By William Meiners
Herald Staff Writer
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Child Advocacy Center (CAC), a place that has revolutionized how child maltreatment cases are conducted in Gratiot County. Since opening its doors, the staff have served 1,337 alleged victims and nearly 4,000 protective caregivers and siblings.
According to Heather Therrien, CAC program director, in 2010, a small group of dedicated investigators convened to discuss how to improve intake interviews in child maltreatment cases. Child Advocacy was tapped with the initiative, which began in 2013.
When an allegation of abuse occurs, rather than going to the police station, children and teens come to the CAC to give their statements, Therrien said.
Specialized forensic interview and observation rooms allow investigators to participate in those interviews via video feed ensuring that a child only has to tell their story once during the investigative process. During their visit, an advocate also assesses needs for basic services as well as specialized services aimed at helping kids and family members overcome the trauma they have experienced.
With support from United Way and community donors, the CAC got its start in a retrofitted, three-room garage located behind the Wilcox Building in Alma, Therrien told The Herald.
Today, the CAC fills up the core of the new Child Advocacy Building with two interview rooms, two observation rooms, a family consultation room, therapy room, and medical suite.
The medical suite was built to accommodate future plans to offer specialized onsite medical services to children and adolescents who visit the center.
Development of this new, state of the art CAC, was timely, as staff witnessed a 57 percent increase in forensic interviews during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“When I joined this program in 2015, there was one person staffing the center along with a part-time advocate donated by Gratiot Integrated Health Network,” said Therrien, who was then a part-time case coordinator. “Since then, we have amassed a highly skilled team and a comprehensive program with a menu of services that rivals many larger, urban CACs.”
Sheriff Mike Morris recalls those beginning days. He served as an investigator on the multidisciplinary team and later joined the Child Advocacy Board of Directors.
“I watched us grow out of, essentially, a shed for a center to a brand-new building,” Morris said. “Without the CAC, the impact with law enforcement would be a lot different. I can’t imagine having to do all of these interviews by ourselves. The state-of-the-art center, interview rooms, and additional services are all essential to keeping kids safe in Gratiot County.”
Other members within the CAC’s multidisciplinary team include the Office of the Gratiot County Prosecutor, law enforcement from every county jurisdiction, the Department of Health and Human Services, Gratiot Integrated Health Network, Zenlightenment Wellness Center, Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital — Center for Child Protection, and Sparrow Health Systems.
The purpose of the team, Therrien said, is to ensure a coordinated, victim-centered approach from the onset of an investigation through to prosecution of a case. The CAC then continues providing support to children and their families until it’s no longer needed.
Mark Williams, Alma’s public safety director, remembers those first days of the CAC, as well. Bringing together the many services under one roof in Child Advocacy makes them invaluable in his mind.
“We used to have a book with all the phone numbers to provide to victims and their families,” he said. “And you end up giving them 15 to 20 different numbers.”
Since not everyone follows up on their own, the professionals within the CAC have been instrumental in helping families reach the agencies who can help them.
“I cannot say enough about the team they have working there,” Williams said. “They continue to get better and better and grow by the year.”
Accredited by the National Children’s Alliance and a member of the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Michigan, the CAC has grown from a staff of one to three, hosts a co-located therapist from Gratiot Integrated Health Network, and boasts an advanced internship program for social work students, Therrien said.
Last month, Central Michigan University awarded Child Advocacy the Field Agency of the Year Award for its internship program.
“We work with Gratiot County’s most vulnerable kids,” Therrien said. “That requires a strong, tight-knit team who understands trauma and centers their work around the needs of victims. We consistently strive to add or improve the services we provide to ensure Gratiot County children and families receive the best care and support possible as they navigate investigative and healing processes.”
The CAC provides a set of specialized services for alleged victims. Perhaps best known, Therrien noted, is the conduct of legally sound, developmentally appropriate child and adolescent forensic interviews. These interviews limit the number of times a child or teen must tell their story in order to build a case.
It is a structured conversation following the Governor’s Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect Forensic Interview Protocol. Multidisciplinary team members, which typically include members of Child Protective Services and law enforcement, can see and hear children tell their stories and are able to ask questions via microphone directly into the ear of the trained forensic interviewer. However, the only individual in the room with a child is the forensic interviewer.
The CAC also provides the comprehensive victim and family advocacy services applauded by Williams. These include crisis intervention, screening for trauma and suicidality, needs assessments, safety planning, referrals for mental health services, emergency financial support, court education and accompaniment, and follow-up contact throughout the life of a case and beyond.
At any given time, the CAC victim advocate carries a monthly caseload of 80 to 90 families. The CAC also provides onsite individual trauma-informed therapy services, adolescent art therapy groups (one for middle school and one for high school), and a parent support group. Throughout the pandemic, while others were working from home, the team continued to work in person providing almost 400 forensic interviews, along with victim services to children and their families.