Auditor General DePasquale Tours PinnacleHealth Children’s Resource Center As Part of Research for “State of the Child” Special Report
Says such centers are proven to save taxpayers thousands of dollars per investigation
Auditor General DePasquale Tours PinnacleHealth Children’s Resource Center As Part of Research for “State of the Child” Special Report
Says such centers are proven to save taxpayers thousands of dollars per investigation
Printer friendly press release
HARRISBURG (April 18, 2017) – Auditor General Eugene DePasquale today toured the PinnacleHealth Children’s Resource Center as part of his research into Pennsylvania’s children and youth system for a special report due out later this year, titled “State of the Child.”
“The Children’s Resource Center provides an incredibly critical service by expertly interviewing children who might be victims of physical or sexual abuse,” DePasquale said. “Having the experts at the center interview and examine these children reduces trauma for the victims and saves money by reducing duplication of efforts.”
Without the services of an advocacy center, abused children may have to recount the most traumatic moments of their lives repeatedly, to guidance counselors, law enforcement officers, children and youth caseworkers, medical professionals, therapists and others.
“Just the act of making a child retell what happened can be traumatic,” DePasquale said.
Nationally, child abuse costs taxpayers $124 billion per year, according to the National Children’s Alliance. One way to cut that cost is to use centers such as the Children’s Resource Center (CRC), which can save an investigation as much as $1,000 per child by making the process of interviewing and medically examining the child more efficient.
“Research has shown that there are demonstrable cost savings to using these centers,” DePasquale said. “More importantly, because they use multidisciplinary teams that meet regularly, there is less duplication of efforts and a smaller chance of a case falling through the cracks.”
Lynn Carson, who has been manager of the Children’s Resource Center since 2012, said she was pleased DePasquale toured the facility.
“We appreciate the Auditor General’s commitment to Pennsylvania’s children and to child advocacy centers,” Carson said. “Referrals to the Children’s Resource Center come from law enforcement, children and youth offices, or medical providers, any time of day or night. Our trained forensic interviewers provide exceptional service to meet the needs of the child and family.”
Since its establishment in 1994, the CRC has cared for more than 12,000 children from 20 Central Pennsylvania counties. It opened a second center in Lebanon County in 2014. It provides forensic interviews, medical exams and mental health services to children suspected of being physically or sexually abused or neglected.
DePasquale’s “State of the Child” special report, which will focus on CYS agencies in 13 counties, will evaluate the job stresses for caseworkers, including the impact of high turnover and minimal training, and it will offer recommendations to improve the quality of care at-risk children receive in Pennsylvania. It is expected to be released in early fall.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: Following is a fact sheet on the PinnacleHealth Children’s Resource Center.
PinnacleHealth Children’s Resource Center Fact Sheet
• The mission of the PinnacleHealth Children’s Resource Center (CRC) is to reduce the occurrence and aftermath of child abuse. It seeks to identify abused children, protect them from further harm and promote abuse prevention activities.
• Average CRC patient age is 6 years old.
• 80 percent of CRC patients are girls.
• 90 percent of cases involve sexual abuse allegations; 8 percent involve physical abuse allegations.
• In 2015, the CRC cared for 1,190 children; in 2016, it cared for 1,044 children.
• The CRC is one of 28 such children’s advocacy centers statewide.
Source: PinnacleHealth Children’s Resource Center
