Advocacy center hosts Cameron ahead of Child Abuse Prevention Month

Mar. 30—LONDON — Blue ribbons and pin wheels are in order for April as it is Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Cumberland Valley Children's Advocacy Center in Laurel County is on the front lines of the difficult reality of many Kentucky children in eight counties that they serve. In 2022 alone, they served over 650 children.

This center is one of 15 centers in the state of Kentucky that work with law enforcement, prosecution and social services which refer children that have been allegedly sexually abused, physically abused, human trafficking and kids to have been witnesses to violent crimes.

Once the child has been deemed safe, the referral is made. The professionals at CVCAC sets up a forensic interview which is a neutral interview process to find facts for the law enforcement and social services.

The center provides mental health services, child sex abuse exams, advocacy services and more.

The entire team of investigators, social workers, clinicians and more work together to find a path best for each individual child's need.

"Sex abuse is hard to prove because there's no witnesses but we work together to find the best path for the kids," Executive Director of CVCAC Paige Lay said.

Lay said she sees that there is a lack of reporting and to see this change, we need to educate our children as early as possible the importance of not keeping secrets and creating a safe space for our kids to speak up and not be judged when they do.

"Kids most often, when it first happens, they do not report it. They do not feel safe, they have been threatened or they are afraid of their perpetrator," Lay said. "They need to feel safe and we want the kids when they come here to feel safe too."

Lay shares how important support is in the family.

The center is not only a support system that works with law enforcement but the community can find a safe place to report abuse and find resources they might need to navigate some difficult situations they specialize in at the center.

Attorney General Daniel Cameron commended the center on the work they do to help keep Kentucky children safe.

In light of Child Abuse Prevention Month coming up in April, Cameron took a tour of the facility and listened to the stories of the professionals.

"It was a priority for us when we came into office to build a child abuse prosecution tool kit to help our prosecutors and investigators better prosecute and investigate child abuse cases in Kentucky," Cameron said. "The child abuse cases in Kentucky are high and we want to do our part to lower that as much as we can. This is an important issue for us."

Cameron says there's overlap between the work they do with child abuse and trafficking and the opioid and fentanyl epidemic his team fights in Kentucky.

"We recognize that there is trafficking that affects children that oftentimes can be familial trafficking. Sometimes parents try to feed a habit and end up doing something unfortunate in terms of selling their child to feed that habit," Cameron explained.

The HOPE (Human Trafficking Outreach Prevention and Education) Initiative and Your Eyes Save Lives campaign are both efforts that have been taken in the Attorney General's Office to fight on the behalf of children.

"We want to continue this work if we are fortunate to continue our work and if we are fortunate to serve in a different capacity," Cameron, who's running for governor, said. "There are many things we have been working on and many things we want to do going forward."

Cameron mentions keeping the "full court press" on the opioid and fentanyl epidemic and to keep money coming into the state to help fight the epidemic.

"We know there are a lot of downstream consequences to addiction whether it be child abuse or human trafficking," Cameron noted.

Cameron encouraged the community to be involved in centers like CVCAC to help advocate for children.

"The work that is done here is really transformative in terms of helping kids through some difficult and challenging situations. They also provide some great resources for parents," Cameron said. "I know our CAC's have been working diligently for the parents and children to have better opportunities down the road and they have been terrific advocates for our children here."

The Tri-County community can call the center at 606-878-9116 for more information on resources or guidance.