Help for victims of child abuse in Colorado Springs Safe Passage Fall/Winter 2008 Newsletter

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E. Jacqeline Winston Safe Passage Fall/Winter 2008 Newsletter

A Letter from the Director

E. Jacqueline Winston
Executive Director

What makes a team? One popular definition defines a team as "people working together in a committed way to achieve a common goal or mission".

The Safe Passage team works tirelessly to ensure children and families dealing with the issues of child abuse find home and justice. These professionals not only bring their honed skills to the job, but carry something deeper by checking their egos at the door, allowing representatives of law enforcement, prosecution, child protection, medical providers and center staff to work as one. Each day we are reminded, the multidisciplinary team provides the foundation that keeps Safe Passage children's advocacy center standing strong.

I would be remiss without acknowledging the manner in which the Safe Passage team has continued to be focused on the mission of helping sexually abused children to heal in spite of the transition in leadership that has confronted the organization over the past several years. As the new director, I view this as an opportunity to help the team to improve, build morale and to reconfirm the commitment of the Safe Passage team and board. I look forward to working with you all in order to build an organization with a shared vision for the future of Safe Passage as a leader in the community providing education and building awareness as we work for justice for children.

For those of you being introduced to Safe Passage, we welcome you to visit and invite you to consider what you can do to join Safe Passage in supporting the children of our community.

What is the Western Region?

In 1992, as part of the Victims of Child Abuse Act, Congress created four Regional Children's Advocacy Center (RCAC) to provide training and technical assistance to children's advocacy centers and multidisciplinary teams across the country. The legislation directed that the RCACs were to be funded by grants administered by the Department of Justice and contracted to an accredited children's advocacy center.

For the past seven years the Western Regional Children's Advocacy Center (WRCAC) has been a program of the Safe Passage Children's Advocacy Center.

WRCAC provides training and technical assistance to programs in the thirteen western states. We work with states to develop and support state networks and with local communities to develop programs. WRCAC provides training opportunities that bring groups of professionals together as well as working with professionals on the state and county level.

For the last four months of 2008 WRCAC will sponsor a summit for representatives of all state associations: an Accreditation Boot Camp to prepare centers for accreditation by National Children's Alliance, the national membership association; multi-disciplinary team training and orientation for new center directors.

WRCAC has developed a full calendar of training for 2009 for the region and is outlining plans to work intensely with states that have significant areas without coverage by a center. We also plan to increase our outreach to Native American and Tribal programs.

		Ben Murray, WRCAC Project Director Ben provides overall designing, supporting, and implementing of training and technical assistance for WRCAC's. He is also a site reviewer for the National Children's Alliance.
		Brenda George, WRCAC Project Coordinator Brenda provides training and technical assistance to CACs and MDTs in the 13 western region states. Brenda is also a site reviewer for the National Children's Alliance.
		Lynn Rioth, WRCAC Training Coordinator Lynn first started at the Children's Advocacy Center in 2002 as the Community Outreach Coordinator. Lynn's current duties include planning and logistics of WRCAC meetings, trainings and technical assistance sessions for the 13 western states.

Board of Directors

Laura Muir, Chairperson

Allen Peterson, Vice Chairperson

Dan Giovanini, Treasurer

Jennifer Bain
Donna Billek
Ron Bollenberghe
Kris Brumley
Kristen Cook
Alex Dumas
John Gomes
Samilja Heim
Karen Lindroth-Yates
Rhonda Nakai

Team Partner Spotlight: The Colorado Springs Police Department

The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) has nine detectives who work on sex crimes and crimes against children. They also are unique in our community in that they have a specialized unit of civilians who interview children and victims. CSPD also has a separate unit of two detectives dedicated to working internet crimes against children cases, two detectives that are computer forensic experts and two detectives dedicated to handling registering sex offenders who reside in the city jurisdiction.

One of the detectives working sex crimes and crimes against children is Detective Payton Patterson. Payton has 34 years of experience in law enforcement. He has been working at CSPD for 20 years. Seventeen of those years have been with the Major Crimes/Crimes against Children unit, showing his unparalleled heart and expertise in each of the cases he works.

Payton's advice to those who are just starting in the field is simple: in order to survive in this job you have to be educated and always looking for training opportunities to keep up with not only the changing times but to remain ahead of the more innovative criminals. You also have to stay current on all the new technology out there! Payton also likes to make the most of his time off the job... but what exactly is it he likes to do on his off time remains "top secret". Payton has been a part of the Safe Passage multi-disciplinary team for a long time and we are glad that he is out there working to keep kids in our community safe!

Debbie Davison-Smith
Debbie is not new to supporting Safe Passage, but is the newest staff addition to Safe Passage and the Western Region. She is the smiling face at the front desk and friendly voice on the phone, here to provide administrative support.

Contact Debbie if you have questions about:

Volunteering
Safe Passage in-house scheduling
Events and our Annual Gala

New Advocate at Safe Passage: Katie Polavin
Katie, our newest Family Support Advocate, comes to Safe Passage with a plethora of experience, knowledge, and passion for working with kids and families. Katie comes to us from Michigan where she obtained her BSW at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids. While going to school in Michigan, Katie also did inner city Ministry work, had an internship working with developmentally delayed individuals and their families, worked as respite care for the caregivers of developmentally delayed individuals, was a volunteer, and then was recruited to come to Colorado Springs to be a part of the Graduate Training Program with the Dale House Project in 2005.

Here in Colorado Katie finished her one year program with the Dale House Project and then went to the El Paso County Sheriff's Office as a Victim Advocate and later as a Crime Prevention Coordinator.

Katie wanted to work for Safe Passage because she has a "passion for standing up for people who have difficulty standing up for themselves." The importance of helping victims become connected with law enforcement professionals and the court process can help families move forward from their victimization, and Katie is zealous about being a liaison in that journey. Safe Passage will have 3 trained forensic interviewers when Katie finishes her training in October.

When she's not working, Katie enjoys the mountains in Colorado, and loves to hike and mountain bike. Katie hopes to return to school to get her Masters in Social Work in the near future.

Welcome, Katie!!!

What people say about Katie:

Jerry Day, Sex Crimes Detective at the El Paso County Sheriff's Office says: "Katie is an asset to our team... she is professional and empathetic to the needs of victims in our community."

Connie Bryan, Victim Advocate at the El Paso County Sheriff's Office says: "Katie has a face you can trust... a good heart... and to be honest, I'm jealous of her naturally curly hair."

2008 Annual Gala Dinner and Auction

On March 8, 2008 for the 13th year, Safe Passage kept the tradition alive of putting together one of the liveliest, most fun-filled non-profit events. This year's event theme was "the Roaring 20s" and was held at the Antler's Hilton. Co-chairs Jennifer & Will Bain made it happen again!

People who by day had been attorneys, law enforcement personnel, executives and public relations professionals put away the power suits and donned boas, fedoras, shimmy skirts, beads, Gatsby outfits, zoot suits and golf knickers in a revival of the Roaring '20s. By evening's end March 8, the 270 partiers at the Antlers Hilton had raised more than $100,000 for the agency that is "helping sexually abused children begin to heal." Teresa Huizar, who has stepped down as executive director to accept a job out of state celebrated the evening with staff, board and sponsors.

The evening's silent auction contained everything and the bathroom sink – several in fact. Drawing interested bidders were unusual porcelain, onyx blue glass and hammered copper sinks from Dahl of Colorado Springs. Works from a number of top local artists were hung around the room as part of the silent auction.

Joining Safe Passage for the evening were several of the agency's collaborative partners. On hand were Colorado Springs Police Department Cmdr. Brian Grady and Detective Derek Graham; El Paso County Sheriff's Department Bureau Chief Paula Presley and Detective Jeff Nohr; attorneys Shimon Kohn, Michael Moran, Janet Moore, and Melanie Douglas and husband Carlos; Deputy District Attorneys Nan Scranton, Terry Sample, Deb Pearson and Donna Billek; Magistrate John Paul Lyle; and Katherine Spicer of the City Attorney's Office as well as representatives of the Fountain and Woodland Park police departments.

Event committee members included Jennifer and Will Bain, co-chairmen; Pam and Jerry Biggs; Kris Brumley; Krista Butterworth; Kristen Cook; Alex Dumas; Patti Hartman; Geoff and Samilja Heim; Sandy Kloster, Karen Lindroth-Yates; Laura Muir; Rhonda Nakai; Allen Peterson; Terry Schierbeek and Dale Mueller-Smith.

NOTE: Excerpts were taken from an article in the Gazette March 23, 2008.

A standout was Don Smith in a bright teal blue suit with black stripes. His wife, Debbie Davison-Smith, was at his side in a black velvet vintage dress.

Nicole Malyj, Debbie Davison-Smith, and Julia Smith looked stunning in their 20's attire during the event.

Samantha Lembergs, Barb Midyett, and Sue Prendinger attended the event representing some of our team partners from the Colorado Springs Police Department.

Jazz on the Green

A special thank you to Safe Passage Board Members and the staff at the Colorado Springs Country Club for making the "Jazz on the Green" fundraiser a great success! Although the weather put a damper on plans to have the event outdoors, there was plenty of good food, wine, music, and conversation to make the evening a memorable one.

Pictured here, Lynn and Lenard Rioth, and Jackie Winston at the event.

Samilja Heim and Kristen Cook enjoyed themselves at the event.

Pictured here at the table: Jerry Day, Julian Bucknall, Donna Billek, Valerie Sievers, and Jeff Sievers.

SAVE THE DATE!

October 10th, 2008, 6-9pm
Orly's Art Gallery Benefit for Safe Passage

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Collaborating Partner Agencies

Colorado Springs Police Department
Cripple Creek Police Department
Fountain Police Department
Manitou Springs Police Department
Woodland Park Police Department
El Paso County Sheriff's Office
Park County Sheriff's Department
Teller County Sheriff's Office
El Paso County Human Services
Teller County Social Services
4th Judicial District Attorney's Office

Services at a Glance...