Back to Posts

Agreement Provides Critical Partnership for Families on Martha’s Vineyard

June 27, 2023

For over 25 years, Children’s Cove has provided hope and healing for children across Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha’s Vineyard. We have worked hard to establish a child-friendly, confidential, and safe facility where children who were victims of crime and abuse receive a streamlined, comprehensive, and supportive approach to the investigation of their case. We have accomplished this through a collaborative partnership with local law enforcement, the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, the Cape & Islands District Attorney’s Office, and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Our partnerships allow for not only a coordinated multidisciplinary response to cases involving child sexual abuse and severe physical abuse, but also help those who witness domestic violence, or those traumatized by commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking of children. Our collective efforts allow Children’s Cove to partner with confidential supportive services across our communities to help survivors and their non-offending families in their recovery. And Children’s Cove strives to provide assistance to all families on the Cape and Islands.

However, even with all this effort, we have found logistical and geographical challenges remain in our effort to serve all families who need help. For some families on Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket who are experiencing some of the most difficult circumstances of their lives, it can be difficult to travel by plane or ferry across Nantucket Sound and then drive to Children’s Cove. We knew that we needed to find a way to remove the barriers that exist. So, for the last several years we have engaged in quiet conversations with our dedicated community partners on Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard to find some solutions.

On June 7^th, 2023, the Barnstable County Commissioners executed an Interagency Agreement between Children’s Cove: The Cape and Islands Child Advocacy Center, and Martha’s Vineyard Community Services CONNECT to End Violence Program (CONNECT), to help child victims of crime on Martha’s Vineyard. The Board also renewed an Intergovernmental Agreement with Dukes County to provide these services on Martha Vineyard. This partnership will allow us to bring our child-friendly, trauma informed forensic interview services and coordination of care directly to the Island of Martha’s Vineyard.

Utilizing the comfortable and confidential space of CONNECT’S office, our teams worked together to develop a forensic interview room, an observation area for a multidisciplinary team, and family waiting room, which will allow families access to our services on island. While there may be instances where a family may still need to come directly to Children’s Cove in Barnstable, the vast majority of cases will be managed locally.

Our new partnership brings numerous benefits to serve our regional community. First and foremost, as a child-first organization, the burden of lengthy travel on children and their families will be eliminated. This partnership will reduce additional economic, social, professional, and emotional burdens to families in the midst of trauma. Removing these burdens will allow greater opportunity for families to receive support. Second, it allows an immediate connection to help for the child and family. With our Family Services Coordinator working directly with CONNECT staff to support the family, access to supportive services through the greater MVCS program will be connected immediately rather than after the fact. Third, the Child Advocacy Center (CAC) approach already reduces costs for investigative agencies through its collaborative model, however, for each case referred from Martha’s Vineyard, the investigative law enforcement agency needs to send a detective to Children’s Cove in Barnstable. With the multidisciplinary team meeting on-island, it minimizes the number of individuals who need to travel decreasing cost and increasing productivity. Through grant funding, this agreement has allowed eliminated any cost to Barnstable County as well.

This partnership was established by a process like the one that created Children’s Cove – a small group of community leaders sat down and discussed the future of their children, and what the community needed to do to help children who are victims of sexual abuse and violence. Through foresight, commitment, compassion, and ingenuity we found a way to continue working together and expanding partnerships to help children. We would like to thank those we worked with on this collaboration through their encouragement, direct support, funding, vision, and dedication to children on Martha’s Vineyard:

• Beth Folcarelli, CEO, MVCS
• Jennifer Neary, Director, CONNECT to End Violence, MVCS
• Chief McNamee, Edgartown Police Department
• Chief Belain, Aquinnah Police Department
• Chief Slavin, Chilmark Police Department
• Chief Searle, Oak Bluffs Police Department
• Chief Habekost, Tisbury Police Department
• Chief Mincone, West Tisbury Police Department
• Sherriff Robert Ogden, Dukes County Sheriff’s Office
• District Attorney Galibois, Cape & Islands District Attorney’s Office
• Second Assistant Russ Eonas, Cape & Islands District Attorney’s Office
• Beth Albert, County Administrator, Barnstable County Regional Government
• Mark Forest, Barnstable County Commissioner
• Sheila Lyons, Barnstable County Commissioner
• Ron Bergstrom, Barnstable County Commissioner

As we begin this collaboration and partnership, we will work to increase our awareness of services to expand access to families on the Vineyard. We believe that with partnership like our new one with MVCS, we are on the path to create communities where children are free of abuse, have a voice that is heard, and where they enjoy healthy, safe, and empowered lives.

To learn more about this partnership please reach out to our Community Engagement and Education Program Manager Jacob Stapledon.

Join our mailing list.

Back to Posts

Safe Kids Thrive a True Resource for Primary Prevention

May 23, 2023

Last month, the Boy Scouts of America began distributing victim compensation payments as part of a $2.4 billion settlement agreement to more than 82,000 survivors of child sexual abuse. This is the conclusion of a legal action that commenced in November 2020. For decades systemic sexual abuse and subsequent cover-ups led to ongoing abuse within the organization, tarnishing the reputation of one of the leading youth organizations in the nation. Since the surge of litigation, there have been a number of changes within Boy Scouts focusing on preventing sexual abuse. These changes include “mandatory youth protection training for volunteers and employees, a screening process that includes criminal background checks for new adult leaders and staff, and a policy requiring at least two youth-protection trained adults to be present with youth at all times during scouting activities.” The Boy Scouts of America, after 110 years, enacted a major policy shift which should become the standard in every youth- serving organization.

In the 25 years that Children’s Cove has served children and families on the Cape & Islands, we have worked to stem the tide of child sexual abuse and reduce its stigma through our community engagement and education programs. We worked with hundreds of youth-serving organizations across the Cape & Islands, including the Boys Scouts of America’s Cape Cod Chapter, to provide training to recognize, respond, and report child abuse. We have also helped many organizations streamline their own reporting processes.

As part of our training there is a very important message we feel is important to share with every youth-serving organization: where children are, those who seek to take advantage of children will also be there. Organizations cannot afford to take the risk that everyone in their employee or volunteer pool will act in good and moral character. Because of this, we have provided feedback and suggestions on how to reduce instances of abuse within their own organization. This is a critical part of our mission as the Child Advocacy Center (CAC) for Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha’s Vineyard.

We also want to share that in addition to our training, there is a website that can help organizations adopt best practices to prevent child sexual abuse. It was created by the Massachusetts Task Force for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse. This task force used a multidisciplinary approach to develop guidance and resources for best practice guidelines for the prevention of child sexual abuse in youth serving organizations. Utilizing evidence-based information, research and experts in the field, in 2020 the task force launched a first of its kind website, SafeKidsThrive.org.

This resource, coordinated by the Office of the Child Advocate and Children’s Trust, allows youth-serving organizations of every size to assess and improve the safety of their programs at no cost. For many years, each youth-serving organization had to develop their own safety policies and procedures. Unfortunately, child sexual abuse rarely makes its way to the top of the list of priorities, not through malice or meaningful intent, but from the lack of easily obtainable resources and information. Now, all the information an organization needs to form comprehensive child abuse prevention guidelines is available.

Through this website any youth-serving organization can develop their own toolkit for prevention, focusing on elements of prevention. These include an organizations policies and procedures, volunteer and employee screening, hiring and criminal background checks, codes of conduct, education and training (for adults and children), sustainability of best practices and more. Their toolkit and website offer outlines and examples for organizations to develop their own policies or review the ones they currently have in place to improve them. The instructions and examples are clear, simple, and easy to understand.

We believe that with comprehensive prevention planning all youth-serving organizations can develop clear zero-tolerance guidelines which will make their organization unattractive to those looking to harm children. And, in instances where there is alleged sexual abuse, the community will know it will be taken very seriously. These policies and changes need to come from organizational leadership, and conversations surrounding sexual abuse and children’s safety should be encouraged. And, more so, our community and parents need to ask youth-serving organizations what policies they have in place to prevent child sexual abuse in their organizations. The more we bring these discussions to light, the closer we can get to a future free from the sexual abuse of children.

The community engagement and education program at Children’s Cove is available to provide direct support in developing toolkits for youth-serving organizations using the Safe Kids Thrive program, offering professional training to employees working with children, and supporting the development of effective reporting protocols. There is no cost to these services. If you would like to learn more about developing a child sexual abuse prevention toolkit for your youth-serving organization, please visit SafeKidsThrive.org, or reach out to our Community Engagement and Education Program Manager Jacob Stapledon.

Join our mailing list.

Back to Posts

SAFE Child Communities: Bringing Protective Factors Home

April 18, 2023

During Child Abuse Prevention Month, it is a critical time to talk about ways to facilitate prevention for families. Given the focus of our work we primarily talk about body safety, online safety, ways to teach children about consent, and those skills parents can teach and pass on to reduce the likelihood of sexual abuse or exploitation. While teaching those skills are paramount, they are not the only ways in which we can work together to prevent child abuse. Our close community partners at Cape Cod Children’s Place a few years ago received a grant from The Children’s Trust, called the SAFE (Stop Abuse For Every) Child Communities. This grant, and the programming funded by it, uses evidenced-based strategies to significantly reduce the risk of child abuse using a community approach.

Using evidence-based frameworks and the brain development of children, this work is focused around developing and increasing the skills and access to families in what is known as the Five Protective Factors. These protective factors include:

• Parental Resilience: having the skills and ability to cope and bounce back from challenges.
• Social Connections: having friends, family, and community to provide emotional support and assistance.
• Concrete support in times of need: such as the knowledge and ability to access life essentials such as food, clothing and housing when there is need.
• Knowledge of parenting and child development: accurate information and skill development in raising children with appropriate expectations and interventions.
• Childrens social and emotional development: teaching and understanding a child’s ability to interact positively with others and communicate their emotions.

The programming and staff at Cape Cod Children’s Place (CCCP) provide education and skill development around these protective factors and incorporates it in all the work they do. More than that, however, there is a critical component around this work, which is helping move community-based agencies in the same direction of prevention.

Since inception of the grant and mission CCCP has worked with Children’s Cove and other community partners to organize agencies who provide services which supports one or more of these protective factors, and over the last year and a half has begun to bring these organizations back together since the onset of Covid-19 separated elements of our community. And this is coming together in a much larger way this month.

On April 26th, the SAFE Child Community of providers is holding a resource fair from 9:00am-4:00pm at the Cape & Islands Association of Realtors Building in Yarmouth. This fair has a dual purpose for the day, the first is to reconnect and reintroduce agencies and those working in them to one another. There has been a lot of change since Covid-19 in providers and its staff and leadership, this fair provides an opportunity for each organization meet one another, network, understand referral processes, and increase access to services for the families they serve.  The fair is open to all agencies and their staff and teams to attend for the day.

However, for the second half of the day, from 12pm-4pm the fair will be open directly to the community as well. This way there is dedicated time for agencies and individuals to network in the morning, and then the families each organization serves can learn about the programs available across our community.

It is only through collaboration, communication, and dedication to our children and future that create a community where children are free of abuse, have a voice that is heard, and where they enjoy healthy, safe, and empowered lives.

A special thank you to the SAFE Child Community Resource Fair Committee:

Marly Pereda- Cape Cod Children’s Place

Molly Titus – Cape Cod Family Resource Center

Chris Morin – Independence House

Carla Koehl – Cape Cod Foster Closet

Natalia Frois – Cape Cod Council of Churches

Barbara Dominic – Children’s Behavioral Health Working Group

Jacob Stapledon – Children’s Cove

Ari Branning – Children’s Cove

Join our mailing list.

Back to Posts

Help Erase the Wait with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cape Cod & the Islands

March 16, 2023

It takes a community coming together to create a world where children live free from abuse. In fact, when we look at some of the major protective factors for children to prevent or easily recover from adverse childhood experiences, “connectedness” is at the top of the list. Nationally and locally, the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America offers supportive mentoring to nurture the potential of children, builds healthy social connectedness, and provides additional support for children to thrive.

Our community partner, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cape Cod and the Islands (BBBSCI), works with under-resourced families to offer their children transformational, one-to-one professionally supported relationships with caring adult mentors. Children’s Cove and BBBSCI share the vision of a community where children are free of abuse, have a voice that is heard, and where they enjoy healthy, safe, and empowered lives. Our collaborative approach allows Children’s Cove to provide free training for BBBSCI staff and volunteers on early recognition of trauma and how to respond to concerns of abuse. In turn, we provide referrals to BBBSCI for safe and supportive mentors for the children we serve.

BBBSCI wants our youth to achieve their full potential, which contributes to healthier families, better schools, brighter futures, and stronger communities.

However, BBBSCI has an enormous challenge ahead of them. The need for supportive mentors to children who are at-risk and need assistance outpaces the number of volunteers currently available. BBBSCI needs volunteer mentors for children in our community, and some children have waited more than a year for an appropriate match.

Executive Director JR Mell of BBBSCI talks about the way in which they match volunteer mentors to youth. “This isn’t a one size fits all solution. We take so much into consideration when matching ‘Bigs’ with ‘Littles.’ We ensure that each volunteer has a rigorous screening process for safety, we have extensive questionnaires for both prospective ‘Bigs’ and ‘Littles’ waiting for a mentor to identify interests, hobbies, personalities and more. We want to make sure that when we make a match, it is a match that sticks.”

This month, BBBSCI has launched a new “Erase the Wait” campaign to recruit 72 adult volunteer mentors on Cape Cod during the month of March. With 72 youth waiting for a ‘Big,’ they are excited to recruit and raise awareness on the need for more mentors to step up and become ‘Bigs.’ BBBSCI has already held two major events to recruit potential volunteer-mentors, and has another event coming up.

On March 31^st at the Hog Island Brewery in Orleans, the agency aims to provide a venue for people to join them, learn about mentorships, answer questions and meet current volunteer mentors. There is no cost to attend the event. The event starts at 4:30pm with light appetizers and a cash bar, with one drink per guest provide by BBBSCI. There will be door prizes and major gifts from Nauset Marine. At 6:00pm a live band will take the stage which should make it a good night for all. Bring your friends and join BBBSCI for a great night on the Lower Cape!

Mell adds, “we hope you’ll join us for a great night at Hog Island Brewery to learn more about the BBBSCI program, meet our Big 3 Leadership Committee and learn more about how you can get involved with our mission.”

If you are interested in volunteering to become a ‘Big,’ or want to learn more, join BBBSCI in Orleans on March 31^st by registering on Eventbrite here. You can also find our more information on their Facebook Page or by calling 508-827-8170.

Join our mailing list.

Back to Posts

Courageous Conversations with Independence House

February 16, 2023

Children’s Cove partners with numerous organizations across Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha’s Vineyard to support survivors of child sexual abuse and their non-offending family members to provide a comprehensive trauma informed response. These collaborations help us make strides toward creating a community free from abuse, where children have a voice that is heard, and where they live healthy, safe, and empowered lives.

One of the organizations we work closely with is Independence House, which is the Sexual and Domestic Violence Agency for Cape Cod. Beginning this month, they will engage in a new campaign titled Courageous Conversations.

Chris Morin, Director of Prevention, Education and Outreach at Independence House offers why this upcoming campaign is so critical:

The stigma and challenges associated with talking about sexual abuse, domestic violence, and sexual exploitation are a large part of why crimes against children, teens and adults continue to be a public health crisis across our communities. Children’s Cove encourages any member of our community to participate in these Courageous Conversations.

To learn more about our partners at Independence House, visit their website.

Join our mailing list.

Back to Posts

Teen TASK Force relaunched at Monomoy Regional High School

December 20, 2022

Over the last 25 years, the staff at Children’s Cove discovered that often the first person a high-school aged youth talks to after experiencing sexual abuse or assault was a peer. Our youth are hearing these disclosures every day with little information or preparation on how to help. This is not a part of school health classes, and if it is discussed, it is done so in a very general way that does not resonate with students.

Because of this, the Children’s Cove Teen TASK Force was developed to directly engage with high-school age youth to learn how to better communicate information about these critical issues, provide education and awareness of the challenges facing them, and develop skills as peer leaders to know how to respond to disclosures. We started this program at Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School in 2016.

Our six-month program takes place at a local high school, often working specifically with the guidance department to recruit members in the sophomore class to participate. The program provides once monthly two-hour sessions from December to May hosted and presented by Children’s Cove staff and its multidisciplinary team. Our goal is to teach the students about our comprehensive response child sexual abuse and crimes against children.

Our partner agencies in the Teen TASK Force include the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office, the Barnstable County Sheriff’s office, domestic violence services, local law enforcement, internet crimes investigators and victim witness advocates. This year we had an addition of an incredible positive and engaging community male figure, Jonathan “JT” Thompson of JT’s Chronicles. Each session carries an open, non-harmful dialogue on the realities of our work, and we engage with the students to help them see how the information pertains to them.

Due to the impacts of Covid-19, the Teen TASK Force Program took a hiatus in the 2021 and 2022. However, this year, we are relaunching the program with a special focus on working with young men at Monomoy Regional High School.  These issues are a difficult subject for anyone, however, it has been a challenge over the years to engage young men in discussions about consent, sexual abuse and assault, and the stigma of male sexual abuse survivors asking for help. By discussing these issues in a safe, comfortable, and engaging way, we are looking to these young leaders to help us Take a Stand for Kids.

Join our mailing list.