Children's Cove - The Cape and Islands Child Advocacy Center

CONTACT:

PO Box 427
Barnstable, MA 02630
508-375-0410
www.childrenscove.org

Stacy Gallagher, Director

DESCRIPTION:

Child abuse is rampant—a child in the United States is sexually abused every six minutes; before they are 18, one in four girls and one in six boys will be victims, in 90% of cases by someone they know and trust—usually a family member. More tragically still, those children suffer in silence; only 30% ever tell anyone what has happened. In 1997, FCC was created by a collaboration of state and local government agencies, with child service philanthropies of the Task Force on Children. As a single, central, private, safe, free-of-charge, setting for victims and their non-offending family members, in which they can report, record, and therapeutically deal with this traumatic and sensitive experience. Instead of trudging to several scary, bureaucratic public agencies for the stressful ordeal of reporting and documenting sexual abuse, children and their families can go to one non-threatening place for a forensic interview, a medical exam, and treatment, even financial help if, as sometimes happens, the breadwinner must be removed from the home. CC has gained national and statewide recognition as a collaborative regional model, and has developed a rapidly expanding intervention network. In 2006 alone, it served 316 families. The gravity of this excellent initiative merits your support.

(2007: HUMAN SERVICES: Children & Youth)