FAYETTEVILLE - Without the efforts of the Children’s Safety Center, it would be a lot tougher to bring child abusers to justice.
One of the many ways in which the Springdale-based center advocates on behalf of abused Washington County children is by providing a safe, comfortable environment where they can be questioned. This setting can have an enormous effect on their willingness to answer, says Morgan Roberts, the wife of Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin Roberts, who coordinatesthe prosecution of crimes against children.
“My husband’s work was part of why I wanted to get involved [with the center], because I knew how it was so important to his cases,” she says. “He’s said if we didn’t have the safety center, it would make cases so much harder to prosecute.”
The couple, along with another husband and wife, Theresa and Chris Harrell, are the co-chairmen of the center’s sixth annual Dream Big fundraiser, which will be Saturday at the Fayetteville Town Center. Dream Big begins at 7 p.m. and tickets are $50.
There are two goals forthe event. The first is to raise awareness of the Children’s Safety Center’s work, in part by honoring Springdale police officer Robert Hendrix and Washington County deputy prosecutor Denis Dean with “Ordinary Hero” awards.
The other goal is to raise $40,000 for the center’s mission. The event is casual, featuring dinner, drinks and music, and offers the opportunity to win valuable gifts for a minimal investment.
“The themed baskets are something that makes our event unique,” Theresa Harrell says. “You can buya ticket for $5, and put it in a basket for a chance to win a basket worth over $1,000.
“It’s just overall a really good, casual time.”
The safety center has served more than 6,000 children since its founding in 1997, from newborns to 17-year-olds, including 604 in 2012. The largest number of children who wind up at the center are between 4 and 7, according to development director Emily Rappe.
At that age, recounting abuse in a courtroom or interrogation room can be a terrifying setting.
“The safety center is a place where [children] can open up,” Harrell says. “It’s child-friendly, comfortable to them, not a big courtroom where a lot of adults are looking at you.”
While the center works to solidify cases against accused child abusers, it also provides other services for abused children.
Cases open when a call is placed to the Arkansas Child Abuse Hotline - (800) 482-5964 - and the child is taken to the center.
After the forensic examination, children are appointed an advocate, someone who follows them through the investigation and often beyond. There are therapy rooms on site, where the goal is to help children recover emotionally from the abuse and move on.
The center also works with those who have not been abused but are forced to deal with its aftermath.
“A lot of times families have questions,” Morgan Roberts explains. “‘What’s going to happen next? How do we deal with this? What do we do in court?’ [People at the center] are there to answer all those questions; otherwise they would be lost.”
Throughout the center, walls are covered with handprints made by children who have been helped there.(Newborns leave footprints.)
Some of the handprints are interlocked, which indicates siblings. Seeing all those prints for the first time is a jarring experience, Roberts and Harrell say, but upon further reflection it’s ultimately uplifting because it demonstrates the care forthose children recovering from abuse.
“The first time I saw [the prints], it made me a little physically ill,” Harrell says.
“Now that I know the safety center, it makes me proud.
It gives me hope, for what they’re doing in the community. It’s such a needed service in our area.” For more information about the Children’s Safety Center, call (479) 872-6183 or visit cscdreambig2013.eventbrite.com.
Northwest Profile, Pages 33 on 07/14/2013