The Gingerbread House
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Shelley Winters
Center Director
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“A person can never be prepared for the
day their child reveals they have been abused. Unfortunately, I was
faced with that day last year.” These words of a Burke County mother
could have been repeated 190 times last year by different mothers whose
children all were seen at The Burke County Child Advocacy Center. “The
whole ordeal was so traumatic,” said another mother, “I don’t know what
we would have done without the Gingerbread House.”
What makes the Gingerbread House such a
blessing to the children and families facing the ordeal of child abuse
is primarily the way it reduces the trauma of the situation. The Child
Advocacy Center’s main purpose is to coordinate the efforts of the
various agencies who intercede in child abuse cases. Without such
collaboration, a child victim would have to endure multiple interviews
by different professionals. Within the child-friendly atmosphere of the
Gingerbread House, one
highly-trained professional interviews the child and records the
interview. In addition, an on-site Nurse conducts a forensic medical
examination eliminating the need for an emergency room visit. The
multidisciplinary team comprised of representatives from all intervening
agencies (Social Services, Law Enforcement, DA’s office, Mental Health,
etc.) review the cases weekly. In addition to gleaning information to
prosecute the perpetrator in the case, the team also works to ensure
that the victims and their families get assistance with other treatments
and services as needed.
The success of the Gingerbread House has
been evident since its beginning in 1998. Literally thousands of
children have been interviewed and examined at the Center and their
families have found healing, comfort, and satisfaction in the services
provided to them. Many perpetrators have been taken off the streets as a
direct result of the quality work of the multidisciplinary team – some
serving multiple prison sentences and others receiving treatment. Child
abuse education programs have also been offered by team members and
they, along with the Center, have played an important role in child
abuse prevention in Burke County.
The services offered at the Gingerbread
House, like the services in the foster community, are hard to measure in
terms of quantifiable outcomes. But, to the children and families who
have found themselves in caught up in the nightmare of child abuse, the
Gingerbread House is a safe, friendly place where the nightmare ends and
the road to successful recovery begins.
Burke
County Child Advocacy Center
