When Pat Smallwood walks out of the Dr. Bill Lewis Center CAC in Fort Wayne at the end of 2025, both the CAC itself and Smallwood will mark 25 years of service to Allen and surrounding counties. The CAC will have served nearly 11,000 children and families in that time, and their work will continue long into the future, but Smallwood is leaving for a well-deserved retirement.
The Dr. Bill Lewis Center for Children opened June 26, 2000 as The CAC of Allen County. The Dr. Bill Lewis name came later in 2009 when the team moved into a new facility, which they remain at today.
“[Pat] was who I wanted to be when I grew up,” says Sara Drury, the CAC’s lead forensic interviewer. “She knew everyone in town, from law enforcement, prosecutors, and the courts.” Indeed,25 years ago the nascent CAC movement in Indiana had barely found footing with only a handful of CACs in operation in the state.
“It was a community committed and ready for a CAC,” recalls Jan Lutz. At the time, Lutz was moving to Fort Wayne from South Bend. “I transferred my Junior League membership, and when Mike Barnes, who was prosecutor in St. Joseph County, heard I was moving, he called his counterpart in Allen County, Bob Gevers, and said, ‘I’m sending you Jan Lutz. She’s going to start a CAC for you.”
Lutz, who is now the Indiana Chapter Director, was hardly the only person who helped establish the CAC. “In the early years, we designed the CAC to be accredited from the start,” says Lutz. “We knew we needed medical care at the Center, and Fort Wayne Sexual Assault Treatment Center did an awesome job with adults in the community. The Steering Committee asked them if they’d do pediatric cases, and they were thrilled to do it. They trained and they became a strong partner.” The Fort Wayne SATC continues to do outstanding work and now also serves medical cases at Huntington-based McKenzie’s Hope.
Pat Smallwood, then working with the Fort Wayne Police Department, along with Gevers and Karen Richards at the Prosecutor’s Office, and Michelle Ditton at the Fort Wayne SATC pulled together the community while Lutz and the Junior League helped raise $60,000 for the Center’s opening.
When the Center opened, “Everyone focused heavily on forensic interviews,” recalls Drury. “But over time, we progressed to offer more advocacy, counseling services, and more interviewers with satellite service to nine northeast Indiana counties.” The CAC’s annual caseload is now nearly three times higher than it was in 2000.
Throughout all of it, Drury says, it’s Pat Smallwood who was clearly the glue that held everything together. “She started as the Director of Victim Assistance with Fort Wayne Police. She was one of the first people to become an interviewer. She’s trained every single person here as an interviewer. She’s been our mentor. She’s the one keeping up accreditation, and she’s the one who made sure our teams are in a healthy place.”
Smallwood’s retirement leaves a big role to fill, one that Drury and her colleague, Michael Lewandowski, are splitting in partnership with the CAC’s management arm, IRIS (formerly SCAN, Inc.), to ensure the CAC continues to serve the next 800+ children likely to come through the doors next year.
Fewer than 10% of Americans hold the same role or employer for more than 10 years. The Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn’t even track the 25-year mark, presumably because the number is tiny. For that, Smallwood has joined an elite rank among American workers.
Like many of America’s greatest innovators and founders, Smallwood’s legacy may not be the individual training, mentorship, or leadership sense, but is the CAC itself. Drury says, “Pat’s main focus has been the CAC for 25 years. We want her to know that her work is appreciated and we want to give her the confidence to know the work she did matters. We honor her and all she did for the Lewis Center and we’re going to continue her legacy.”
Many of Pat Smallwood’s friends, colleagues, and past and present board members wish to share the following about her 25-year career.
Detective Sergeant James Haupert
Crimes Against Persons unit FWPD
“I haven’t worked with Pat for a long time, but in my experience, Pat has been a dedicated, caring, compassionate, and competent forensic interviewer. She is extremely detail-oriented when conducting forensic interviews. I could always tell that she cared deeply about our victims and how they were treated during the MDT process. The CAPS detectives have the utmost respect for how she carried out her duties at the center. Her experience and dedication will be missed.”
Tesa Helge
Chief Counsel, Allen County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office
“Pat Smallwood says “There is no perfect interview.” I always thought the humility of this statement was crazy coming from someone like Pat with literally thousands of interviews under her belt and an absolute master in her field. But the sentiment was that we can always grow and improve as professionals. That beating ourselves up is pointless and instead we should focus on how to continue learning and growing in our work. I use this when helping new prosecutors with their first trials – there is no perfect trial and instead of focusing on perfection, we should focus on how to do better and be more effective next time.”
Leslie Cook RN, MDI, SANE-A, SANE-P
Director of Nursing/Forensic Nurse Examiner Fort Wayne Sexual Assault Treatment Center
“For all of my 29 ½ years as a practicing SANE I have known Pat to be a fierce advocate on behalf of all victims of violence. Her wisdom, experience, compassion and tenacity were foundational to the CAC. She is a strong leader, effective educator, no bull but hard truth kind of person. I’m honored to have worked with her. Thank you Pat for all you have done to make our CAC the best!”
Michelle Ditton RN, SANE-A, SANE-P
Retired Chief Nursing Officer/Executive Director of Fort Wayne Sexual Assault Treatment Center
“Pat has made a profound difference in the lives of the children in Indiana. Her impact will be felt for decades to come. Thank you Pat for making a difference.”
Julie Kenniston MSW, LISW
Deputy Administrator of National Criminal Justice Training Center
“Pat is a lifelong learner and generous of spirit and with her time. She has dedicated her life to serving children and families and the world is better for it! I wish her all the best in the next leg of her journey! Warm wishes!”
Kristy Lindeman MOL
Director of Victim Assistance, Fort Wayne Police Department
“What can you say about a legend like Pat Smallwood?! The first time I met her, she let me know she had done her research, and I thought for sure she was not going to like me. She invited me to lunch and said she would mentor me.
Her mentorship has been such a key part of my growth as a leader these past two years. Pat has invaluable insight about how to guide teams and is never afraid to tell you what mistakes she made and learned from along her own journey as a leader. What I didn’t expect through her mentorship was that we would become friends. Pat is honestly one of my all-time favorite humans. I have grown to love Pat just as I do some of my very best friends and family.
If it weren’t for Pat, Fort Wayne wouldn’t have such a strong Victim Assistance program in this community. As an interviewer at the CAC, Pat is everyone’s favorite “grandma” (not that I’m calling her old). The kids warm up to her so quickly and she’s able to build rapport faster than most people I know. Pat is an absolute gem of a human being and we are all better for having her be even a small part of our work and our lives.”
Jodie Hively
Child/Adolescent Forensic Interviewer, Federal Bureau of Investigation
“I honestly do not know where to begin. Knowing who Pat is, is one thing; everyone seemed to know Pat, both in the forensic interviewing field and the mental health field. However, knowing Pat is a gift. I looked at her like a celebrity in both fields and somehow I became lucky enough to know her.
She became my mentor in both fields, my friend, one of my biggest cheerleaders and she is someone I am in constant awe of. Without the impact she made in my personal and professional life, I would not have had the opportunities and experiences I have had and continue to have and I will forever be grateful and indebted to her.”
Karen Richards
Retired Prosecutor, Allen County Prosecutor’s Office, Former CAC Board President
“The CAC exists and has flourished because of Pat’s dedication, passion and hard work. Long before the Center was founded, Pat began everything with a trip to Huntsville AL. to view their center and use their principles to start our Center. She has become the best interviewer and expert witness in the field of forensic interviewing that I have ever worked with.
Her expertise is valued and sought across the State. She is always up to date on the latest research and is an awesome trainer. Frankly, we owe what we have to her unwavering advocacy and hard work. Her accomplishments are truly amazing!”
Christina Gull
Allen County Prosecutor’s Office
“I don’t know if I have enough words to describe the impact that she has.
To start, personally, I’ve been honored enough to have known Pat my entire life and am lucky enough to call her an adopted aunt. She and my mother have been friends for as far back as I can remember. She has always been someone that I can come to when I need an ear to vent to, a shoulder to cry on, and a person whose advice I can always seek out. I just love her immensely.
Professionally, I’ve been lucky enough to work alongside her in our respective roles with the Criminal Justice System. I’ve worked with Pat on a number of cases and her ability to talk to children and get them to a space of comfortability to share their most intimate secrets is nothing short of a master class.
She’s someone that has always been willing to give feedback on how I can do my job better so that I can help her do her job better. As someone who’s a phenomenal teammate, she goes above and beyond for kids and sex crimes and child abuse cases. I’m so excited for her in this new chapter but sad for those of us that are losing an absolute powerhouse.”