Whole Kids Outreach Satelight

Ozark Foothills Child Advocacy Center (OFCAC)
Phone: (573) 996-2648
Email ofcac@semo.net
The Ozark Foothills Child Advocacy Center (OFCAC) announces the March 22, 2005 opening of a satellite office to be located at Whole Kids Outreach (WKO) on HWY 21 six miles south of Ellington (Reynolds County). The Advocacy Center will provide forensic interview services for Reynolds and surrounding counties in accordance with OFCAC and multidisciplinary team protocol.

When there is a suspicion of abuse, children who do not have the benefit of such services are often subjected to repeated interviews. Some children go on to testify in front of a judge, a jury and a criminal justice system that may not understand the special needs of child victims. These children are left feeling overwhelmed, powerless and frightened, not only from the abuse itself, but also from the very system that is supposed to protect them.

The partnership between Whole Kids Outreach and the Child Advocacy Center will allow care takers and service providers to access a child-focused method of coordinating efforts of law enforcement, social services, and health agencies for children who have suffered abuse. As a result, our communities will be more able to:

• reduce the incidence of child abuse,
• improve the prevention and intervention services,
• provide more immediate follow-up to child abuse reporters,
• minimize the secondary trauma the children and their families experience by reducing the number of child victim interviews, provide consistent support for child victims and supportive adults,
• ensure more efficient medical and mental health services or referrals, provide better communication among the multi-disciplinary team, and
• increase the successful and effective prosecution of offenders.

For more information please contact the Ozark Foothills Child Advocacy Center at (573) 996-2648 or email ofcac@semo.net