In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, child advocates got worried. As the shutdown and shelter-in-place orders came quickly across the country, advocates didn’t know how children and live-in partners suffering from abuse were going to fare.
Heidi Jennings has received a well-deserved award for her work with numerous high-profile cases in Boone County.
What happens at the doctor’s office when an adult is assaulted is often clear. But for kids, it’s not. One group is trying to change that in Indiana.
Staff retention in southwest Indiana’s Child Advocacy Coalition is driven, no pun intended, by how much driving staff are doing.
If you went to St. Paul, Indiana, the 1,000 residents there could tell you—in minutes—how far they are from all of life’s necessities. Everyone knows how much time it is to a shoe store, toilet paper, groceries, and a steak dinner.
Lesley’s work with children in her role as Heartford House’s Victim Advocate was noted as “exemplary”.
Telehealth means kids and adults alike can see providers in their own homes, regaining the privacy and autonomy they have a right to when speaking with professionals.
Heartford House has grown up in the last two decades. They started almost by surprise, have made hard funding choices with DCS, and now they’re merging with nearby Quinton’s House.
The Dr. Bill Lewis Center for Children provides about 800 forensic interviews annually and offers advocacy, mental health, and medical services.
S.B. 206 will help ensure more protection for victims of child sex crimes by restricting the number of depositions that a child must undergo.