The LDS Church, which has donated $345,000 to help child abuse victims since 2015, received a National Philanthropy Leadership Award from the National Children's Alliance on Sunday.
Sister Joy D. Jones accepted the award as general president of the Primary, the international organization for more than 1 million children in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"We are concerned about children all over the world, and we can't do that alone," Sister Jones said, according to a church news release. The award "speaks volumes of the church's love for children. This is a delightful honor for the church to receive this award, but our commitment continues. We have much work to do, and this is really only the beginning."
More than 300,000 children to a Children's Justice Center or Children's Advocacy Center each year after suffering abuse.
The LDS Church is a longtime advocate of Children's Justice Centers in Utah. In 2015, church leaders donated $100,000 to the Utah CJCs. In 2016, they gave $25,000 to Utah CJCs and $100,000 to the National Children's Alliance.
In April, Sister Jones delivered the church's check for $120,000 for medical supplies for child abuse victims at eight Utah CJCs.
Utah Children's Justice Centers are affiliated with the National Children’s Alliance.
The alliance chose to honor the LDS Church "for its compassionate, committed leadership among communities of faith as a national philanthropic partner of the National Children’s Alliance and the Children's Advocacy Center movement, in addition to its long-standing support for Utah Children's Justice Centers."
Teresa Huizar, executive director of the alliance, presented the award to Sister Jones during the organization’s annual conference in Washington, D.C.
"I think that faith communities have a unique opportunity to be at the forefront of protecting children because families and communities really listen to them and turn to them for support and guidance," Huizar said.
In addition to directly helping child abuse victims, LDS leaders hope their donations increase awareness of the problem and raise the profile of Children's Justice Centers, which provide families access to resources from counseling to information about legal services and law enforcement support and help overcoming abuse.
More than 20 Children’s Justice Center locations in Utah assist 5,500 child victims every year. Nearly 800 children’s advocacy centers in the United States offer medical exams and access to help.
The National Children’s Alliance also honored Susanne Mitchell, director of the Salt Lake County Children’s Justice Center since 1991, with its Horowitz-Barker Lifetime Achievement Award. Mitchell collaborates with over 30 allied agencies to help victims of physical abuse, sexual abuse, drug endangerment, kidnapping, exploitation and other crimes and works on research projects and fundraising.
The program also assists with investigations involving child homicide, domestic violence related child abuse, abductions and shaken baby syndrome.
Tracey Tabet nominated the church for the national award. Tabet is the director of the justice centers program with the Utah Attorney General's Office.
The number of medical exams conducted at Children's Justice Centers in Utah has doubled in the past three years as more centers have opened statewide.
The LDS Church has called child abuse "a societal plague" and maintains a zero-tolerance policy against child abuse. The church has policies designed to protect children in church classes and also maintains resources to help children who have been abused, including a 24-hour hotline for bishops to reach a counselor.