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By: Taylor Edmunds, Forensic Interviewer and
Romelia Rodriguez, Lead Advocate & Bilingual
Trauma Therapist
Being a child abuse survivor who previously had a close relationship with their offender can often be an overwhelming and distressing experience. In 2021, an 11-year-old child came to the CAC to talk about the abuse they experienced at the hands of their older male cousin. During their CAC interview, the child disclosed personal accounts of sexual abuse that took place over the course of many years. The abuse often involved threatening the child not to tell, and that if he did, his family would be hurt as a result. After a thorough investigation, the offender was arrested and charged, and the case continued through prosecution in court.
CAC Lead Family Advocate Romelia Rodriguez has provided advocacy services to the family throughout the life of the case. While working with the family, Romelia provided countless hours of emotional support to the caregiver, as she was struggling with disclosure from her child and dealing with the aftermath of their family being torn apart.
While the initial stages of a child abuse investigation are straining on a child and caregiver, the stress and anxiety of the case making it to court often only continues to worsen for families. Then the weeks spent in court included listening to the facts of the case repeatedly, hearing arguments regarding the case and seeing the offender and the support he had from his family. Despite this, Romelia was with caregiver every step of the way.
Over the last few years, she attended court with the caregiver and answered any questions she had, was able to get in contact with the prosecuting attorney directly for case updates and provided the caregiver with necessary resources and referrals so that the family could begin healing.
In addition, Romelia worked diligently with the family on writing their Victim Impact Statements, which are statements written by the family impacted by this crime and read aloud in court. In the end, the offender pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 12 years at the Illinois Department of Corrections. With the support of the child’s caregiver, CAC services and the child’s Family Advocate, the child was able to share their story of abuse in court and ultimately begin the new chapter of their life.
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By: Valerie Cifuentes, Bilingual Trauma Therapist
Brightpoint (formerly Children's Home and Aid) is a community partner that offers parenting support through home visiting, family support, doula and fatherhood programs. They also provide comprehensive behavioral health services to parents, children and youth in individual, family and group therapy, as well as child welfare programs such as intact family services, foster care and extended family support. Brightpoint covers the Chicagoland area and all of Illinois. CAC's Bilingual Trauma Therapists Valerie Cifuentes (pictured above, left front) and Cristina Fausto (right front) had the opportunity to connect with Brightpoint for a Lunch and Learn to discuss CAC's mental health services with their foster care teams.
Nurturing our relationship with Brightpoint has been helpful in increasing referrals for Brightpoint clients who have experienced sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect or domestic violence. These referrals mean those children receive specialized counseling from CAC's Trauma Therapists. Our ongoing relationship with Brightpoint helps build connection with each other, in order to provide comprehensive support to a family in need.
If you would like to know more about our community partner, Brightpoint, please visit https://www.brightpoint.org/.
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By: Bianca Gonzalez, SFTS Program Supervisor &
Bilingual Trauma Therapist
Family Crest
A fun family activity that promotes connection and inclusion is a family crest or shield. It is a visual representation of your unique family in a creative activity. Seeing a family crest displayed each day will remind the family members that they belong to the family unit and that they individually contribute. It also helps develop a healthy self-esteem.
HOW TO:
- Draw a large shield or crest on a sheet of paper or cardstock.
- Write the family name on the crest. If all family members do not have the same last name, choose a family name or team name that everyone agrees on.
- Choose three or four symbols to include on the shield. Discuss what symbols should be on your family shield/crest, i.e. a heart for love, a smiley face for fun, an anchor for supportiveness. You can give meaning to the symbols you choose.
- Work together to draw, color, and decorate the family crest. Include every member and listen to their ideas, celebrate your family with this family shield.
MAKING CONNECTIONS:
- See how it feels to look at your family crest.
- How did it feel to choose the symbols? Challenges?
- How did your family work together?
- Frame it or put it somewhere in the home where everyone can see it every day.
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On February 21, Development Director Taylor Kanara and Grants Coordinator Rachel Gilmore visited Village Treasure House, a longtime supporter of CAC. The two shared an update with Village Treasure House's board about CAC's work and then received a tour of the Village Treasure House showroom, which is what generates the revenue that provides grants to area nonprofits. In 2023, Village Treasure House sold over 16,000 items and awarded $305,000 in grants, including a total of $17,000 to CAC! Pictured above is Roxie Glasco (left) from the Village Treasure House Philanthropy Committee and Board President Jill Ruter (right) in the Northbrook showroom, which features a wide array of consigned furniture and home decor items (also available for purchase online). Thank you, Village Treasure House. We treasure our partnership with you! |
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A big thank you goes out to Rotary Club of Palatine, a longtime supporter of CAC and many other community organizations in the Palatine area. On February 15, our CEO Melanie Pignotti (pictured right) attended the Rotary's annual awards celebration and received a $1,500 grant for CAC's client transportation fund, which helps clients attend court hearings and therapy sessions if financial assistance is needed. Rotary Club of Palatine President Melissa Gardner (pictured left) presented the award. | |
NEW BOARD MEMBER HIGHLIGHT:
JENNIFER SAPERSTEIN
CAC welcomed new board member Jennifer Saperstein in November. Jennifer brings a wealth of experience including professional roles as an attorney and Guardian ad Litem at the Cook County Office of the Public Guardian (where she first learned about CAC). She is also an active community volunteer in Northbrook, serving as the chairperson of the Community Commission and the Northbrook Caucus. In addition, she helps students with math and social studies at Whittier School in Waukegan.
"I resigned from the Public Guardian’s Office in order to stay home with my two daughters full time, but I missed working directly with children which is why I started volunteering at an elementary school in Waukegan," Jennifer shared. "I also enjoy mentoring teens on the Community Commission. My passion has always been furthering the interests of women and children, which is why I was drawn to the CAC and its impactful work with survivors of child abuse."
Welcome to the board, Jennifer! We look forward to serving alongside you.
(Jennifer is pictured above, far right, with her husband and two daughters.)
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STAFF TRAINING
In February, Bilingual Lead Forensic Interviewer Wendy Diaz attended the
ChildFirst® EX training. Based on the nationally-recognized ChildFirst® Forensic Interview Protocol, this 2.5-day training provided a purposeful and legally defensible process for conducting expanded forensic interviews.
"Being trained in the ChildFirst Expanded Forensic Interview Process will allow me to interview kids in broken down sessions if needed. An Expanded Forensic Interview can be done with children with cognitive challenges, linguistic challenges, children displaying trauma symptoms, reluctant children, young children, and children with multiple victimizations," Lead Forensic Interview Wendy Diaz explained.
"An expanded forensic interview can either be scheduled or can be done on the fly. The Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) would have to work really close together to best accommodate the child and family," Diaz continued. "In this training a lot of sample language was shared, and I was able to practice the language with other forensic interviewers. There can be challenges with this process, but I am ready to navigate those challenges with the help of MDT to best serve the children."
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FAS Tours Partner Space at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge
The Forensic and Advocacy Services team toured the SANE* clinic in the Children's Pavilion at Advocate Lutheran General where CAC clients are referred after their forensic interview appointment. Thank you to SANE Coordinator at Advocate Children's Hospital, Ann Adlington, for the tour and wonderful information for our Advocates to share with families!
*SANE stands for Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner.
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WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW!
105,359 votes and counting!!!
| We are thrilled to share this campaign update with you! Thank you for giving your votes to CAC. As you get ready for spring holiday gatherings, if your shopping takes you to Target, please consider sending more votes our way. Shopper-voters have until Sunday, March 31, to direct your votes to CAC through Target Circle. Thank you for your support!! | Gardens are $50 each and will be available for pick up the week of March 25 at the Hoffman Estates or Skokie offices. Each garden includes 10 blue 12" pinwheels and an 18"x24" yard sign with metal stake. We are asking that gardens be displayed in your yard during the month of April. For more information on Child Abuse Prevention Month, visit our CAPM Pinwheel Garden page. | | | | |
