CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – A young child who had been sexually abused, and that child’s terminally-ill mother, couldn’t bring themselves to sleep in the same beds where the abuse had occurred.
“This mom would hear her daughter having nightmares at night and crying in her sleep,” Sherri McKinney, CEO at Foothills Children’s Advocacy Center, told Cville Right Now. “Nobody wanted to sleep in those beds.”
With the mother too ill to work, Foothills purchased the family two new beds and had them delivered to their apartment.
The case is an illustration of how specialized the work done at Foothills, which helps child abuse victims and their families in the region, truly is.
“We really try to meet people where they are and make sure that people get what they need individually for them and their child,” McKinney said.
Founded in 2006 and accredited in 2011, Foothills originally partnered with the National Children’s Alliance and served Albemarle County and Charlottesville.
Since then, it has expanded to include Buckingham, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Orange, Madison and Nelson counties.
Foothills has nine staff members, including two medical providers, contracted through UVA. It also has an eight-member board of directors.
All share a common goal. To help children who have endured abuse, and their families, move forward with their lives.
WORK WITH CHILDREN
Children who may have experienced physical or sexual abuse are referred to Foothills, either by Child Protective Services or by law enforcement.
At Foothills, specially trained professionals conduct forensic interviews to determine what has happened to the child. The organization conducts about 320 of these a year, for children ranging in age from 3-18.
The interviews are witnessed by law enforcement and CPS representatives, and recorded. Foothills recently upgraded to a $21,000 top-of-the-line audio and video recording system. This prevents the child from having to endure the trauma of telling their story multiple times.
Board president Mark Mendelsohn, a retired pediatrician and the center’s first chief medical officer, said – whether or not the family is pursuing prosecution – the process can be therapeutic for the children.
“These kids come in and most of them have been victimized in one way or another,” Mendelsohn told Cville Right Now. “They have the opportunity to share their story, which can be partly healing, just the fact that they can share it.”
Foothills also provides on-site medical care for the children, including rape kits. Everything other than X-rays can be done at the facility.
WORK WITH CAREGIVERS
The effort at Foothills is two-pronged. In addition to its work with the children, the organization aims to provide support for the caregivers, which McKinney said is one of the most important ways to set the children up for future success.
“What research shows us is that, what determines a child’s resiliency when they have experienced sexual abuse, the No. 1 is having a supportive caregiver,” McKinney said. “We want to make sure we help empower caregivers to be able to take care of their kids during these really, really stressful times.”
Family advocates meet with caregivers, offering support and guidance. They can work to help families with specific concerns, like the case of the mother and daughter who needed new beds.
Mendelsohn said supporting caregivers is its own unique challenge.
“It’s a big part of it,” he said. “A lot of them are in denial. They may be angry or just scared about what happened. They sometimes can’t believe that, sometimes, their partner was the one who did something to the child.”
PARTNERSHIP WITH OTHER AREA ORGANIZATIONS
Foothills works in partnership with local law enforcement, Child Protective Services, the Virginia Department of Social Services and a number of community groups whose work overlaps with the center’s mission.
The forensic interviews are observed by police and CPS, and Foothills hosts monthly meetings of a multidisciplinary team, where each case is reviewed.
McKinney said not all families are seeking prosecution of their cases, and getting a conviction without a family’s cooperation is difficult and rare.
But having all the groups working together streamlines the traumatic investigative process for the children and their families. The collaborations also increase the amount of support Foothills can connect survivors and caretakers to.
WHAT’S NEXT?
On Aug. 15, Foothills moved into a new facility on Hansen Road in Charlottesville, sharing the space with the Sexual Assault Resource Agency, one of the groups it works in partnership with.
The new facility is designed to maximize comfort for children and families and functionality for the organization, law enforcement and other partners.
“Now that we have more room, incredible things are going to be happening at Foothills,” McKinney said.
Mendelsohn became a board member in 2017 and took over as the center’s first medical director in 2018. Now, in his term as board president, his primary goal is to add on-site mental health care with a staff psychologist.
With long waitlists in the area for appointments to see mental health workers who specialize in children, it’s a service Mendelsohn believes Foothills needs to provide.
Foothills gets about 40% of its funding from the localities it serves and DSS. Another 40% comes from local foundations and donors. The final 20% is raised through a pair of annual events — a pickleball tournament and its “Mustaches For Kids” fundraiser.
In addition to the mental health opportunities, the organization wants to add a preventative care program and increase education about abuse.
“There’s still a stigma around sexual abuse. Kids just don’t tell,” McKinney said. “Generally speaking, these are people they know, love and trust. And these kids have been groomed for an extended period of time and they’ve been told, ‘If you tell, you’re going to break up the family. I’m going to go to prison. Nobody will believe you. This is your fault.’ These kids are literally carrying all of this weight with them.”
Foothills aims to relieve that burden.
