Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Safety Center celebrates 20 years
More than 8,000 handprints help tell stories of child victims
SPRINGDALE — Handprints covering the walls at the Children’s Safety Center vary in size and color, but share a common trait: courage.
They are the handprints of child victims who have shared their stories of sexual and physical abuse with the center staff since it opened in 1997.
“Each child that comes through our center leaves their handprint story on our walls,” said Emily Rappe Fisher, the center’s development director. “We have over 8,000 handprint stories of bravery. It is the last thing they do before they leave.”
Staff members gathered with city officials and community members Wednesday at the center at 614 E. Emma Ave. to celebrate its 20th anniversary and honor the children ranging from infants to 17-year-olds.
The Safety Center served 612 children in 2016 and 175 so far this year.
“Sometimes they may be nervous or scared because they don’t know what to expect,” said Casey Atwood, the center’s program director. “When they see the handprints and see that this is a child-friendly environment and they’re not alone, it can immediately alleviate some of their anxiety.”
The center was established as a nonprofit organization by business professionals, prosecutors, Arkansas Department of Human Service workers and police detectives who saw children neglected by the system. It became the first child advocacy center in the state and is accredited by the National Children’s Alliance and an accredited member of the Children’s Advocacy Center of Arkansas, Fisher said.
Chris Thornton, president of the center’s board, lauded that vision during the ceremony.
“We thank those founders who saw that and said ‘Let’s do something better, let’s take care of the kids in our community,’” Thornton said.
Thornton acknowledged the difficult tasks the center’s staff members do each day.
“These ladies are heroes,” he said. “I don’t know how they come to work every day … and hear what these kids have gone through. They’re a lot stronger than me to do it. The center would not be the center without the staff.”
They help children regain trust and hope and begin the healing process, Fisher said.
Brittni Jeffers is a child advocate and child forensic interviewer for the center.
“We’re trained in a protocol called child first,” Jeffers said. “We’re going to let the child talk about what they want to talk about in the way they want to talk about it. There are no leading questions.”
Video and audio recordings are taken of each interview so the child doesn’t have to repeatedly tell their story, which could be as many as 16 times during police and judicial investigations, Jeffers said.
“That’s about the average that kids that don’t come to the safety center have to tell their abuse story,” she said.
The center simultaneously assists children and criminal investigations, said Matt Durrett, 4th Judicial District prosecutor.
“[ It] can minimize the trauma on already- traumatized children,” Durrett said. “The criminal justice process is terrible for any victim to go through, but for a child victim it’s even more so. It gives them a level of comfort, a level of security that is so helpful not only to a criminal case, but also to the child’s well-being.”
The average age of children assisted last year was 10 years old, Atwood said.
Children are brought to
the center’s attention by either the child abuse hotline investigators or law enforcement investigations, Atwood said.
The center, which mostly serves children from throughout Washington County, is trying to expand its function, she said.
“This year we started a prevention program where I go into the community and train children and adults on how to keep children safe from child sexual abuse,” she said.
The center is paid for from grants, fundraisers and private donations, Atwood said.
Thornton said the center could always use more money, especially to obtain a larger building.
Durrett said the Safety Center is a blessing.
“You wish you lived in a world where a place like this wasn’t necessary, but I thank God that there are places like this around because people do terrible things to children, and the children have a place to come where they can get their story out and feel safe and secure and feel like they are no longer a victim.”