Child abuse services under one roof

Karyn Kennedy, David Rivard, MP Bob Dechert, Emily Mathieu, Senator Don Meredith, Chief Bill Blair She was confused, traumatized, hurt and helpless. Those were some of Jane Peters’ (not her real name) feelings when she learned that her then-seven-year-old daughter was sexually abused nearly a decade ago. The first thing she and her then-husband did was contact their family pediatrician who advised that they touch base with the Children’s Aid Society. “We did that, but they never got back to us because I figure there was a huge backlog in cases, so my husband called Toronto Police and they put us in touch with Boost,” recalled Peters. “The police were instrumental in providing us with the information we needed, immediately, to start dealing with this mater. Once we connected with Boost, that changed the way in which our case was managed.” Boost Child Abuse Prevention & Intervention is a Toronto-based agency committed to eliminating abuse and violence in the lives of children, youth and their families. Following a visit to a police Division for the young girl to relate her terrifying ordeal to two officers, she had to go through the Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) Program run by The Hospital for Sick Children. SCAN is managed by a team of healthcare professionals, at the hospital, who offer care, support and assessment to children and teenagers who may have been maltreated, and their families. Peters then took her daughter back to Boost, which prepared the child and family for the court proceedings. “We had to deal with a patchwork of services that were scattered throughout the city,” said Peters. “We also had to prepare our daughter for each intervention along the way.” Children who have experienced abuse in the city will no longer have to travel around the city to get the help they need. On September 30, Toronto’s first Child and Youth Advocacy Centre (CYAC) opened at 890 Yonge St. Now, young people who experience abuse will be able to get all the assistance they require from social services and police under one roof. “Having a child come to one location that is a child-friendly environment is amazing,” said Peters, now a Boost volunteer. “Going to a police Division is not the friendliest environment and a hospital can be alienating for a child when they are frightened. This is the perfect set-up.” The CYAC will be open to the public from Monday to Friday and there will be an on-call system in place for after-hours and weekends. Joining Boost at the new facility are the Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Toronto, the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto, the Safe-T Program, SCAN and Toronto Police. “I remember, a number of years ago, when some remarkable people came in to see me and said we have to get better and smarter at this,” recounted Chief Bill Blair. “They recommended that we come together in a coordinated space to deliver services to young people and to ensure they didn’t have to travel all over this city and that no one fell through the cracks of our various services. There were a thousand big reasons why we shouldn’t do this, but everybody in the room acknowledged there were a lot of tall reasons why we should.” Boost is one of the community partners that played a pivotal role in the CYAC’s establishment. “This centre is the result of a lot of hard work by all of our partner agencies,” said executive director Karyn Kennedy. “This is a true community collaboration… The services that are offered by the CYAC are truly going to make a difference for children and youth in Toronto who have been abused. As all of you know, disclosing sexual or physical abuse is incredibly difficult. As professionals, we have a responsibility to make that as less traumatic, as easy and as comfortable as possible for children. “And, at the CYAC, that is exactly what we have done and what we will continue to do. We are going to offer a comfortable, child-friendly setting for all of our services and support that are offered in one place. It’s a first for Toronto and we are confident that our CYAC in Toronto will become a model for the rest of the country.” Police will investigate physical assaults, emotional abuse or neglect occurrences when the victim is under 16 and the suspect is a caregiver, parent or person in a position of trust or authority, or when the suspect is known and the offences are not within the mandate of the Sex Crimes Unit investigative office; and occurrences entitled “Child in Need of Protection” or Child Left Unattended.”