CityView Magazine

58 | April 2015 PREVENTION BY COURTNEY PHILLIPS Each April in Fayetteville, blooms burst forth in the promise of warmer days. Among the iconic dogwood, daffodil and azalea, we will see gardens of bright blue and silver metallic pinwheels twirling on the lawns of organizations and businesses all over town. They are "planted" to raise awareness for child abuse prevention. "They signify hope and the bright future every child deserves," said Roberta Humphries, Executive Director of the Child Advocacy Center of Fayetteville. The Child Advocacy Center is truly a steward of children Partnering in Roberta Humphries, Executive Director of the Child Advocacy Center of Fayetteville. A wareness cannot be raised quickly enough. e Child Advocacy Center partners with professionals from 19 community agencies to alleviate the trauma children experience once a dis- closure of sexual abuse or serious physi- cal abuse is made. In a child-friendly environment, they conduct forensic interviews and coordinate multidis- ciplinary case reviews to plan the best course of legal and supportive action for the child abuse victim. Agencies involved include law en- forcement, medical care, mental health, military family services, social work, child protective services, the District Attorney's office, victim advocates, edu- cation and Guardian ad Litem. is type of coordinated approach helps alleviate trauma to victims by de- creasing the number of times they must tell their story and saves the community approximately $500,000 per year. In the last fiscal year, the CAC helped 615 children, an increase from 465 chil- dren in the previous fiscal year. Hum- phries is hopeful, though, that a por- tion of the increase is due to increased awareness of child abuse and the em- powerment of our neighbors to report suspected cases of abuse. In addition to proactive training, the CAC offers a myriad of services for abused children and their families, in- cluding the critical non-threatening en- vironment in which to tell their story, therapy dogs to comfort children and families while they wait to give their in- terview, gis of comfort bags and blan- kets and ongoing therapy for victims. Stewards of Children become Partners in Prevention "A little over four years ago, we got proactive and began training area or- ganizations and businesses on how to giving Photography by Michelle Bir

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