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| Debbie Bell and other Child Watch staff and volunteers visit with kindergartners through fifth graders each week. Bell says it’s not unusual for children to confide in her afterward. |
Last fall, Debbie Bell likely saved a Ballard County third grader from years of continued sexual abuse. As an educator for Child Watch Children’s Advocacy Center, Bell gives presentations to kindergartners through fifth graders each week. She explains the difference between good touches and bad touches – and, thankfully for this particular child, what to do when someone tries the latter.
“I’ll never forget it,” says Bell, a USEC retiree. “She came up to me in the hallway and told me that her cousin had been doing the same thing to her that she saw in the video. I asked her if she’d told anybody. She said that until I came into the classroom, she didn’t know she was supposed to tell.”
As she does each time a child confides in her, Bell shared the information with the Department of Community Based Services for investigation.
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| The Child Watch team includes (seated) Faye Rushing, Dayne Wells, Dorothy Smith (and standing) Debbie Bell, BB McGuirk, Stephanie King and Sandy Fellows. |
“Our role as educators is to let children know that they can say no,” says Bell, who’ll present to a Head Start class in Murray on April 15. “It’s their body and they’re in charge. I’ve lived in this area all my life and I did not know that Western Kentucky had the same problem that so many of the larger communities across our nation have. Too many children are being abused!”
Protecting Children Since 1984
With April being Child Abuse Prevention month, it’s certainly a good time to celebrate the great work of Child Watch, which provides a child-friendly facility for the prevention, evaluation and treatment of child abuse victims.
Established in 1984, the organization’s beautiful 1118 Jefferson St. facility (right) includes kid-friendly exam and treatment rooms, play therapy and a number of other services to help protect and heal children who have been victimized by abuse.Last year, the organization served 466 children and 314 non-offending caretakers, including 65 Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) children that the organization serves through Family Court. The group sees children from the Purchase Area, as well as many from Indiana, Illinois, Tennessee and Louisville.
“Our goal is to make sure that each child receives the right services, whether crisis intervention, therapy, forensic interviewing or medical or court advocacy services,” says Child Watch Executive Director Sandy Fellows. “These services, along with qualified, caring staff members, help the children get on the road to recovery very quickly in order to get through the most horrific trauma that any human being could ever possibly imagine. We have never turned a child away.”
Child Watch has received more than 15 prestigious awards for outstanding services to children in our community. This group is the oldest Children’s Advocacy Center in Kentucky, and one of five in the state accredited by the National Children’s Alliance.The organization’s educational component has proven so successful that area Catholic churches and schools and the Catholic Families Faith Formation group have hosted eight of Bell’s education presentations in the past year, reaching close to 350 children. Bell also presents to day care centers and other church groups.
An Array of Free Services
Along with education, Child Watch offers, free of charge:
24-Hour Crisis Line - providing information, support and referral services to child victims, their families and concerned individuals.
CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate Program) - providing volunteers who have been screened, take specialized training and are sworn in by the Family Court Judge to investigate, monitor, facilitate and advocate for the "Best Interests" of abused/neglected children who are in the court system.
Child Abuse/Abduction Prevention Education Program - providing trained instructors to teach child abuse/abduction prevention to children in the school systems.
Children's Medical Clinic - providing physicians with specialized training who conduct sexual abuse examinations to all child victims who are referred by Community Based Services and Law Enforcement Agencies.
Community Awareness Program - providing information and education on child abuse to the community through a Speaker's Bureau, community events and the media.
Counseling/Therapy Programs - providing therapists who make available mental health screenings, assessments, individual therapy, crisis counseling, case management, referrals and support groups.
Forensic Interviewing - providing specialized staff, rooms and equipment to Law Enforcement and the Department for Community Based Services to interview child abuse victims.
Court Advocates - providing advocates for child victims and their non-offending families who testify in court.
Can Kids Recover?
According to Fellows, most therapists say children can learn to cope with what has happened to them if they participate in a therapy program.
“Every child is different and some may only need a few therapy sessions, while some children will need therapy for most of their lives,” Fellows says. “That is why we have an ‘open door’ policy. If the child has ever been to us and needs therapy or any service again during their childhood years, we will automatically schedule them for services.”
