(BELVIDERE, May 5, 2008) -- Being the victim of abuse or a sexual assault is traumatic enough for a child, so the investigation process shouldn’t make it even worse. That’s why Warren County opened a new Child Advocacy Center at the county Prosecutor’s Office, to create a safer and more compassionate environment for young victims.
The center, located in a former bank that was converted to offices for prosecutor’s staff more than a decade ago, was dedicated by county officials on Monday, May 5.
Freeholder Director John DiMaio thanked Prosecutor Thomas S. Ferguson for his efforts to create the center, which will serve “to protect our most vulnerable members of society: our children.”
Freeholder Richard D. Gardner, who also spoke at the dedication event, said the county has a duty to assist children and try to keep them safe. “They are our future hope, and they will be our future achievers and leaders,” Gardner said.
Warren County becomes the 14th county in the state to open such a facility.
 Freeholder Director John DiMaio and Freeholder Deputy Director Richard D. Gardner helped to dedicate the new center. Ferguson said the center has long been needed. Previously, victims of child abuse and sexual assault and their families had to wait in a hot and uncomfortable entryway to the building, sometimes for hours, while investigations and interviews took place.
The three-by-eight-foot alcove “just didn’t cut it for these long question-and-answer periods,” Ferguson said, noting the space included just a couple of chairs and a beat-up television in an area that offered no privacy. “It was just totally inappropriate,” he remarked.
Now the entire ground floor of the location usually referred to as “the bank building” has been transformed to create the center.
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Its three interview rooms, each decorated and furnished to be appropriate for different age groups, include a video monitoring system. This allows attorneys and investigators to watch the interviews from a second floor conference room instead of being a distracting, or even intimidating, presence in the same room as the child.
The center also has two waiting areas, one for parents and the other equipped with toys, a large television and furniture comfortable for kids. “A lot of times you’re there for a long time, and you have to bring your other children with you,” Ferguson explained.
There also is an office set aside for representatives of the state Division of Youth and Family Services, who frequently work with Ferguson’s staff on child abuse and sexual assault cases.
Ferguson said that Lori Craig, the county’s Victim/Witness Coordinator, applied for and received a $24,000 federal Children’s Justice Act grant to pay for furnishings. The Prosecutor’s Office also used $15,000 in drug forfeiture funds, Ferguson said, while the county paid for renovations to the building.
The Prosecutor’s Office started using the Child Advocacy Center as soon as it was ready a few weeks ago. Ferguson noted that Warren County conducts about 250 investigations a year of into child abuse cases and sexual assault cases at all age levels.
Furnishings include this forensic interview bench, specially designed for talking with young victims.
Ferguson praised the freeholders for their support of the project and noted that DiMaio, who runs a family construction business, was always willing to help whenever called upon for advice during the project to gut and refurbish the bank building. Ferguson also recognized the contributions of county Administrator Steve Marvin and Buildings and Grounds Superintendent James Durborow, as well as Brian Duckworth and Mark Kimble of the Buildings and Grounds Department, who did much of the construction work on the facility.
Ferguson noted that Craig, the Victim/Witness Coordinator, and Dottie Magyar, the prosecutor’s Multi-Disciplinary Team Coordinator who serves as an advocate for victims, handled much of the planning and interior decorating of the center.
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