Former Northwestern DA Elizabeth Scheibel, who'll be honored with the Champion for Children Award at the annual Child Abuse Awareness Month breakfast, created the center.
Former Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth D. ScheibelNORTHAMPTON – When child advocates of various stripes gather at the Log Cabin Banquet and Meeting House Thursday for the annual Child Abuse Awareness Month breakfast, they will toast this year’s honorees for their work in the field and also give silent thanks for a little house at the edge of an orchard.
Since it opened in 2006, that house, the Child Advocacy Center, has offered children relief from the trauma that comes with reporting their abuse and dealing with the aftermath. Directed by Northwestern Assistant District Attorney Susan B. Loehn, the center is a sort of one-stop-shopping resource for abused children.
In the relative tranquillity of the farmhouse, children receive medical attention from a Cooley Dickinson Hospital doctor, go through interviews with investigators and a child psychologist and, when necessary, receive help finding a safe living environment.
“Before this, kids went to the district attorney’s office, the police station and the hospital,” Loehn said. “There were multiple interviews and it was all very scary and caused a lot of trauma for the kids.”
The center was the creation of former Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth D. Scheibel, who will be honored for her work with the Champion for Children Award at the breakfast. The other honoree is Susan M. Maguire, a juvenile court probation officer who will receive the Ellen Sedlis Award.
Scheibel’s 18-year tenure as district attorney was notable for the work she did with victims, particularly children. She laid the ground work for the advocacy center soon after becoming the state’s first female district attorney in 1993. Studies showed there was a special need for the service in the Northwestern district, which comprises Hampshire and Franklin counties and the town of Athol in Worcester County. Franklin County in particular has consistently ranked among the highest areas in Massachusetts for the rate of reported child abuse.
Scheibel said in an interview that the center was among the first of its kind in Massachusetts. There are currently 11 in the state, some of them located in hospitals. For several years, the local Child Advocacy Center was at the District Attorney’s offices.
“Our goal was always to have a free-standing building,” Scheibel said.
The Northwestern Children’s Advocacy Project, Inc., a private non-profit group, formed to raise money for the operation of the center, which costs about $17,000 a year to run, by Loehn’s estimate.
A few years ago, the group also took the lead in leasing an old farmhouse at 593 Elm St., near orchards cultivated by Smith Vocational and Agricultural School. Smith, which owns the property, had recently rehabilitated the house, a project that doubled as work experience for its plumbing, electrical and carpentry students.
At the child-friendly house, detectives and prosecutors watch through one-way mirrors as doctors and psychologists interview children. The law enforcement officials can relay questions through an ear-piece, cutting down on the need to put the victim through multiple interviews. Because children are especially terrified of hospitals, they are much more at ease being treated and examined at the farmhouse.
“Our goal was to minimize the trauma to child victims who are having to go through the criminal justice process,” Scheibel said.
Because the center deals with the problem after the fact, it has not cut down appreciably on the abuse rate. However, Loehn believes it fosters successful prosecutions, which in turn send the message that child abuse will be punished. Scheibel said the friendliness of the facility also encourages people to report abuse.
“People are willing to come forward because the families know their child has had a relatively good experience with the process,” she said.
Loehn said new District Attorney David E. Sullivan is hoping to establish a satellite site in Franklin County.
In addition to starting the Children’s Advocacy Center, Scheibel served on numerous boards and committees devoted to protecting children and abuse victims during her time as Northwestern district attorney.
Maguire has spent more than 30 years working with children, the last 15 in juvenile court. Much of her career has been devoted to working with foster children and at-risk children in the Department of Youth Services.
“She’s really in the trenches day to day,” Loehn said.