More than 600,000 children are abused in the United States each year. When police or child protective services believe a child may be experiencing abuse, the child is brought to a safe, child-focused advocacy center by a caregiver or other “safe” adult. At the advocacy center, the child tells their story once to a trained interviewer, who knows the right questions to ask in a way that does not retraumatize the child.
Advocacy centers coordinate the investigation, treatment, and prosecution of child abuse cases by utilizing multidisciplinary teams of professionals involved in child protective and victim advocacy services, law enforcement and prosecution, and physical and mental health.
To help fund these critical programs, South Central Power and Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives made donations to several child advocacy centers across our service territory.
South Central Power’s donations were matched by cooperative lender CoBank’s Sharing Success grant program. Together, the organizations provided funding for:
Alternatives to Violence Center: This Hillsboro organization received a $5,000 donation from South Central Power and CoBank.
Harcum House: This Lancaster organization received a $10,000 donation from South Central Power and CoBank, as well as a $1,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives
Harmony House: This St. Clairsville organization received a $5,000 donation from South Central Power and CoBank.
In addition, the Chase Haley Project, an organization promoting suicide prevention in Fairfield County, received a $1,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives.
If you are aware of a case of child abuse and neglect in Ohio, please contact 855-O-H-CHILD (855-642-4453), an automated telephone directory by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services that will link callers directly to a child welfare or law enforcement office in their county. Reports can be anonymous.
From the November 2024 issue of Ohio Cooperative Living.