Advocacy Center: Go blue, raise awareness
Published 1:06 am Wednesday, April 12, 2017
Covington County’s Child Advocacy Center will hold its annual blue ribbon ceremony and balloon release at 10 a.m. today, Wed., April 12, for Blue Ribbon Week, which is part of Child Abuse Awareness Month.
The second grade class from Straughn Elementary School will sing, and there will be a special treat from AES Kindergartner, Lucas Brown.
The Child Advocacy Center, which opened in April 2015, has provided 206 forensic interviews for child victims of sexual or severe physical abuse, CAC director Kaci Perry said.
A year ago, the center began providing counseling for those children, and to date, has provided 294 counseling sessions.
“All of this is at no cost to the children and their families,” Perry said.
“Our Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT), which includes law enforcement, DHR, counselor, forensic interviewer, prosecutors, family advocate and health professionals, reviews 30-40 child abuse and neglect cases each month collaborating efforts to provide effective and efficient investigations.”
The center is asking the community to go blue today, and suggests the following ways to show support:
- Shine Blue — turn your lights blue
- Give Blue — give to your local child advocacy center
- Plant Blue — plant a pinwheel garden
- Dress Blue — wear blue to promote Child Abuse & Neglect Prevention
- Shop Blue — buy something blue or purchase needed supplies for the child advocacy center
Asked for a “wish list,” for those who wished to shop for the CAC this week, director Kaci Perry said the following items would be useful:
- Individually packaged snacks
- Juice boxes or pouches
- Small toys (such as cars, trucks, yo-yos, etc.)
- Coloring / Activity books
- School supplies
- Medium size gift bags
- Small blankets
- Gift cards
The Covington County Child Advocacy Center is supported by Subgrant #15-VA-CA-044 awarded by the Law Enforcement / Traffic Safety Division of ADECA and the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as from local contributions.