What is CARE House?
In recent years our community
experienced the deaths of a number of children from abuse and neglect.
These highly publicized cases left the community asking questions about how
these deaths could have been prevented and why the child protection system
had not worked for these children. A child protection task force was
established and the conclusion was drawn that our child protection system
was fragmented and very difficult for a family seeking help to navigate.
A recommendation was made to establish
a county-wide multidisciplinary joint investigation team to provide a more
coordinated response to child abuse cases. From this came the
realization that our community needed to join together in establishing a
centralized, child-oriented facility that would house the team. In
addition to the investigation team, the child advocacy center would serve as
a centralized location for child interviews, case consultations,
coordination of medical evaluations and other treatment services for the
child victim and non-offending family members.
In 1997, five core agencies joined
together in a collaborative partnership to establish a multidisciplinary
investigation team and a child advocacy center in Montgomery County.
Those agencies are The Children's Medical Center, Dayton Police Department,
Montgomery County Children Services, Montgomery County Prosecutor's Office,
and Montgomery County Sheriff's Office. An interagency cooperative
agreement was signed in March, 1997. The signatories, representing all
33 law enforcement jurisdictions in Montgomery County, as well as educators
and mental health service providers, agreed that a coordination of their
services will provide a system that minimizes trauma to the child,
eliminates excessive interviewing of child victims, and develops better,
more complete evidence. It was also agreed that this type of
interagency communication and cooperation will lead to more informed
decisions for responding to the needs of these children.
Specifically, the agency
representatives agreed to coordinate their efforts to:
- develop a prompt, comprehensive,
multidisciplinary response to child victims of abuse and neglect that is
designed to meet the needs of the victims and their non-offending family
members;
- hold the offender accountable for
his or her actions; and
- provide the child victims and their
non-offending family members with needed services to protect the child
from further harm.
The Children's Medical Center committed the use of
a facility at 741 Valley Street, with occupancy in
October, 1998. The child advocacy center, CARE House, has become a
reality for our community and is the focal point of what is evolving into an
integrated child protection system in Montgomery County.
Recognizing that the successful
implementation of this program is dependent upon the active support and
involvement of the entire community, funding is being sought from a broad
base. The Montgomery County Human Services Levy Council developed a
1996-1998 budget plan that set aside money for child protection services.
In 1997, The Children's Medical Center received 3 year partial funding
for CARE House from the Levy Council Child Protection Set-Aside Fund.
Additional start-up funding for general refurbishing of the facility has
been received from other funding sources. Contributions from special
events have been received and CARE House benefits from the sale of People
Pins. Additionally, each partnering agency has made cash as well as
in-kind contributions toward the development of CARE House.
