Founding Executive Director Selected as ATHENA Award Finalist

ROCHESTER, NEW YORK- January 11, 2011

Bivona Child Advocacy Center is proud to announce that Founding Executive Director, Mary Whittier, was selected as a 2011 finalist of the Greater Rochester Women’s Council 25th Annual ATHENA™ Award. Whittier’s leadership skills, vision and energy led to her nomination which highlights her dedication to Bivona Child Advocacy Center and its mission to provide children who have been affected by abuse. Because of Whittier’s leadership and drive, every child in Greater Rochester that has been sexually or physically abused has access to Bivona’s comprehensive services and resources. The ATHENA Award® winner will be announced at the ATHENA luncheon held at noon on January 20th at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center.

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"I am very pleased that Mary Whittier has been selected as a 2011 finalist for the Greater Rochester Women’s Council annual ATHENA Award,” said Maggie Brooks, Monroe County Executive. “As Executive Director of the Bivona Child Advocacy Center, Mary’s dedication and leadership has made a lasting impact on the lives of children in our community who have found themselves victims of abuse. Monroe County is proud to stand as a partner with the Bivona Child Advocacy Center and I congratulate Mary on this most deserved honor," she added.

Before opening its doors in August, 2004, children and families had to navigate through a maze of services – from the police station to the 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. Every six minutes in our country a child is sexually abused. Because of the prevalence of child sexual abuse, Whittier championed the cause to establish a Child Advocacy Center (CAC) in Rochester. Whittier is responsible for organizing and leading the effort to develop a CAC for the Greater Rochester community by involving key leaders from public and private sectors. Child Advocacy Centers are based on the model of a child-friendly environment where the efforts of the legal system, child protective services, medical and mental health professionals are collaborative and effective, as evidenced by minimizing trauma to the child, early access to mental health services and enhancing arrest and prosecution rates.

Today, children and families express how safe, comfortable and supported they feel when working with the professionals at Bivona. In just six years, Bivona has seen a tremendous increase in formal partnerships, increased staffing within each partnership, as well as an increase in the types of services offered. The number of children served, partners and has tripled since opening. Due to Whittier’s ability to effectively communicate and draw together members from several facets of the community, Bivona currently has formal partnerships with the following agencies to provide services to children at one single, safe, child-friendly place:

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

In its first year of operation, Whittier expected Bivona Child Advocacy Center to evaluate 250-300 children; this number was far surpassed when Bivona evaluated 525 children. In 2010 Bivona is anticipated to evaluate nearly 1,500 children. Since opening six years ago, Bivona Child Advocacy Center has evaluated and provided services to more than 6,000 sexually and physically abused children.

Under Whittier’s leadership, the Bivona Child Advocacy Center became the first CAC in New York State to reach the National Children’s Alliance’s highest credential rating in less than two years (achieved in merely 16 months). The certification is awarded based on interviews with staff and Board members, on-site inspections and the ability to meet 10 rigorous standards through procedure and data review. Bivona is the only Child Advocacy Center (CAC) in Monroe County, and is considered by many to be a model CAC in New York State.

"Mary Whittier combines a great amount of compassion with a ferocious commitment to protecting and caring for children who have suffered abuse,” said Charles Pfeffer, Chairperson; Bivona Child Advocacy Center Board of Directors. “In the four years that I have known Mary through my involvement with the Bivona Child Advocacy Center, I have been continually amazed at the amount of work she gets done with modest resources. She does this by engaging anyone and everyone in the agency’s mission to help children heal, to bring offenders to justice and to make the awful subject of child abuse discussable in polite company," he added.

Outside of her dedication to the Bivona Child Advocacy Center, Whittier regularly mentors new CAC director’s and consults with other communities looking to form their own Child Advocacy Centers. Whittier is also a Board Member for the New York State Chapter of the National Children’s Alliance and is an active committee member of Monroe County’s Children’s Advisory Committee. In 2008, Whittier was the recipient of the Carl S. Hallauer award; an honor given by Rochester Police Department in recognition of her extraordinary contribution to the criminal justice system and the youth in our community. Whittier was the first woman, out of 37 prior recipients, to receive this prestigious award.

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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 to recovery. Bivona 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 provides a compassionate, efficient, cost-effective infrastructure for child abuse intervention.

Bivona Child Advocacy Center is the only agency in the Greater Rochester community to provide these services. More than 1,000 children are helped at Bivona each year. Although Bivona receives some government funding, the majority of its support comes from donors. Bivona Child Advocacy Center is an accredited member of the National Children’s Alliance (nca-online.org). The 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.
 

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