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558 N. Main St.,
Prineville, OR 97754
Phone: 541.447.6205 |
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| 'For the Children' slates open house for Wednesday |
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By Mindy MacDonald
For more than a decade, For the Children has aimed to prevent and detect child abuse in Crook County.
In 1989, the legislature mandated each county develop a Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) with the purpose to assure that each child abuse case be heard and seen in a timely manner. Without government funding, the Team quickly formed a citizen action committee in response to financial needs. As a result, For the Children was born in May of 1991.
To cultivate community awareness and involvement, For the Children is having an open house Wednesday, Nov. 6 at the Crook County Library from 5:30-6:30 p.m. They are strongly encouraging the community to attend this meeting, where dinner will be provided and information on For the Children will be given.
The For the Children committee is made up of representatives from many parts of the community including law enforcement, child protection services, the juvenile department, the mental health department, the victims advocate office, and other general citizens of Crook County. The purpose of For the Children is to reduce the risk of child abuse through education and prevention programs, and to fund educational efforts of the Crook County MDT.
"The beauty of it is we have a single agenda, which is to help kids. We don't take sides in prosecution, nor do we get involved in politics or the courts," said Gary Williams, the Chair of the committee.
One of their main areas of focus is education, learning the warning signs of child abuse in children and adults, building better parent-child communication, and training appropriate response to children and their needs.
Funding for the nonprofit program is made possible primarily by the For the Children Baseball Tournament held annually in the spring and sponsored by the Women's Softball Association. Other funds come from United Way - individual contributions and annual grants, and private donations.
With these funds, the committee is able to get services to those who need it through several groups in the community. Among these groups are COBRA and Kids First.
For the Children activities include the annual Pet Parade in October and the annual Blue Ribbon Child Abuse Campaign in April.
The committee meets once a month to discuss cases, treatment, and referral of services. The committee has a loyal team of members who saw the beginning of the program, as well as recently joined members and those who help with a single event each year. Williams said of the committee, "There are no membership dues, nor is there a formal roster," said Williams. "There is an equal-voice atmosphere."
He added that their meetings exist solely to help the children, and new faces and ideas are always welcomed and encouraged.
Williams said, "We can't really measure our progress, due to factors out of our control, but we are absolutely certain we have had a major impact on the community, raising levels of expertise, awareness, and training."
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