Centers expand
to coordinate child
abuse cases

New legislation joins services to
aid victims at central locations

Second of three parts

Center cares for kids in times of despair
Program helps heal abuse wounds

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By Helen Altonn
haltonn@starbulletin.com

The statewide Children's Advocacy Centers have a new name and expanded responsibilities to assist with Hawaii's soaring child abuse cases.

The Honolulu center also is looking for a new home near Circuit Court to pull together about 80 workers involved with child sex abuse cases in scattered agencies.

Under legislation passed this year, the facilities are now called the Children's Justice Centers to reflect their relationship with the Judiciary.

The centers provide a comfortable setting for interviews of children about sex abuse reports. The Oahu center at 2019 Pali Hwy. also handles all military and FBI child sex assault cases.

Judy Lind, director of the statewide centers, cited a huge increase in cases before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and sees it getting much worse because of anxiety, depression, unemployment and substance abuse. "Take your pick. They are all factors in child abuse."

She is concerned that there will be more latchkey kids and neglect of children because people will not be able to afford after-school care. "The problem was horrendous before. Imagine what's going to happen now."

Lind projects about 1,300 child sex abuse cases this year on Oahu, compared with 1,068 last year and 997 in 1999.

While caseloads are soaring, she said, "staffing has not gone up by a single person at Child Protective Services or the police -- not a single extra body, and I'm just talking sex abuse.

"If we let the structure for human services go, it's going to have a profound negative impact."

Lind has been looking for a Honolulu site for a "public-private partnership" of all programs and professionals involved in child sex abuse cases.

Willow Morton, vice president in charge of Kapiolani Medical Center's Sex Abuse Treatment Center and Child Protection Center, noted Kapiolani already has a Sex Abuse Treatment Center social worker providing gap services to sexually abused children at the justice center.

"There's tremendous opportunity for collaboration ... to work together more effectively and efficiently," she said, describing the difficulty of maintaining funding for all child protection programs.

The Oahu advocacy center was established in 1988 because of concerns about the way abused children were interviewed and how cases were handled in Family Court. Its waiting room provided four adult chairs and two for kids in anticipation of 400 cases a year. The room has not changed despite the huge increase in cases, Lind noted.

Through public-private partnerships in 1990-91, the Judiciary expanded the centers to Maui, Kauai and Hilo and Kona on the Big Island.

Though created for interviews of sexually abused children, the centers also were used informally for felony-level physical abuse cases and children who witnessed domestic violence, responsibilities added to their legal mandate this year.

The new law also requires all agencies to share information related to the best interests of a child. "It helps get everybody to the table who needs to be there," Lind said.

Police and CPS interviews with children are videotaped at the Children's Justice Centers for use in Family Court to avoid a child going to court, Lind said. However, rules of evidence prohibit their use in criminal court because of a defendant's right to confront an accuser.

The videotapes are valuable, Lind said, because "they help people who don't want to believe something happened. They're very compelling but not all cases are confirmed. ... It protects the innocent and children."

The abuser usually is a family member or someone the child knows and likes, she said. "They're very reluctant to get someone in trouble, or they're afraid they'll get in trouble."

Lind said she is concerned about a gap group of kids who are abused and unprotected because they are not eligible for the state's CPS programs. She has tried for three years to get specialized sex abuse treatment for those kids, stressing "it is a state responsibility."

Lind coined the theme "Help a Victim Become a Child Again," which is the role of the Friends of the Justice Centers, started by the Rotary Clubs to improve lives of sexually abused children and their families.

They respond to requests from professionals, using donated funds to pay for such things as orthodontia for cosmetic purposes, contact lenses, tattoo removal, a senior prom, a fourth-grade trip to the Big Island or a soccer team uniform.

"They do direct services for kids -- what the state can't do," Lind said. "They bring heart and resources to the program."