When you walk into the Children’s Advocacy Center in Dillsboro, you feel like you’ve entered someone’s home, a home with small children that is. There’s a plush couch on soft carpet, a coffee table, comfy chairs, a chalkboard, a bookshelf filled with picture books, and even toys interspersed. It’s all very warm and cozy. It’s intended to look and feel that way, so their young clients and families will feel comfortable. That’s because what their young clients have to say is often far from comfortable, but painful.


MARY MATTINGLY PHOTO
Kelly Bridges, forensic interviewer and Sarah Brichto, executive director at CAC, try to make the facility a kid-friendly center. The back rooms are equipped with discreet visual and audio equipment so law enforcement can see and hear what occurs.


Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) of Southeastern Indiana was created to minimize the trauma suffered by victims of child abuse. The center is designed to use a multi-disciplinary approach, which facilitates the prevention, detection, investigation and treatment of child abuse. What is not visible initially are the rooms down the hall, the smaller rooms where children are interviewed about unpleasant and intimate things, painful memories they probably would rather not talk about. These rooms too are child-friendly. The youngsters don’t know the windows and walls are soundproof or wired so detectives can watch and hear the forensic interview. It’s high tech but it means child victims do not have to repeat their experiences many times to law enforcement, thereby reliving the pain of the initial trauma. With the creation of this model, children recount their experience only once.

“Our mission is the child first,” said Kelly Bridges, forensic interviewer. A former educator, she has conducted over 300 interviews with local children. She was trained in the Indiana ChildFirst Protocol technique. “We are the only one like this in the state that handles a region,” said Sarah Brichto, executive director. The CAC was created in 2009 and serves families of Ohio, Dearborn, Jefferson, Ohio, Ripley Switzerland and Jennings Counties. The center has been nominated for a national award for demonstrating positive results from the Council of State Community Development Agencies.

A $426,793 Community Focus Fund grant, which they successfully received after the third attempt through the Office of Community Rural Affairs, with a local match of $102,334, helped convert the former law office into a kid-friendly, child interviewing center. There is a conference center below, two interviewing rooms, three staff offices, a medical exam room, discreet entrance for law enforcement, a kitchen, shower/tub and restroom, beside the closet that holds the audio and visual equipment for the interviews. The staff is on call 24/7, as some cases need immediate attention. A board of directors oversees the non profit corporation.

Is there a need for CAC?
To protect the confidentiality of children involved, child abuse cases are not publicized, but that doesn’t mean they don’t happen. In Ripley County, the CAC served 190 children from 2009. In Dearborn County, it was 524; 367 in Jefferson County, 294 in Jennings, 119 in Switzerland and 42 in Ohio County, with a total of 1837.

When the CAC was created, they had 64 cases. Five years later, they have seen over 1,800 children. Brichto, who initially was hired by the Regional Service Council to develop a regional CAC, said, “We’ll probably have 500 this year,” hitting the 2,000 mark at the end of the year. Ric Hertel, Ripley County prosecutor and a founding board member, said it’s “reassuring in one way, but disheartening in another” that the CAC numbers have increased. Their caseload has increased by 100 almost every year. Brichto attributes the increase to taking on Jennings County in 2012, their reputation and increased awareness in law enforcement. The detectives have observed the two forensic interviewers in action (Stephanie Back is the other interviewer but is out on maternity leave) and see their extensive training in action. “We recommend police and the division of child services take children there for interviews. This is where you can get the most accurate information,” Hertel said.

Editor’s note: The second part of the article will look at court savings and interviewing techniques.


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