Bivona Child Advocacy Center celebrates 7 years of child abuse intervention

ROCHESTER, NEW YORK- August 1, 2011

Today, Bivona Child Advocacy Center celebrates its 7-year anniversary. Since opening, nearly 7,000 children have been provided a path to healing by Bivona Child Advocacy Center’s collaboration of partner agencies.

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Before the Bivona Child Advocacy Center opened its doors on August 1, 2004, children and families with concerns of sexual or physical abuse had to navigate through a maze of services—from police to hospital to social services and back again, with each incidence often requiring a painful retelling of the abuse—the result was more emotional distress for children and a devastating delay in the start of their recovery.

Today, as Bivona Child Advocacy Center celebrates its 7-year anniversary, children and families journey through a much more streamlined process which reduces the chances that the children are re-traumatized and preserves the best evidence for investigators.

Since its opening 7 years ago, Bivona Child Advocacy Center has evaluated and provided services to nearly 7,000 children, including 1,515 children in 2010 alone. In 2010, 43% of all children were under the age of seven, 63% were female and 45% were Caucasian.

When Bivona Child Advocacy Center first opened its doors, its co-located partners in the fight against child abuse included a team from Child Protective Services and one victim advocate. Since opening, Bivona Child Advocacy Center has tripled the number of children served, tripled the number of formal partnerships, staff and budget, allowing the delivery of cutting-edge programs and services to abused children and their families.

“We are very pleased about our growth because we can now better serve our community’s most vulnerable children. Because of the coordinated efforts with our partner agencies, children are getting intervention and services much sooner which ultimately help them begin the healing process,” says Mary E. Whittier, Executive Director of Bivona Child Advocacy Center.

Bivona Child Advocacy Center has formal partnerships with the following agencies to provide services to children:

• Monroe County Child Protective Services
• Law Enforcement - all 12 jurisdictions
• Monroe County District Attorney’s Office
• Monroe County Law Department
• REACH Program of Golisano Children’s Hospital
• Rape Crisis Service
• Catholic Family Center
• Linden Oaks Sexual Abuse Treatment Services
• Rochester City School District

In an effort to help build awareness and education about child abuse issues, Bivona Child Advocacy Center hosts an annual conference, The Bivona Summit on Child Abuse. The Bivona Summit on Child Abuse is a multidisciplinary training conference for professionals who work with children. In just three years, over 1,000 professionals from across New York State have attended the Summit, learning about trends in child abuse. After just two years, the Bivona Summit on Child Abuse was expanded to a two-day conference in 2011. The vision for the Bivona Summit on Child Abuse is to grow it into a preeminent conference in the Northeast region, with the goal of educating professionals on collaborative ways to prevent, treat and investigate child abuse. The Bivona Summit on Child Abuse is held in April, in conjunction with Child Abuse Prevention Month. Additional information can be found online at www.BivonaSummit.org.

Additionally, Bivona Child Advocacy Center is leading a movement in Greater Rochester to help end the secrecy and shame of child sexual abuse with its “Stand UP for Kids” campaign. Community members who would like to join the movement or learn more are encouraged to visit www.SexAbuseStandUP.com to take a pledge and show their support for our community’s children and learn more about abuse, including warning signs and what to do if abuse is suspected.
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About Bivona Child Advocacy Center

Bivona Child Advocacy Center, a non-profit organization, is a safe, welcoming place where children who have been sexually or physically abused can begin their journey of healing. Bivona Child Advocacy Center staff facilitate an under-one-roof collaboration of social and legal agencies to protect, treat and counsel child victims and their families, and to investigate and prosecute the abusers. Bivona Child Advocacy Center provides a compassionate, efficient, cost-effective infrastructure for child abuse intervention.

Bivona Child Advocacy Center is the only agency in Greater Rochester to provide these services. More than 1,000 children are helped at Bivona Child Advocacy Center each year. Although some funding comes from government, the majority of its support comes from donors. Bivona Child Advocacy Center is an accredited member of the National Children’s Alliance (www.nca-online.org). Bivona Child Advocacy Center has quickly become a resource to the community for all issues related to child sexual abuse. For more information, please visit www.BivonaCAC.org.

ADDITIONAL STATISTICS

• The incidence of abuse of children—both sexual and physical—is overwhelming and tragic. In the United States, a child is sexually abused every six minutes.

• 90% of sexual abuse crimes are committed by someone a child knows, loves and trusts: including parents, relatives, neighbors, family friends, coaches and religious leaders.

• Most sexual abuse crimes still go unreported. Experts believe as few as 1 in 10 children will ever disclose.

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