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Because the Stakes are High, We Go All In

December 18, 2024

This month, Children’s Cove: the Cape and Islands Child Advocacy Center is pleased to announce we have been awarded re-accreditation by the National Children’s Alliance following an extensive application and site review process.

As the accrediting agency for Children’s Advocacy Centers (CAC) across the country, the National Children’s Alliance (NCA) awards various levels of accreditation and membership to centers responding to allegations of child abuse in ways that are effective, efficient, and which put the needs of child victims of abuse first.

With more than 950 CACs in the United States, national accreditation is the highest level of membership with the National Children’s Alliance and denotes an excellence in service provision. This is the fourth consecutive period of national accreditation received by Children’s Cove.

In addition, The National Children’s Alliance offers three additional optional standards which exceed the national mandate, of which Children’s Cove was recognized for meeting two: Prevention of Sexual Abuse, as well as the Standard for Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children.

Because of the critical role CACs play in the investigation and response to crimes against children, NCA standards exist to ensure all children served receive consistent, evidence-based services that help them heal from abuse. Approximately every five years standards are updated to reflect the latest evidence and practices. CACs must readjust, realign, and train multidisciplinary partners to ensure all standards are met.

The National Children’s Alliance accredited membership is based on a Child Advocacy Center’s compliance with ten evidence and research-based national standards of accreditation to ensure effective, efficient and consistent delivery of services to child abuse victims. According to these standards, accredited members must utilize a functioning and effective multidisciplinary team approach to work collaboratively in child abuse investigation, prosecution, and treatment.

The National Children’s Alliance also considers standards regarding a center’s cultural competency and diversity, forensic interviews, victim support and advocacy, medical evaluation, therapeutic intervention, and child focused setting. These standards are analyzed by a team of professionals from NCA through a review of all standards of practice, in-depth site visit, and comprehensive interviews with staff, multidisciplinary partners, and referral partners.

This rigorous process allows our team to analyze, evaluate, discuss, and modify all of our practices on a regular basis to ensure we are meeting the needs of children and families in a timely and relevant manner. The evaluation allows us to think critically about the child-focused work we do to ensure we do not remain stagnant or leave critical issues behind. The stakes are high. We cannot afford to perform short of our very best when working with children who need our support the most. It is our responsibility to go ‘all-in’ for kids.

However, we cannot do this alone. Accreditation requires more than just the efforts of our own team, but a community of professionals working collaboratively. Together, we create a community free from abuse, supporting children and families in a trauma-informed and evidence-based way.

The following organizations have helped us in this achievement, either as an investigative partner, a referral source, a silent supporter, or even in managing the details of the day of the accreditation process:

Aquinnah Police Department, Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe, Barnstable Police Department, Bourne Police Department, Brewster Police Department, Cape & Islands District Attorney’s Office, Cape Cod Children’s Place, Chatham Police Department, Chilmark Police Department, Child and Family Services, Dennis Police Department, Department of Children and Families Cape and Islands, The Department of Public Health, Eastham Police Department, Edgartown Police Department, Falmouth Police Department, Family Table Collaborative, Harwich Police Department, Mashpee Police Department, Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, The Massachusetts Children’s Alliance, Nantucket Police Department, Oak Bluffs Police Department, Orleans Police Department, Pierce-Cote Advertising, Provincetown Police Department, Sandwich Police Department, Tisbury Police Department, Truro Police Department, Wellfleet Police Department, West Tisbury Police Department, Yarmouth Police Department, VNA Services of Cape Cod.

Thank you all for your dedication and hard work for children. Together we are working toward a community free from abuse, where children’s voices are heard and where they can live healthy and empowered lives.

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A Legislative Victory Supporting Survivors

October 22, 2024

Since 1981 in the United States, October has been recognized as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Domestic violence, otherwise known as intimate partner violence, is unfortunately very common according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), with “about 41% of women and 26% of men experiencing sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner…during their lifetime.” Unfortunately, intimate partner violence is not limited to adults. The CDC estimates 1 in 12 teenagers in the United States have experienced sexual or physical violence as a part of relationships, the majority of these victims identifying as female.

As the nuances of relationships grow in our society, abuse can be physical, sexual, psychological, with the latter occurring with increased frequency  in  recent years via the many varied forms of online communication. Thankfully in Massachusetts, recent legislation has been passed to protect all people of an increasingly common form of intimate partner violence by banning revenge porn and expanding protections against abuse and exploitation.

“Revenge porn” is a type of sexual abuse committed online by the sharing of nude or sexually explicit photos and/or videos of a person without their consent to shame or punish a current or former intimate partner. Other times, the threat of sharing this content is a way to control the person, often referred to as “sextortion,” which you can learn more about from a previous “Our Take” article here.

When discussing how these forms of abuse affect kids and teenagers there is an intersectionality of  this type of intimate partner violence,  when we are also talking about the distribution of child sexual abuse material. Since 2020, Children’s Cove has seen an increasing rate of our referrals for online sexual exploitation come in the form of peer-to-peer exploitation, often through means of sextortion or revenge porn.

This type of victimization is more than a one-time event, it is a moment in time of vulnerability or intimacy being shared without consent in perpetuity. The act is relieved and reshared for days, months, years and decades by those who consume the content of exploitation; thus, the survivor continues to be revictimized. In many instances, this form of abuse is characterized by the images/video being  targeted and shared directly with those who have meaningful roles in the child’s life, such as parents, teachers, coaches, members of their faith community or employers. It can be devastating to a person’s reputation, self-esteem, peer relationships, and wellbeing. Furthermore, the advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies and the production of “deepfakes” (realistic-looking image /video that has been manipulated to make it appear real) have only added to the complexities of this issue.

Fortunately, in June of this year, Governor Healey signed into law An Act to Prevent Abuse and Exploitation, which seeks to prevent abuse, increase protections for survivors, and educate youth about  “sexting”. This law further criminalizes and expands punishments for revenge porn, extends prohibition to deepfakes and AI generated images, and mandates education for youth surrounding these issues. As Lieutenant Governor Driscoll stated,

We applaud the Massachusetts Legislature and Executive Office for moving this legislation forward to making meaningful changes in support of survivors in Massachusetts. In addition, we want to recognize the hard work with our incredible community partners Independence House, A Safe Place Nantucket and CONNECT to End Violence. These incredible community partners work with those experiencing domestic violence and provide variety of helpful measures to individuals and families, including improving safety, support, and independence in their lives. The direct services team at Children’s Cove will often work collaboratively with these organizations when we are helping a child who has been abused or have witnessed the abuse of another in their home.

Children’s Cove partners with these regional sexual and domestic violence agencies to end violence and abuse on Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha’s Vineyard. We know that sexual abuse, domestic violence, and sexual exploitation impacts people of all ages, genders, cultural backgrounds, and socioeconomics.

If you would like to learn more about the free and confidential services available to our communities or provide information to someone who may need support, we are here to answer questions and offer help.

Learn how to access support services across the Cape & Islands here.

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A Gap in Child Protection in Massachusetts

August 15, 2024

As we move deeper into August, back to school shopping is underway while parents search for schedules, plan after-school activities, and get ready for the rush of Labor Day weekend. At the same time, school administrators are finalizing class schedules, planning in-service trainings and professional development for teachers, and classrooms are being prepared.

As a part of professional development opportunities, which mark the start of a new school year, our hope is that regional schools include training which focuses on their critical role in safety, and the prevention of abuse. Regardless, however, of trainings, important policies, and procedures, we know there is likely one critical gap which is often found unaddressed across our state: enforceable action against teachers who engage in inappropriate behavior with students aged 16 and older.

This has been a longstanding issue in Massachusetts with failed attempts at legislation dating as far back as 2009. However, in January of this year, a tragedy befell the New Bedford community with the death of Jacob Pothier, and a new light was cast upon the failures to protect this young man from a system designed to educate and protect him. For more than two years, a faculty member allegedly engaged in an inappropriate relationship with Jacob, regardless of reports to the school, which continued until the day he lost his life. While this brazen engagement in an inappropriate relationship with a student in a school setting may seem implausible to many, there is one major reason why it still takes place: there is no legal means by which an adult or person with power, control or authority can be held accountable if a child has reached the age of 16 – the legal age of consent in Massachusetts.

This fact leads to not only a gray area for school policies and procedures, but also provides a loophole for those who have intent to engage in sexual or other inappropriate behaviors with teens to escape justice, and to continue offending. Let’s break it down: when we look at the profiles of those who have a history of sexually abusing children outside of their home or families, there is a large connection between their work or community presence and direct interaction with children. This can include childcare and early education workers, pediatricians, children’s entertainers and, of course, teachers. When these offenders choose to apply for a job at a school, they will also learn all about the school’s child-protection policies to identify any weaknesses or loopholes which they can exploit to offend or harm children. And unfortunately, in Massachusetts, the largest gap in child protection is not from the school’s policies and procedures, but from Massachusetts law itself.

This glaring oversight of law is astounding to acknowledge, given the fact Massachusetts is a state which has long prided itself as being at the forefront of education in our nation. The Commonwealth falls behind other states in child protection as reported by the New Bedford Light, states such as North Carolina, Washington, and our fellow New England state of Maine have specific statutes identifying sexual relationships between students and teachers / faculty as a crime. Another critical element of these statutes is the requirement to have offenders register specifically as sex offenders. This is critical, because when individuals apply for jobs working with children, they are required to undergo a Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) check, and a Sex Offender Registration Information check. However, due to the lack of legislation in Massachusetts, when school personnel use their positions to take advantage of students beyond the age of consent are caught, they simply resign and move on to another school district.

Locally, this is not a new issue, with an inappropriate and sexual relationship between a teacher and a student at D-Y Regional High School making the news through the Cape Cod Times and community chatrooms in 2015. This case resulted in a slightly better outcome, with the offender agreeing to surrender his teaching license. However, the conversation has remained the same, legislation stalled, and statutes remained unchanged ever since.

What we have described is an unconscionable gap of child protection upon which the state seemingly refuses to act. This coupled with the fact that there remains no legal requirement for schools to educate child sexual abuse prevention marks a blemish on our record of education and civil rights.

For now, Children’s Cove will continue to work with our 11 other partner Children’s Advocacy Centers – at no cost – to provide education and training to schools and youth-serving organizations to better recognize and respond to abuse. Additionally, we will collaborate with Safe Kids Thrive through the Massachusetts Children’s Trust to provide prevention strategies and tool kits to prevent abuse.

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Summer Programs are Critical to Abuse Prevention and Recognition

June 17, 2024

Schools at every grade level across the country are one of the most critical youth-serving organizations (YSO) for recognizing, responding to and reporting abuse and crimes against children. You can see the critical impact schools have on recognizing abuse by our past article The Frontline of Recognizing Abuse: Teachers here. However, there are other organizations at different times of year who are just important in this endeavor of creating safe communities for children, ones not often thought about. As schools let out for the summer, other YSOs in Massachusetts are preparing for their summer sessions, it is critical these organizations are committed to preventing and responding to child sexual abuse.

Child safety is more than handbooks, policies and procedures; however, they are a critical place to start. Our Partners at The Children’s Trust and the Safe Kids Thrive provide everything youth-serving organizations need to build policies and best practices around child abuse prevention. This month they highlighted some ways to increase the elements of safety in organizations serving children this summer:

• Verify that all staff and volunteers acknowledge, understand, agree with, and sign your Code of Conduct. Include a Code of Ethics outlining your commitment to keep kids safe.
• Ensure leadership models appropriate behavior and promotes positive interactions among staff and children. Encourage staff to view safety as a priority and mutual responsibility of all.
• Create opportunities to talk with all staff about abuse prevention policies and build comfort with this topic. Communicate your policies and protocols to all stakeholders, including the parents and families of the children you serve.
• Remind staff and volunteers to honor their duties and responsibilities as mandated reporters under MA law. Train all staff and volunteers on when, how, and to whom to report suspected abuse or disclosures of abuse.
• Check driving records and ensure drivers responsible for the transportation of children have adequate credentials. Ensure that all staff and volunteers participating in off-site activities adhere to policies on transportation.

-These highlights are provided to you by Safe Kids Thrive.

Second, while it is important for YSOs to have these policies and procedures in place, it is all the more critical that all staff, counselors and even administrative staff receive adequate training. Knowing what each person’s role is in the greater role of child abuse prevention and safety creates an atmosphere of safety. The message delivered by YSO administration should be “these policies are non-negotiable values of the organization.” Training team members on an annual basis, as well as effective training on how to recognize and respond to abuse (as provided for free by the Children’s Cove Education and Training team) should be a regular strategy.

Third, parents need to be involved and ask about a YSO’s policies on protecting children. Safety and prevention starts with you. It starts with conversations you have with your children, teaching them about body safety, child sexual abuse, appropriate boundaries, and what to do if a child feels unsafe.  In addition, parents need to have direct conversations with your children’s schools and summer programs about how they recognize, respond to, and report abuse. This holds everyone accountable for the safety of children.

It takes a community to protect our children. It takes responsibility, accountability, transparency, and conversations about the public health and safety of children. All children deserve a community free from abuse, where their voices are heard, and where they can live safe, healthy and empowered lives.

If you would like support as a parent, community member, youth-serving organization, in learning how to keep children safe and prevent abuse, please contact Jacob Stapledon, Community Engagement and Education Program Manager at Jacob.Stapledon@childrenscove.org to discuss your needs or request a free education session or training.

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