Sanare Centre's new Child Advocacy Centre was specifically designed to house therapy for youth. Pictured is the centre's play therapy rooms.--NEWS PHOTO KENDALL KING
kking@medicinehatnews.com
Medicine Hat’s Sanare Centre is helping children and youth navigate the aftermath of sexual abuse, extreme abuse and neglect, and begin their healing journey with its new Child Advocacy Centre.
Sanare’s CAC, a first of its kind in southeast Alberta, opened earlier this year and is expected to be fully operational by the end of the summer.
The centre, which welcomes youth ages 0 to 18 and their families, offers a range of services designed to assist in addressing and healing from traumatic experiences, while mitigating the risk of further trauma which can sometimes be caused by legal or judicial processes.
“A child advocacy centre is a one-stop place where children who’ve experienced sexual abuse, extreme physical abuse and extreme neglect come to heal,” Sanare executive director, Christina Johnson, said. “What will be happening on site is everything from forensic interviewing, to therapy, to all of the services a child would need in order to thrive.”
The CAC has been a longtime goal of Sanare, which was made possible with the centre’s recent move into a larger building, specifically designed to house a variety of therapy services – such as one-on-one, group, family and play therapy – separate legal and judiciary interview and observation rooms, and more.
The move also brought together officials from Sanare, Alberta Children’s Services, Alberta Health Services Addictions and Mental Health, Medicine Hat Police Service and RCMP, as well as judicial officers, in an effort to streamline the legal and judicial process for youth impacted by sexual abuse, extreme abuse and extreme neglect. Thus, allowing youth and their families to focus as little as possible on the trauma, and instead channel energy into healing.
“Child advocacy centres started in the U.S.,” Johnson said. “It was actually a Crown prosecutor who created the model, because there was a child who was interviewed by professionals 18 times. They had to tell their story of trauma 18 times.
“At the CAC, we want the child to only tell their story one time. So they come here, tell their story one time, then the professionals who are going to be supporting both the child and their family, know and understand the story and they can do their respective roles … and then we create the best care plan with family for the child.”
While Sanare’s CAC is newly established, the centre has long offered children’s support services. Since July, 2021, Sanare has served more than 90 children in the region.
“Child advocacy centres are considered a gold-star service for individuals who have survived child abuse,” she said. “They’re common throughout the world and we’re really excited to be able to offer that same service to our community.”
