Life Skills Counseling for Recovery from Child Abuse Program https://grants.dudleytdoughertyfoundation.org/proposals-2010/life-skills-counseling-for-recovery-from-child-abuse-program https://grants.dudleytdoughertyfoundation.org/@@site-logo/sitelogo-75x75.png

Life Skills Counseling for Recovery from Child Abuse Program

Additional Information
Used for	The Fentress County Children’s Center is requesting a grant to partially fund our Life Skills Counseling for Recovery from Child Abuse Program which provides direct services for Fentress County children who are child abuse victims or are high risk for delinquency due to their environment. The early intervention program helps the children deal with their stress and abuse as well as with the emotional and behavioral problems that are often a result. All services are provided in a safe, child-friendly environment to increase the children’s feeling of security and make them as comfortable as possible.
Benefits	The community will be impacted because some of our most vulnerable children, who are at risk for delinquency in future years, will learn to cope with unfortunate circumstances and deal with the factors that put them at risk. As a result, delinquent behavior that would threaten a community’s safety will be prevented and fewer juveniles will be housed in juvenile facilities.
Proposal Description	The Fentress County Children’s Center’s primary purpose is to provide assistance to victims of child abuse and other disadvantaged children in Fentress County, Tennessee. The mission of the Fentress County Children's Center is to provide a place of comfort and safety for children who have been abused, to equip children and parents with the tools necessary to heal from devastating trauma, and to prevent child abuse in our community. The Children's Center was established in our rural Appalachian community to provide: (1) a collaborative, multi-disciplinary team approach to investigation of reports of physical and sexual abuse, (2) services to victims and their non-offending family members, and (3) child abuse prevention education. The Fentress County Children's Center (FCCC) was established in 2004 as a satellite of Children's Center of the Cumberlands in Scott County. FCCC became incorporated separately in the State of Tennessee on December 12, 2005 and became its' own 501(c)(3) non-profit agency on February 27, 2006. The FCCC is licensed by the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities as a Mental Health Out-Patient Facility, and is an associate member of the National Children's Alliance. Fentress County is an isolated, rural community in the Appalachian Mountains. It is among Tennessee’s most underserved counties, with dire social and economic situations. The impoverished nature of the county is attributed to its isolation and lack of development. The lack of services and resources available to residents frequently has led to poor, unhealthy, and sometimes dangerous situations. Residents have no place to turn for help with child abuse, anger management, financial stress, and poor health, and are forced to deal with these issues on their own. These unfavorable living conditions are directly related to child abuse, which is prevalent in the county. The Children’s Center is the only mental health counseling service in Fentress County that specializes in children, and the huge need is documented by the number (1,200) of child abuse cases reported in Fentress County last year. The Child Protective Investigative Team (CPIT) is a major collaborative effort around which the child advocacy center revolves. The CPIT team meets monthly to discuss cases presented by the Department of Children’s Services, and determines the best course of action for each case. The CPIT includes medical personnel, law enforcement officials, Child Protective Services personnel, juvenile court officials, mental health counselors, representatives from the District Attorney General’s office, and FCCC staff. In 2009, the Fentress County Children’s Center provided 2,000 counseling sessions. We also conducted forty-four forensic interviews for victims of child abuse and provided assistance with 100 child abuse investigations and 300 children’s court appearances. In addition, we taught prevention education to 3,100 school children and adult caretakers and Life Skills classes were provided for forty children and youth. We are respectfully requesting that the Dudley T. Dougherty Foundation consider a gift to partially support our Life Skills Counseling for Recovery from Child Abuse Program. This after school program provides services to help stabilize sexually and physically abused and traumatized children under the age of eighteen in Fentress County, Tennessee. These children are high risk for developing emotional or behavioral problems, and early intervention through the Life Skills Counseling for Recovery from Child Abuse Program is effective in preventing delinquency. The four steps involved in the treatment process are: evaluation, plan development, skill development, and graduation. This program stresses the dignity, self worth, and potential for change and growth of each individual child. The children learn to maximize their strengths and overcome the trauma caused by the abuse. Program components include: educating at-risk children with group Life Skills training, screening to determine drug or alcohol treatment needs, involving non-offending parents in their children’s progress, and providing educational information to children and their non-offending parents. Our therapy room has an “Under the Sea” theme, which is appealing to both boys and girls. Therapy materials include girl and boy dolls, a log cabin playhouse, toys, games, an outdoor playground, and art supplies. The services the Life Skills Counseling for Recovery from Child Abuse Program provides for children are not offered elsewhere. Funding from the Dudley T. Dougherty Foundation will enable us to maintain, expand and improve this program for Fentress County children and non-offending parents. The Fentress County Children’s Center is a licensed mental health facility, and the effectiveness of this program will be evaluated through the Children’s Centers established evaluation procedures.