Children’s Justice Center receives grant for child abuse prevention

Vancouver, WA – The Arthur D. Curtis Children’s Justice Center has gained support for a new child sex abuse prevention program in Clark County. The center has received a 2009 Children’s Trust Fund Grant Award from the Community Foundation in the amount of $15,000.

The center will partner with the local Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization in locating more than 500 single parents living in Clark County. To help these caretakers fully understand the danger, the center’s specially trained multidisciplinary team will provide information about child predator profiles and how to implement protections.

“We are very happy to have the support to begin this new work in our community,” says Director Mary Blanchette. “We believe this new parent outreach program will help protect children from harm and prevent incidents of child abuse before they occur. Our goal is to educate vulnerable single mothers who may become prey to manipulative child predators and unknowingly open their homes to this danger.”

Currently, there are 1,200 registered sex offenders in Clark County and many of them have targeted innocent children. Surveys of adults reveal that one in four girls and one out of six boys have been sexually molested, and that child sexual abuse is likely one of the most underreported crimes in the nation.

“The Children’s Justice Center works diligently every day to hold perpetrators of child abuse accountable,” says Blanchette. “For example, in 2007, the center received 1400 reports of suspected child abuse, fully investigated and provided services to 415 child victims and sentenced 187 perpetrators of felony child abuse through the county’s judicial system.”