Where abused children in Southern Arizona begin path to healing

TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – It’s a grim reality, but children across southern Arizona are abused or neglected every day.

Just this month, 13 News reported on two separate cases in Tucson where children with disabilities died, allegedly at the hands of their caregivers.

One local organization’s mission is to get these children out of harm’s way before it’s too late.

When law enforcement or the Department of Child Safety believe a child may be experiencing abuse, they are brought to the Children’s Advocacy Center in Tucson. Here, a child can share their story, get medically evaluated, and begin a path to healing.

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“Every day we meet about six new children who need our help,” said Executive Director Marie Fordney.

Of the thousands of child abuse cases investigated in Pima County every year, the Children’s Advocacy Center deals with the most severe.

“People ask me how I can do this work because we are seeing the worst of the worst. It is truly awful the things that we see and hear,” Fordney said. “I leave this building full of hope every day because every child that came here is better off now.”

Fordney said they work with children who have suffered either sexual or physical abuse and neglect. They also serve those who might be a potential victim of human trafficking, child porn, and more.

“Children are brought here if they are witnesses to a violent crime,” Fordney said. “We help children who have witnessed homicide or domestic violence just as much as we help children who have themselves been the victim.”

Fordney also says 35% of the children they serve have a disability.

“Children with disabilities may be less able to speak up or make a report when something is happening to them,” she said.

The center works with authorities at the onset of an investigation and helps collect evidence through a recorded forensic interview and medical exam.

“We collect the evidence in a way that supports the healing for the child, and keeps it from being such a difficult situation for them,” Fordney said. “Before we had a Children’s Advocacy Center, a child might have been interviewed up to seven times and they would have had to get their medical services in an emergency room.”

Fordney showed 13 News the exam room they have on site.

“Not only is this space more comforting, but also the team providing the exams is really well trained and knows what they’re doing,” Fordney said showcasing the exam room.

Fordney said investigators will leave the center to make an arrest, but most of the time support can be put in place for the family.

“More frequently the kids are able to go back home because they have a supportive home environment, and it was a stranger, or it was somebody who lives in the home that has been kicked out of the home who was abusing them,” she said.

She said a lot of these cases are reported to them by neighbors and community members who saw something that concerned them.

“Our children really rely on all of us to be watching for signs that they are in trouble and to make that call.”

To make a report, call 911 or call the Arizona Child Abuse Hotline at 1-888-SOS-CHILD.

For more information on resources provided at the Children’s Advocacy Center, visit their website.

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