If a child is experiencing abuse at home, where can they turn?
For Cindy Tucker, who became the executive director for Sally Kate Winters Family Services in West Point in February, the answer is clear.
“Since the inception of the Sally Kate Winters Memorial Children’s Home in 1990, the mission of the program has been to offer the gift of humanity, love and respect to children traumatized by child abuse and neglect,” Tucker said.
Tucker, along with Sally Kate Winters Outreach Coordinator Kelly Michael, spoke to the Exchange Club of Columbus at Lion Hills Center and Golf Club Thursday. The pair presented the nonprofit’s programs and told club members how to report child abuse, should they encounter it.
Tucker said Sally Kate Winters Family Services currently has four programs for neglected and abused children. This includes emergency shelter services, runaway and homeless youth services and transitional living services, along with the Children Advocacy Center.
The Children Advocacy Center, Tucker said, is a part of a statewide program that provides forensic interview counseling services, working closely with the courts and law enforcement, after child abuse has been reported.
Recounting abuse can itself be traumatizing to a victim. Sally Kate Winters can help reduce the repetition of describing their experience from about 15 times without the assistance of an advocacy center to only about three times. At the center, a trained forensic interviewer can ask the child questions, while others involved in the case listen live without being in the room.
Michael said many of these interviews are referred to the advocacy center by CPS.
“Robin tells her teacher that she’s being hurt by her mom’s new boyfriend at home, and she’s brought to a Children’s Advocacy Center, where she tells her story with a trained forensic interviewer, while the MDT team can watch the interview happening,” Michael said, “Again, that’s going to be (Child Protective Services), law enforcement, the (District Attorney’s) office, anyone involved in that case can watch that interview live.”
The Children’s Advocacy Center then can refer the child to a doctor or counselor, and can connect parents to speak to a child advocate, Michael said. The Sally Kate Winters CAC serves Clay, Choctaw, Oktibbeha, Lowndes and Noxubee counties, Michael said, along with occasional referrals from other counties without advocacy centers.
The Sally Kate Winters Children Advocacy Center conducted 271 felony child abuse interviews last year, she said.
Michael said that 95% of abused children know their perpetrator, and 90% of alleged child abusers are related to their victims. Michael said sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect and emotional abuse should all be reported to Child Protective Services.
“Pretty much anyone in the state of Mississippi is a mandated reporter, so if they were to have reasonable cause to suspect a child is being neglected, then they should make a verbal report by telephone (to CPS),” Michael said. “They also have it where you can go on their website.”
A report to CPS, Michael said, should include information on what happened, where the alleged abuse happened, who the alleged perpetrators are, whether there were any other victims or witnesses and if there is any immediate medical attention necessary.
Other relevant information can also help to expedite the investigation, but questions about additional details of the abuse are not necessary and can sometimes be distressing, Michael said. The Sally Kate Winters CAC forensic interview undergoes annual recertification and training to navigate conversations about abuse with children, she said.
Sally Kate Winters also manages 30 Safe Places in the area, Michael said, where yellow and black signs are posted on certain establishments to let children know that if they feel unsafe, they can go inside and receive help.
The Mississippi Child Abuse hotline number is 1 (800) 222-8000.
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