Mission Kids

Spring 2008 Newsletter

Mission Kids

Innovative Child Advocacy Center to Locate in Farm Park

- Ed Duffy

Consider this:

A child is a victim of sexual or other abuse. The perpetrator is found and arrested. Prosecution commences. Here is what happens to that child-victim in the words of Montgomery Country District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman,

“… a child goes through multiple interviews by law enforcement, social services, prosecution, medical care services, mental health care providers and counselors, often at different locations over an extended period of time, causing them to relive the horrors of their abuse over and over.

This process can cause unnecessary trauma to a child and makes it nearly impossible for many of them to find the strength to testify in court against their abusers.”

Now consider these nearly unrelated and diverse ingredients:

	An individual with an intense desire to fix the problem
	52 separate police organizations
	Sometimes strained relationships between child welfare workers and prosecutors
	A single Chief of Police who understands the need
	A business that has resources to lead in restoration and fundraising
	And a dilapidated 1856 farmhouse in the Norristown Farm Park

The then Assistant District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman saw a pressing need to improve the treatment of young victims of abuse. A visit to the Philadelphia Children's Alliance to see how they dealt with young victims convinced her that an interdisciplinary approach to handling the cases of abused children worked better for everyone. ADA Ferman found two influential allies in Laurie O'Conner of Montgomery County's Office of Children and Youth and East Norriton Police Chief John J. McGowan. Not only did McGowan help persuade his fellow police chiefs to endorse the concept, but he also discovered the building and people willing to transform it.

That building is the farmhouse at 530 W. Germantown Pike. The house and surrounding property were purchased by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1920 from Amelia Bower and the property became part of the larger farm supplying food to the Norristown State Hospital. Eventually the hospital ceased farming operations. In the early 1990’s the farmlands were separated from the state hospital to become the Norristown Farm Park. When Chief McGowan went looking for a suitable site, he spotted that 1856 farmhouse at 530 West Germantown Pike situated on the best backyard you could find, the 690-acre Norristown Farm Park.

In Chief McGowan’s words,

"The location lent itself so well to the concept of a quiet, gentle, non-threatening environment for children…"

To make this building usable for Mission Kids substantial restoration and improvements are needed. Members of Associated Builders and Contractors of East Norriton have developed plans to transform the farmhouse into the new Mission Kids center and have committed to raising approximately $700,000 for renovations to the facility.

ADA Ferman brought together the organizational resources to make Mission Kids work. Called the Montgomery County Child Protection Team, it is composed of members of the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, the Montgomery County Office of Children and Youth, Montgomery County Law Enforcement Officers, and Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Nurses.

Some key benefits of the Mission Kids Child Advocacy Center are:

q A collaborative team investigation process among prosecutors, law enforcement, social services, medical professionals and advocates that will best protect children.

q A safe place for children when investigation of child sexual abuse and serious physical injury are conducted.

q A private, child-friendly and comfortable environment for young victims and non-offending family.

q Increased successful prosecution of child abuse.

“Streamlining the process reduces the trauma,” Ferman said. “It also allows agencies to assess the child's needs better, provide improved emotional support, and produce interviews less vulnerable to legal challenges.”

Opening is planned for mid 2009. This is just the beginning and you can all help make it happen. Please make donations to:

Mission Kids

P.O. Box 706

Norristown, PA, 19404.

For more information, please contact Abbie Newman, Executive Director, at 215-869-0492.

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