The officials who worked together to create the center hope that the atmosphere will make it possible for children of all ages to relax and unburden themselves of the dark secrets and traumas that surround child abuse and child sexual abuse.
Salt Lake's Children's Justice Center is still very definitely a home.Raggedy Ann and Andy pictures deck the walls of the living room, where a fireplace beckons invitingly. The sofas are plump and bright. A huge aquarium dominates one wall. Books for kids of all ages share shelf space with half a dozen games.
Only one room has an office feel to it. Files and computers line desks and there's a no-nonsense atmosphere. Even so, it doesn't intimidate children like a police station or principal's office might.
The officials who worked together to create the center hope that the atmosphere will make it possible for children of all ages to relax and unburden themselves of the dark secrets and traumas that surround child abuse and child sexual abuse.
Law enforcement officials, youth services experts, social workers, judges, elected officials, task force members, lawyers, corporations, child advocates, health-care providers and human services personnel all played active roles in making the center a reality. So did legislators who approved some of the funding for three such centers, one each in Provo, Ogden and Salt Lake City.
It is not a new concept. Utah's centers were suggested by a statewide task force on child sexual abuse prevention that studied similar programs in other states. The concept centers around the belief that children will be more at ease and will feel safe enough to start handling the aftermath of an abusive situation if they are interviewed and counseled in a more homey atmosphere.
Tiny interview rooms, cheerily decorated with animal pictures, coloring books and soft chairs are designed to put the children at ease. Less noticeable in each room is the video camera mounted on the wall.
The camera not only records interviews with children, but it also feeds the interview into a monitoring room nearby, cutting down on the number of times a child has to be questioned.
In the past, children have generally been interviewed by police officers, child protective workers and others. Now, one person can conduct the interview while the others monitor it. If someone in the monitoring room has a question, he will be able to speak unobtrusively to the questioner, using a device called a "bug in the ear." He can then work the question into the interview. The center has not yet purchased the device, but hopes to raise enough money soon to add this crucial tool.
As I toured the old Avenues house last week during a ribbon-cutting ceremony, I remembered a conversation I had recently with the mother of a child abuse victim.
The child was interviewed three separate times by police - first in the principal's office at school and later in the police station, where many of the officers walking around were wearing weapons that could be downright scary to a child who has already gone through trauma.
That child, her mother said, was also interviewed at a hospital, twice at home and once in a prosecutor's office. The child was ill at ease throughout the interviews, and by sheer repetition the story sounded more rehearsed and became less effective.
Robin Black is a mother who knows all about the "system." One of her children went through the interviews and the stress before such centers were available. During remarks at the opening, she said she is grateful that the legal system is built to protect the rights of the accused. But that very dedication, she said, has made it "offender-friendly."
Now, perhaps, the center will be child-friendly, as well.
There's another huge advantage to the children's center approach to child abuse cases. Because the center will coordinate each case, decisions involving treatment, prosecution and other aspects of the child's future will involve a multi-agency team from start to finish.
The team will review police investigation results, medical concerns, treatment options, child protection factors and witness support systems. They will also keep track of the children who enter the child-abuse protective system, allowing the center to keep track and "minimize those cases which inadvertently fall through the cracks.
The real goal of the center is to be an advocate for the children who must, unhappily, come through its doors.
If a child ever needed an advocate, it is the child who has been betrayed, victimized and injured by an adult. A child who has been abused.