CULLMAN, Ala. – Shutdowns and quarantines provide the perfect opportunity for families to spend more time together, enjoying each other’s company and shared activities in the home. Unfortunately, real life is often not so idealistically pretty; tensions rise as families are cooped up for long periods, sometimes with reduced resources due to a layoff. The 2020 pandemic created the perfect environment for child abuse, so the staff of Brooks’ Place Child Advocacy Center of Cullman thought creatively and worked extra hard to continue providing services to 261 clients.
Executive Director Gail Swafford told The Tribune, “Like many nonprofit agencies, Brooks’ Place has faced many challenges this year due to COVID-19. Despite these challenges, we have continued to serve children and families impacted by physical and sexual abuse. We have had to think outside the box on how we can best serve families while ensuring the safety of clients and staff. Child abuse still happens even when there is a pandemic. It’s during times like these that abuse typically increases. We will not know the extent of abuse until months or sometimes years later when children feel safe enough to tell someone.
“Since March, we have mainly provided counseling sessions via platforms which utilize technology similar to Zoom. Platforms we use are HIPPA-compliant, meaning that counseling sessions are confidential so children feel safe in talking about the many issues related to their abuse. Our family advocates have worked diligently following up with clients to keep them up to date on the status of their case as well as making sure that their basic needs such as housing, clothing, food, etc. are met. This is an important part of what we do at Brooks’ Place. Basic needs must be met in order for a child/family to begin the journey of healing from the impact of the abuse. Cullman is blessed to have organizations, area churches and civic clubs that help us meet the needs of the families we serve. Our forensic interviewer made sure interviews of children were scheduled as quickly as possible and CDC guidelines followed for the safety of all involved. Our forensic nurse was available to conduct medical examinations on the children so that the child and family had the peace of mind of knowing whether any medical issues were caused by the abuse.”
Financial challenges
Swafford said, “Brooks’ Place has been financially challenged this year as well. Private and corporate donations have decreased significantly because of the pandemic. Fundraisers that we typically have in the summer were canceled. We were able to reschedule our annual golf tournament in October this year. We are really thankful for all those that supported us in the midst of the pandemic.
“Another obstacle we faced was a reduction in the grant funds. Many operating costs typically covered in the grant were cut out this year. This means we must find monetary resources to cover these costs.”
Using multiple resources to address a multifaceted problem
Swafford told The Tribune, “Brooks’ Place is blessed to partner with DHR (Cullman County Department of Human Resources), city and county law enforcement, (Cullman County) District Attorney’s Office, Juvenile Probation, mental health and medical professionals to assist child victims as they recover from abuse they endured. Last year, 261 brave children came forward to tell what happened to them so that the abuse would end. Our mission is to offer hope, help and healing not only to these brave children, but also to their parents/caregivers and siblings. After all, when it comes to child abuse it’s not only the identified child victim who suffers but other family members as well. Brooks’ Place was able to provide counseling sessions, medical examinations, criminal justice support, family advocacy to all these families at no cost to them.
“It is our hope in the upcoming year that we can expand some of our services so that more children will know what to do if faced with this horrific dilemma. Community education is paramount in stopping child abuse. Many adults are even unsure of what to do if a child discloses abuse.
“Child abuse is very ugly and most want to pretend it doesn’t exist. Unfortunately, it does exist even in our beautiful community. In the next year Brooks’ Place will provide child abuse awareness curriculum in different platforms in an effort to reach more people about the dynamics of abuse. Stay tuned!”
Find out more about Brooks’ Place at www.facebook.com/brooksplacecac.
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