By Virginia Lambert, MPA, CA

Director of Victim Services

Copper Shores Victim Services Unit

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, reports of “Online Enticement of Children for Sexual Acts have grown by 82% since 2021.” As we have been seeing from our local headlines, our area is not exempt from this issue or other issues of child abuse. Everyone has ideas on how to try to stop the solicitation, but what happens to our children that may have been a victim of this or other types of abuse? How do they start a journey to heal from the traumatic event?

For over 40 years, Copper Shores Victim Services Unit (formerly Dial Help’s Victim Service Team) had been working with kids that have suffered abuse, but we knew that the children deserved better treatment and resources than what we could give them at that time.

In response, a very dedicated team of community professionals came together, working for more than four years, to make the needed changes to the process of working with children and their caregivers.

In September 2020 the Houghton Keweenaw Child Advocacy Center opened its doors to providing services to children and their caregivers. Yes, during the pandemic! We serve Houghton, Keweenaw, Baraga and Ontonagon Counties, but also help out with “courtesy” interviews and advocacy with neighboring counties as needed. Since our opening, we have served over 120 children by providing forensic interviews, advocacy, therapy, courtroom preparation and other services to children that may have been victims of abuse.

Maybe the best way to understand what a Child Advocacy Center (CAC) is would be to discuss what children must face when a community doesn’t have one.

Prior to opening our CAC, if there was suspicion of sexual abuse or severe physical abuse the child would often be interviewed by a law enforcement officer or by CPS at a police station, school, or in a police car. The child would then have to possibly keep repeating what could be the most traumatizing story of their life additional times to an attorney, Child Protection Services officer, doctors, counselors and other investigators. Children that are interviewed in this manner may feel like they are in trouble or feel unsafe to talk about what may have happened to them. After the interviews, without the CAC, the family would be left navigating the justice system by themselves, often times struggling to find community resources or appropriate therapy for their family.

The Houghton Keweenaw Child Advocacy Center delivers a best practice model that brings a multidisciplinary team (MDT) of professionals together to provide trauma-informed, comprehensive response to the victim and caregivers. Our MDT is a core component to our model, which includes law enforcement, CPS, the prosecuting attorney, and medical and mental health professionals. Interviews are arranged only through law enforcement, CPS or the prosecuting attorney. Our center then successfully provides a safe, child friendly, neutral environment for children and their caregivers where the child’s well-being is our top priority.

From the moment the child walks in with their caregiver, they are greeted by our advocate and put at ease in our Family Room. The child may have a snack, ask questions, or just play while the caregiver has an opportunity to talk to our advocate and interviewer. The child and caregiver can then take a tour of the center to ease any anxiety about the interview space and feel comfortable in our center. Our forensic interviewers are trained to understand child development and how to ask the right questions in a way that will not retraumatize the child. The forensic interviewer is in a separate room with the child during the interview, with the MDT viewing from another room. The interview is recorded so that the child will only need to tell their story one time. The caregivers meet with the victim advocate during the interview to answer questions they might have. After the interview, the child can play in the family room with the advocate while the caregivers can meet with the MDT. The advocate will continue working with the caregivers throughout the investigation and possible court case, providing support and helping them get any services they may need. This community response with the wrap around support changes the way the child and the caregiver process the entire situation and overall outcome.

Without the continued support from our community partners such as the local prosecuting attorneys, law enforcement, MDHHS Child Protective Services, our sexual assault nurse examiners (SANE), local medical personnel, our mental and behavior health team, our forensic interviewers, and our advocates we could not keep our doors open to this very important service that is serving the most precious and most vulnerable population of our community. We can also use the continued support from our community.

Copper Shores Victim Services Unit also operates out of our center. We have advocates that work with victims of all crimes, past or present. If would like to speak to an advocate, please reach out to (906) 482-9077 or our crisis line at (800) 562-7622. By working together, we can make our community a stronger and healthier place to live!