Children serving to children: Youth Ambassadors assemble useful resource kits for Baby Advocacy Heart
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Students from the Manistee County Child Advocacy Center’s Youth Ambassador Program assembled 100 “coping kits” during a winter get-together on Saturday. Pictured (left to right) are Kaylin Sam, Sophie Wisniski, Mairin McCarthy, Courtney Haag, Taylor Merrill, Libby McCarthy, Alexia Rineer, Jake Petrosky, Benjamin Falk and Muriel McColl. Alyssa Jackoviak is not pictured. (Courtesy photo)
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Students from the Manistee County Child Advocacy Center’s Youth Ambassador Program assembled 100 “coping kits” during a winter get-together on Saturday. Pictured (from left to right) are Kaylin Sam, Sophie
… more
Students from the Manistee County Child Advocacy Center’s Youth Ambassador Program assembled 100 “coping kits” during a winter get-together on Saturday. Pictured (left to right) are Kaylin Sam, Sophie Wisniski, Mairin McCarthy, Courtney Haag, Taylor Merrill, Libby McCarthy, Alexia Rineer, Jake Petrosky, Benjamin Falk and Muriel McColl. Alyssa Jackoviak is not pictured. (Courtesy photo)
Fewer
Students from the Manistee County Child Advocacy Center’s Youth Ambassador Program assembled 100 “coping kits” during a winter get-together on Saturday. Pictured (from left to right) are Kaylin Sam, Sophie
… more
Children Help Children: Youth Ambassadors put together resource kits for the Child Advocacy Center
MANISTEE – Students of the youth ambassador program put together 100 “coping kits” during their winter get-together on Saturday in the Armory Youth Project.
The kits are tailored to the age and needs of the children and are distributed by the family attorney and trauma therapist at the Manistee County Child Advocacy Center to teenage clients when they come to the CAC for forensic interviews or therapy sessions.
“Due to the need to maintain a sterile environment, we had to close the shared play area in our recording room,” said Megan McCarthy, CAC general manager. “The kits put together by our ambassadors are an answer to this problem.”
The Youth Ambassadors program provides high school students from Manistee County with the opportunity to share their time and talents in meaningful ways, according to the CAC, and to help the Child Advocacy Center better serve the families who depend on the center’s services .
“It felt really good to be able to do something to help others,” said Muriel McColl, a sophomore at MCC. “I enjoyed spending the day with the students from the other schools as everything that happened to COVID made it harder to have this type of interaction, but I especially enjoyed knowing the work that we did today will help other children. “
The ambassadors support the CAC staff with special events and projects and meet quarterly as a full group. Their winter get-together was held as part of the Armory Youth Project, where they were kept a reasonable distance and followed all safety protocols.
“We are incredibly grateful to the Armory Youth Project for opening its doors for us to meet in person. This pandemic has posed many challenges for our organizations large and small, “said McCarthy.” We were determined to find a safe way to bring these students together. I reached out to the deputy director of the armory, Theresa Anderson, and asked if they had a place that could work for us. She replied without hesitation that she wanted to support these students and their project. “
The Manistee County Child Advocacy Center provides a kid-friendly, safe, and supportive environment for abused children. The center is a place where professionals work together as a team to conduct forensic interviews with child victims and coordinate investigations and interventions for each child abuse incident. This collaboration speeds up every child’s time in the legal system and ensures that children do not fall victim to the system again and that they and their families receive the support and services they need.
The kits put together on Saturday contain resources that children can use while at the center for forensic interviews and counseling sessions that they can then take home. That way, they will still have access to in-game items and be distracted while parents do the paperwork and meet with staff and law enforcement agencies, but without the possibility that germs from these items will cause the virus to spread.
This year’s youth ambassador group consists of students from Catholic high schools in Manistee, Onekama, Bear Lake and Manistee. On Saturday, they spent their time loading kits with items like coloring books, crayons, modeling clay, stickers, and stress balls for younger children. The kits for teenagers were filled with items such as magazines, pens, fidgets, and activity pages. All kits also contain snacks.
“If you want to see the best of what this next generation has to offer, spend a day with our Youth Ambassadors,” said McCarthy. “They are a dynamic group of students with a big heart and a great work ethic. Spending time with them is one of the best parts of my job. “
Manistee County’s Child Advocacy Center supports vulnerable children in the community.
The center offers services such as:
• Forensic interviews with children aged 3 to 18 who reveal sexual abuse or serious physical abuse;
• crisis intervention;
• advocacy for victims;
• mental health services;
• Case coordination with law enforcement agencies and other partners in the agency; and
• Adult prevention education.
In addition, the CAC offers on-site crisis counseling, trauma therapy and counseling through peer support groups and also refers to external counselors. All services are offered free of charge to children and families.
SEE ALSO:
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Child Advocacy Centers at the forefront of the fight against child abuse
The Child Advocacy Center offers training for ISD employees
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