The South Enotah Child Advocacy Center has come full circle. After a humble beginning in the counseling office of the University of North Georgia and a shared office in White County, a local Child Advocacy Center (CAC) location is now back to serve the citizens of Lumpkin County. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held last Wednesday for the non-profit organization’s new facility, located on US 19 Business in Dahlonega.
The South Enotah CAC has a mission of uniting community partners to help prevent child abuse and restore its victims through a combination of service, education and leadership.
Although it is sometimes confused with Enotah CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children), Enotah CAC is usually the first group to get involved whenever a possible disclosure of abuse is made.
Upon the referral of a local child from the local Sheriff’s Office, The Georgia Division of Family & Children Services (DFCS) or even school administrators, Enotah CAC is equipped to provide both a trained interviewer and an appropriate local venue to conduct discreet, professional investigations.
COMMUNITY PROJECT
During an outdoor ribbon-cutting ceremony, Enotah CAC Executive Director Rebekah Perethian thanked everyone who contributed to make the new center a reality.
“We’re so grateful for people in our community who are excited about this center. I feel like most of you already know what we do, but in case you don’t, we’re South Enotah Child Advocacy Center. We work with kids in Lumpkin and White County, and we serve kids that have experienced abuse in the community. We work with law enforcement and DFCS very closely, and we provide forensic interviews, therapy, education, advocacy and prevention,” Perethian explained.
She said South Enotah CAC has had a shared headquarters in Cleveland since 2018, but even though it’s just one county over, driving there “can sometimes be a barrier for these families that live in Lumpkin County.”
Perethian credited CAC board member and Lumpkin County Family Connection Director Brigette Barker with helping to secure a funding source for the much-needed project.
“Thanks to Brigette for the idea of talking to the North Georgia Community Foundation, and the biggest thank you to the North Georgia Community Foundation for giving us the funding to open this center. We’re so thankful for them,” she said of the Gainesville-based “concierge of philanthropy.”
Perethian also thanked board member Susan Garrity for helping find a suitable location in town, and Peterson Construction for handling the necessary renovation work.
“We’ve got a desktop computer that shows you the ‘before’ pictures, so you can see everything they’ve done to make this place beautiful,” she added.
Due to the efforts of numerous local volunteers, Perethian said that most of the secured funding can be used to actually pay for services South Enotah CAC will be providing in the future.
She also thanked nearby neighboring business Anderson-Underwood Funeral Home for funding the grand opening ceremony, which included free refreshments, before opening the facility to visitors.
“We’ve got both sides open,” Perethian said of the facility’s two entrances. “One is usually for our law enforcement and DFACS to enter. The other side is for our families to enter for forensic interviews and therapy. I’m going to have my staff in each of the rooms to give you a little bit of explanation of how each room really helps the kids in our community,” she said before welcoming the crowd inside.
FORENSIC INTERVIEWER
The first room on the law enforcement side is an observation and debriefing room where officials can monitor video of the forensic interviews taking place in the next room over, and can even communicate with the interviewer through an earpiece if needed.
One of those forensic interviewers is Kristin Jarrard.
She will spend much of her time in the interview room, which contains a table and two chairs, with a small video camera mounted on a tripod at the center of the table.
Jarrard described forensic interviewing as “basically just a child-led conversation where I ask age-appropriate, open-ended questions to see if they have anything relevant to the investigation.”
She said she will usually pause in the middle of a session and go into the observation room to see if law enforcement or DFACS has any follow-up questions before completing an interview.
The obvious advantage is that children do not have to visit an intimidating police station and speak directly to an officer with a badge and a gun.
“We try to make it as comforting and child-friendly as possible,” Jarrard said of the interview experience at CAC.
For more information about South Enotah Child Advocacy Center, as well as online resources for parents, please visit southenotahcac.org.