Copyright Lewiston Morning Tribune
Child abuse victims in north central Idaho needed more help getting justice. So, two mid-career professionals from law enforcement and social work took action. Their collaboration became the Two Rivers United Child Advocacy Center (CAC) with the mission of helping abuse victims ages 3 to 17 find justice. Since opening in March, the CAC has conducted 50 forensic interviews of children on behalf of 11 law enforcement agencies from Washington, Idaho, federal and tribal jurisdictions. Forensic interviews are conducted by a person trained in age-appropriate, compassionate, nonleading fact gathering. The tactic improves chances of abuse cases being prosecuted. The nonprofit organization exists because of Lewiston Police Det. Nick Eylar, 40, and Kimberly Neely, 43, who is the youth safety and permanency program manager for Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s District 2. Over a decade, the two have worked many child abuse cases together. “We’ve been talking about this child advocacy center for a long time, saying, ‘we need to do something like this,’ ” Eylar said. When an abuse case comes to law enforcement, a child needs to tell the story, he explained. Talking about abuse can be traumatic for anyone, especially a child. Sometimes, police in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley would take children to Spokane or Coeur d’Alene for interviews because there were no CACs nearby. But the two-hour drive just added to the trauma. The other option is the police station, but that can be an intimidating environment as well. The new CAC occupies four rooms donated by St. Joseph Regional Medical Center next to the hospital in Lewiston. One room is a relaxed family room for the CAC interviewer to meet the child. Another is the interview room, decorated in bland colors meant to be unstimulating. A third room is for law enforcement to watch a live video-feed of the interview. An interviewer who is trained to work with the different developmental stages helps children, and in turn helps prosecutors, Neely said. “By having an organization of child experts that has an impartial buy-in to the outcome of either the judicial process or the child welfare process, it improves the outcome of the validity of that interview and improves the outcomes of both processes,” Neely said. The CAC interviewer also works as a child victim advocate, helping children through the ordeal. Another staff member works as administrator. The CAC is just getting started. Next steps will be into the schools to educate children and adults on how to identify signs of child abuse and how to prevent it to. A major reason Neely and Eylar created the CAC is because they have seen abused kids grow up to become abusers. They believe intervention can interrupt that cycle. “I want kids to be safe,” Neely said. “Even if we can’t prevent every terrible thing from happening to them, we can be a system that reduces their trauma, does education and support services so that they aren’t at risk of more maltreatment in the future.” Ferguson can be reached at dferguson@lmtribune.com.
