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Children's advocates receive $500,000 grant for kids in need

Each year the Chicago Children's Advocacy Center responds to 2,500 reports of child sexual and physical abuse throughout Chicago. While initial abuse reports are processed within 48 hours, children may have to wait several months to receive necessary psychological counseling and services due to the volume of reports, limited staff and scarce resources, at the CCAC and collaborating agencies.

“Waiting lists should not exist for children and families impacted by sexual abuse,” said Kathy Grzelak, chief program officer at the CCAC. “Think about how frustrated you are when you call your doctor to get seen for an illness that is affecting your ability to function and being told you have to wait three to six months to be seen. What are your options?”

To develop innovative new systems that alleviate the length of time abused children have to wait for mental health services, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has awarded the CCAC a $500,000 grant to spearhead the Providing Access Toward Hope and Healing Collaboration. Developed and led by the CCAC since July 2010, the PATH Collaboration involves a coalition of 13 human service organizations providing evidence-based, trauma-informed mental health treatment for victims of child sexual abuse in the Chicago area. This coalition, known as the Network of Treatment Providers, was assembled by the CCAC in 2001 to improve Chicago's mental health care treatment system for victims of child sexual abuse and assault.

“The model of the CCAC is about collaboration and eliminating system barriers so there is less trauma to the child,” said Char Rivette, Executive Director of the CCAC. “The philosophy of our PATH Collaboration is similar. Once the story is told, we need to help the system respond in a way that is family centered, comprehensive and coordinated.”

With the additional momentum and resources the grant provides, the PATH Collaboration will allow the CCAC and the NTP to make unified strides in implementing critical practices and systems. Such steps include the development of a client triage, a centralized waiting list coordination system, and pilot educational groups targeting underserved and high need clients for quick engagement and intervention. The grant will also assist the CCAC as the organization continues working to expand provider agencies around the cause. The CCAC also seeks to employ additional, specialty personnel, particularly those who work with bilingual children and children with cognitive disabilities.

These efforts are critical; without effective and timely intervention, abused children are likely to endure heightened psychological, health and life issues. Recent statistics from the American Medical Association and the Department of Health and Human Services indicate that abuse victims who do not receive therapy are 66 percent more likely to abuse drugs, 33 percent more likely to commit a crime, and 59 percent more likely to be arrested as a juvenile.

“It is amazing that children even tell their story of sexual abuse given all the barriers that are there for them,” Grzelak said. “Unfortunately, many children remain silent out of fear. Fear that it will disrupt the family, especially if the perpetrator is a family member. When they do tell us, we need to pay attention, listen, and then provide timely care for them to heal.”

To learn more and help in the mission to battle abuse and restore lives, visit chicagocac.org.