What We Offer
If your child made an outcry of abuse, wouldn't you want the investigation, prosecution, and intervention services to be handled in a manner sensitive to the needs of a child?
Prior to the establishment of ChildSafe, a child's outcry of abuse didn't necessarily mean the hurt was over. For many young victims, it often meant the beginning of a stressful, scary, and difficult journey through the adult-minded criminal and civil justice systems.
Due to the complex nature of these cases, our systems require the involvement of many different professionals to investigate, prosecute, and intervene. Historically, information was not shared, efforts were rarely coordinated, and obtaining successful outcomes for these child victims was virtually impossible.
ChildSafe is a children's advocacy center, Bexar County's only agency providing specialized services to children who have been sexually abused and to their supportive family members. ChildSafe provides a safe, child friendly environment where law enforcement, child protective services, prosecution, and medical and mental health professionals can share information and coordinate strategies sensitive to the needs of each unique case and child.
ChildSafe provides offices on our campus for all of these professionals and our staff and administration. At ChildSafe, our staff provides an array of child-focused services for children from 0 to 18 years of age that include the following:
Medical Exams are non-invasive and performed by our medical team of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE) and medical fellows. The medical team is lead by Dr. Nancy Kellogg, a nationally recognized pediatrician whose work with child sexual abuse victims sets standards for care.
Assessment Services provide a starting point for the ChildSafe staff to manage the services the sexually abused child and supportive family members will need. A psychosocial assessment and needs assessments are conducted periodically for every child and family. Crisis evaluations are done as needed. Scheduled assessments throughout the process ensure benchmarks of healing are met as well as indicators of need for additional services.
Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) works together reviewing cases and comparing needs to ensure that law enforcement, Child Protective Services, prosecution, and an array of social service providers are making the most effective response and plan of action for the family. The MDT members help coordinate efforts that reduce trauma to the sexually abused child, their supportive family members, and other caregivers.
Case Coordination / Child and Family Advocates are trained professionals who work with the child and their family or caregiver from the initial outcry, through the prosecution and court system to ensure they understand the process. They also work with the family and the child to prepare for the trial phase and beyond to ensure they receive services from outside providers and other ChildSafe partners to move them from victim to survivor.
Our Counselors and Therapists are licensed professionals who have specialized training in trauma-focused, evidence-based cognitive behavioral therapy. These compassionate and skilled therapists provide individual therapy, family therapy, play therapy, art therapy, and adventure therapy for child victims and their supportive family members.
Child Abuse Resource Enhancement (CARE) program is a collaboration of services readily available to each family that comes to ChildSafe. The services include counseling, parent / caregiver support, mentoring, and peer activities. The goal of CARE is to connect families to services they may not otherwise have access. As a result of the increase in community-based activities and services offered through CARE, ChildSafe is able to reduce the impact of child sexual abuse on the child and family.
What else do we do at ChildSafe?
Collaboration
We believe that sharing information and networking is critical to innovation in the care of abused children and their families.
Advocacy
We believe in the power of a collective voice to successfully effect change that will impact the lives of the children scarred by violence and abuse.
Community Awareness
We believe that the eradication of child abuse from our society begins with building informed, empowered communities that stand ready to embrace this issue with courage. We accomplish this by providing education to both adults and children in various community settings.
Funding
At the heart of our mission is a commitment to support the work of our direct care staff so they can continue to help young victims rebuild their lives. ChildSafe is a nonprofit organization that must raise private and state funds to provide our services to Bexar and surrounding counties.