Children’s Advocacy Center opens satellite office at RVBH

RiverValley Behavioral Health and the Children’s Advocacy Center of the Green River District have partnered to open a new CAC satellite office in Owensboro.

The office will be located at RiverValley Behavioral Health on Walnut Street. A grand opening is planned for Tuesday, Oct. 1, at 2 p.m.

The Children’s Advocacy Center, which operates in every Area Development District, works with child survivors of physical and sexual abuse by conducting forensic interviews, support and advocacy for victims while collecting evidence for law enforcement and prosecutors. Staff are trained and specialize on working with juvenile victims of physical and sexual assault.

Wanda Figueroa-Peralta, president and CEO of RiverValley Behavioral Health, said plans to bring a satellite CAC office to Owensboro have been in the works for years. The CAC currently has one office in the Green River area, which is in Henderson.

“For the past five years, we have been in conversations, exploring the possibility of co-locating services at RiverValley,” Figueroa-Peralta said. “At that time, we were planning to renovate the Cigar Factory (Mall, where RVBH’s main offices are). That’s why it didn’t happen sooner.

“This is something we wanted to do for a long time, and it seems the Children’s Advocacy Center is a perfect, organic fit for us,” Figueroa-Peralta said.

The satellite office will have its own space and a nurse-examiner trained in conducting child abuse exams. Having a CAC office located alongside RiverValley will allow the agencies to provide an immediate range of services to children, including medical care and mental health support, Figueroa-Peralta said.

“It makes sense to remove barriers,” such as having to travel to multiple agencies to receive services, she said.

Having services immediately available at one site “takes the fear and stigma away,” Figueroa-Peralta said.

“More than 60% of children served by the (CAC) are survivors of sexual abuse,” Figueroa-Peralta said. “We want to do more to prevent child abuse. The rates are high and continue to increase.

Samantha Sigler, executive director of the Children’s Advocacy Center of the Green River District, said the agency was designed with a motto of, “one place, one child,” meaning children referred there can receive both a forensic interview and medical exam on the same day at time, while meeting with staff experienced in working with children.

The environment of the centers is also as kid-friendly as possible, to help children feel more comfortable, Sigler said.

“We know the more times a child has to tell their story, the more it traumatizes them,” Sigler said.

The CAC model is to have investigators at the center when forensic interviews are conducted, so the child does not have to be interviewed multiple times.

“We are a place where (children) come in and it’s like home — we have toys; we have snacks; it’s a very home-like atmosphere where we can build relationships,” Sigler said. “We have people specially trained to provide the forensic exam and the medical exam. It’s about doing what’s best for children.”

While the Henderson office will remain open, the Owensboro satellite office will reduce travel time for children, law enforcement officers and social workers from Hancock, McLean and Ohio counties for services, Sigler said.

“Some of our individuals have to travel more than an hour to get to the Children’s Advocacy Center in Henderson,” Sigler said.

The satellite office will provide all of the services of the CAC office in Henderson, Sigler said.

“Partnering with RiverValley made great sense to us, because they are already service many of our individuals,” Sigler said.

A RiverValley press release says, last year, 47.7% of children interviewed at the CAC office in Henderson were from Daviess County. As part of creating the satellite office, officials received a $15,000 grant from Churchill Downs to purchase specialized equipment for storing and securing evidence of forensic exams.

“It’s state of the are equipment, and the children deserve that,” Figueroa-Peralta said. “We are very grateful to Churchill Downs.”

The collaboration between the two agencies will be a benefit to both, and to clients, Figueroa-Peralta said.

“We (agencies that work with children) all have good intentions, but we need to do better at teamwork, and this is an example of that,” Figueroa-Peralta said.

“We know the more times a child has to tell their story, the more it traumatizes them,” Sigler said.

The CAC model is to have investigators at the center when forensic interviews are conducted, so the child does not have to be interviewed multiple times.

“We are a place where (children) come in and it’s like home — we have toys; we have snacks; it’s a very home-like atmosphere where we can build relationships,” Sigler said. “We have people specially trained to provide the forensic exam and the medical exam. It’s about doing what’s best for children.”

While the Henderson office will remain open, the Owensboro satellite office will reduce travel time for children, law enforcement officers and social workers from Hancock, McLean and Ohio counties for services, Sigler said.

“Some of our individuals have to travel more than an hour to get to the Children’s Advocacy Center in Henderson,” Sigler said.

The satellite office will provide all of the services of the CAC office in Henderson, Sigler said.

“Partnering with RiverValley made great sense to us, because they are already service many of our individuals,” Sigler said.

A RiverValley press release says, last year, 47.7% of children interviewed at the CAC office in Henderson were from Daviess County. As part of creating the satellite office, the CAC received a $15,000 grant from Churchill Downs to purchase specialized equipment for storing and securing evidence of forensic exams.

The collaboration between the two agencies will be a benefit to both, and to clients, Figueroa-Peralta said.

“We (agencies that work with children) all have good intentions, but we need to do better at teamwork, and this is an example of that,” Figueroa-Peralta said.