CARMEL – Since 1999, the Putnam County Child Advocacy Center has assisted 4,000 children and their families by providing services and a path to healing for those victimized by physical or sexual abuse as well as domestic violence.
This past week, two dozen public officials and service providers joined CAC staff for a two decades’ long ceremony commending the agency for its dedicated work.
Commissioner of Social Services and Mental Health Michael Piazza told the gathering, “Twenty-one years ago this was a dream and vision conceived by former District Attorney Kevin Wright whose support was matched by former Sheriff Bob Thoubboron. Kevin did some background checking on Marla (Behler) who at the time was employed in Santa Barbara, California,” he said, adding “Marla was interviewed and had led this agency to greatness over the years.”
Piazza also commended others for their support. “We couldn’t have succeeded without Kevin’s help as well as from former D.A. Adam Levy and our current District Attorney Bob Tendy. Sheriff Thoubboron, Sheriff Smith and Sheriff Langley have also been extremely responsive as have the police chiefs in Carmel and Kent and the directors of the Putnam Women’s Center and County Executive MaryEllen Odell and her predecessor Bob Bondi.”
Odell brought exciting news to the get-together announcing an expansion of the CAC’s cramped quarters located on Main Street in Brewster. “Putnam’s WIC program has vacated its premises located adjacent to this office. Thanks to a grant from State Assemblyman Kevin Byrne, funding has been received allowing the agency to expand. Protecting children is our number one priority in Putnam County. It breaks my heart to see what is happening in today’s society when it comes to abused children. Everything we can do we should be doing and more.”
Sheriff Langley called the CAC an “invaluable tool for law enforcement by allowing us to take predators off the street and protecting children.”
Behler explained her agency uses a “multidisciplinary team approach in a child focused setting where children begin to heal from trauma.”
When the agency first started it focused primarily on child sexual and physical abuse. Over the years, team members expanded their services to include the overlapping conditions of domestic violence recognizing the impact such incidents have on children.
A Child Fatality Review Team was later formed along with the initiation of a Computer Forensic Program and upgrades of technology to institute a data base tracking system.
Additional elements of the CAC involve a diverse array of crime prevention and education programs, a Safe Harbour program that responds to commercial sexual exploitation and human trafficking and the facilitation of the Suicide Prevention Task Force.
Behler called statistics related to child abuse frightening. “When we opened 20 years ago, we saw 45 children come through our doors. Since that time, 4,000 boys and girls have been assisted because sadly, one in 10 children are sexually abused. Ninety percent of the time, children know their abuser. Thirty-nine percent of all abused children are accosted by a family member. Only one in 10 sexually abused children disclose their abuse. Nearly five children die each day across the U.S. from neglect and abuse and abuse happens everywhere, even in one’s neighborhood.”
Behler attributed the agency’s success over the years to the partnerships created with other agencies that have “come together with a single mission in mind–to assist children in need. Cases have become more complicated over the past two decades since we are not only dealing with child abuse but with drug abuse, mental health issues, poverty and the list goes on and on with an overall goal to keep families together.”
The CAC has garnered nearly $5 million in grants during the past 20 years as a result of the dedication of the management team led by Behler.
