toy cars, action figures, scrunchies, hair accessories, crafting kits, art kits, art supplies (colored pencils, crayons), kids coloring books, dolls and clothes. “We do prefer new items just because these kids are usually coming from not the greatest environment and we’re trying to give them something that is super special for them,” said Kester. Kester expressed the gratitude of those working in the program towards the surrounding communities for the support given to the center. “We are really just grateful for the community that we live in. Whenever we ask for help, we always receive an abundance of help from the community and we’re so grateful to live and work in a community where everyone is so supportive of what we do,” offered Kester. Anyone in need of the family advocacy services or wanting to make a donation can contact the crisis advocate at (928) 207-0775. For more information on the types of items needed at the center or services offered, contact the crisis advocate or visit the website at ncfac.org.
