Child advocacy centre busy ahead of official opening

CALGARY- The Sheldon Kennedy Child Advocacy Centre has only been running for a month, and it’s already accepted over 150 referrals. The good news is, it’s now well-equipped to handle such sensitive situations.

“When a child is sick or hurt, they know they go to the hospital, that’s what we need to be able to create here,” says Sheldon Kennedy, a former hockey player who famously came forward with his own story of abuse. “When a child has been the victim of child sexual abuse, they can call the Sheldon Advocacy Centre and it will be handled from this point forward.”

80 people work at the centre, including police, social workers, nurses, doctors and crown prosecutors—meaning they’re able to deal with cases faster than in the past.

“There would be lots of phone tag, then schedule a meeting,” remembers clinical psychologist Dr. Daniel Garfinkel. “That would prolong the process of being able to intervene and work with the child and their family.”

“Over the lunch table I better understand what a social worker or a nurse or a doctor is going to be doing, and they have an idea about what our roles and responsibilities and challenges are,” adds Stephen Johnson from the Calgary Police Child Abuse Unit.

The new interview rooms are less intimidating, and a separate monitor room now replaces two-way mirrors.

“We’re not going to re-victimize the child over and over again. A child had to tell the story four to seven times,” Kennedy says. “When they come into the child advocacy centre here, they’re going to tell their story once.”

On Friday, a group of high school students visited the centre, to help raise awareness about child abuse. Kennedy says that would have been unheard of when he was growing up.

The centre has already received $8 million in donations from community, corporate and government funding. It officially opens next Thursday.