Topic: Voices from the Field
It’s not often we make public statements about news events not directly related to our work of serving child victims of abuse. Yet what took place here in Washington, D.C., last week was no ordinary event. Just blocks from my house and to National Children’s Alliance headquarters here on Capitol Hill, a violent mob stormed… Continue Reading
Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs) work through the strength of partnership—no single professional or agency can counter child abuse on their own, and survivors need and deserve support when abuse comes to light. Being a good partner means being a good active listener, and active listening is the main medium in which CACs do their work…. Continue Reading
In some ways, legislative advocacy is like toilet paper: You don’t really think about it until it’s absolutely necessary. You usually forget to include it in your budget, it feels a little funny to talk about in public, and, frankly, you can never have enough of it. This wasn’t how I always felt. When I… Continue Reading
Animals are such agreeable friends―they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms.―George Eliot Throughout history, humans have relied on canines to assist in many tasks. Herding, guarding, scent work, and companionship are all duties that dogs have accepted and excelled at. I believe passionately in the human-animal bond, having witnessed firsthand the comfort that animals… Continue Reading
“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” —Maya Angelou Today we remember, 5-year-old Talia Williams. Thirteen years ago today, she passed away at the abusive hands of her father and stepmother on a military base in Hawaii. Social change is… Continue Reading
I was just five years old when I watched the young women of the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Team file stoically into a shiny arena in Barcelona. They looked brave, strong, and proud. Most of them started training when they were three or four years old, and this was about to be the culmination of more… Continue Reading
On February 9, 2018, President Trump signed into law the historic and bipartisan Family First Prevention Services Act as a part of the bipartisan budget agreement. This landmark piece of legislation aims to help keep children safely with their families when they come to the attention of the child welfare system, and when placement in… Continue Reading
I may live in a city, but I’m a small town girl. My childhood home was on a dirt road in one of the most impoverished counties in the country. When my daughter was five, we visited and she looked at the old barns and irrigation canals where we used to play and asked, “were… Continue Reading
In Australia, Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs) have been raised as a way to improve responses to child abuse based on the demonstrated benefits of this approach in the United States. However, there are some important differences between jurisdictions in the U.S. and Australia that need to be considered in adapting the approach. For one, many… Continue Reading
It’s no great surprise that much of our work in advocating for the well-being of children focuses on, well, the children—how to interact with them, how to help them manage stress and trauma, how to recognize symptoms and identify treatments. However, a large body of evidence shows that intervening with parents to strengthen parenting can… Continue Reading