25 years in fight against abuse
LACASA's work includes victim services, education
Friday, April 14, 2006
BY LISA CAROLIN
News Staff Reporter
The LACASA building on Grand River Avenue west of Howell offers much more than the modestly sized facade would indicate. Inside, professional counselors and nurses work 24 hours a day, seven days a week with victims of sexual assault and abuse from throughout Livingston County.
LACASA's mission is to end domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse. The agency began working out of its current building in July 2002. April is Sexual Assault Awareness month, and LACASA had its inaugural Circle of Women luncheon recently to raise awareness and funds.
"We raised $12,500 for LACASA at the luncheon and are very, very pleased,'' said Julie Smith, LACASA's development director.
LACASA celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.
"It's a full-service agency and we have clinical, shelter, and administrative services all in one building,'' said Director Judy Shewach, who explains that the agency works hard on prevention and education.
"We try to reach as many people as possible, including adolescents and children, and to identify issues, such as control, power and empowerment, and how not to repeat the cycle of violence.''
Smith says that with population growth comes growth in domestic violence. "During the 2004-2005 fiscal year, we saw nearly 160 victims of sexual assault.''
Shewach says there are 30 people on LACASA's staff, and that all counselors have master's degrees and all legal advocates are college educated. There is a registered play therapist, and hundreds of volunteers. LACASA has programs in all five of the Livingston County-based school districts.
In October 2004, LACASA began its nurse examiner program for individuals 12 and older in need of urgent care in a private environment. It's called SANE, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner program, and specially trained forensic nurses gather evidence during a physical exam after a sexual assault.
"It's a benefit to survivors that they are able to get a nurse to spend time with them and to do a thorough exam,'' said one of those nurses, Jennifer Brown. "We're trained to look for evidence of sexual assault and to be expert witnesses in court.''
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Another program offered by LACASA is CARE, the Child Abuse Response Effort. Children who are alleged to be sexual assault victims, are interviewed in a neutral room that looks like a small living room with one-way glass. A trained forensic interviewer talks to the child while law enforcement officials and employees from Children's Protective Services can watch and listen from another room, and determine if a case will go to the next step.
"The advantage is that the child may only have to be interviewed once, and that every effort can be made to ease the child through the process,'' said Shewach, who adds that if a case is prosecuted, the child will probably have to testify in court. "We have legal office staff who are here to explain to parents what is going on.''
Shewach says that the agency averages 150 children a year who are interviewed through the CARE process.
The LACASA building also has a 20-bed shelter. It has six rooms that share one corridor as well as a bathroom and kitchen, and a room in a separate area for men, or as needed for women, with its own bathroom and kitchen. Shewach said the shelter it is a full lock-down facility with security, and that includes a locked parking lot and a gated playground with an alarm system.
"Our goal is that everybody we see has a safety plan in place,'' says Shewach. "We work with the victim, friends and family, and do individual and group support counseling.''
Shewach said LACASA does not charge for victim services. In addition to the shelter in the building, the agency also offers transitional housing in six 2-bedroom apartments scattered around the county that people can live in for up to two years.
Also located inside the agency's main facility is a children's center, which looks very much like a preschool. LACASA offers "free closets'' for both children and adults with items such as clothing, books and toys, and there is a huge amount of storage in the building's basement where extra supplies are stored. The agency has a van, which it uses to transport people as needed to-and-from the facility.
LACASA's annual budget is $1.1 million. Funding sources include federal, state and private grants, and the Livingston County United Way.
Nancy Rosso, executive director of the United Way says, "LACASA has a very strong presence and their services are recognized around the county. It is one of our largest agencies that receive funding from our programs and have for some time. We're fortunate to have them.''
LACASA offers a 32-hour training program twice a year for volunteers, which enables them to do work with clients. There are hundreds of other volunteers who help with events such as the annual garden tour fundraiser.
"This is the most generous community in the world,'' said Shewach.
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