Morgan County Child Advocacy Center helps abused children in the county

For the Enquirer

With the help of their facility dog, the Morgan County Child Advocacy Center is helping abused children, and without the center, abused children would have to be interrogated inside a police station.

“We’re kind of one of those agencies that we wish we could work ourselves out of a job. The reality is that we are honored that we are able to play a small part in seeing kids heal from abuse,” said Morgan County Advocacy Center Executive Director Misty Cowger. “Our goal is really to help them heal and to go on and live their life and be healthy, productive members of society, so they’re not defined by what happened to them.” The advocacy center is a nonprofit that sees children on a daily basis. In 2023 they had 726 clients in Morgan County, Cowger said.

“Child abuse, as we all know, is something that we don’t really want to talk about,” she said. “But the reality is statistics say that one in 10 children will be sexually abused before they turn 18. So, as a community, it’s really important that we do talk about it because if we don’t talk about it, we can’t provide the assistance that’s needed.” Cowger said their mission is to provide help and healing to children.

“We provide services to children ages 3 to 18 that have experienced abuse, neglect or have experienced some other traumatic event in their life,” Cowger said.

Cowger said they have an agreement with the Morgan County Department of Human Resources (DHR), local law enforcement, the Morgan County District Attorney’s Office and medical personnel.

“Essentially what happens is when a report is received from either DHR or law enforcement and it involves a child where there’s suspicion that abuse has occurred,” she said. “Instead of them taking that child to the police department and questioning the child about what’s happened, we have trained forensic interviewers that are able to gather that information as part of that investigative process.” Cowger said interviews happen at the center’s office instead of a police station.

“Our forensic interviewers are trained to talk to children in a way that is non-leading, but also non-traumatic,” she said. “The center is colorful and it’s friendly and it’s open, and we try to make it as inviting as we possibly can, given the reason that kids are there to see us.” In addition to the forensic interviews, Cowger said, they also provide trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy. She said it is the gold standard of therapy for the ages they serve that have experienced trauma. Cowger said therapy is provided at no cost. “Cognitive behavioral therapy,” according to the American Psychological Association, “is a form of psychological treatment that has been demonstrated to be effective for a range of problems including depression, anxiety disorders, alcohol and drug use problems, marital problems, eating disorders, and severe mental illness.” The center has a dog present to help with tough situations. Jezebel, or Jezzy, is a certified service trained facility dog.

“She’s not an emotional support animal; she’s not a therapy dog,” Cowger said. “She is actually trained, just like a service dog is trained, but she’s trained to use those commands in order to help navigate essentially the criminal justice process and just the trauma that children, and actually adult victims, go through for that process.” Cowger said Jezebel can be a part of every service they provide, including forensic interviews, therapy sessions and court. She said Jezebel helps children daily, but Cowger remembers some situations more than others. She said they had a child who was referred to them for an emergency forensic interview.

“That means that the child is still in immediate danger or perhaps law enforcement is looking for an alleged offender to possibly make an arrest,” Cowger said. “When the child came in, they were absolutely terrified; they didn’t really understand why they were at our office. They came in and they just sat down in the corner with their arms crossed.” Cowger said one of their victim advocates tried to introduce herself and talk to the child.

“The child would not engage at all,” she said. “Finally, she asked, ‘Do you like dogs?’ And for the first time she saw the child look at her and very, very meekly nodded, yes.” Cowger said the advocate came and got her to bring Jezebel. She said she introduced herself and Jezebel and they both sat near the child.

“Over the course of probably 15 minutes, I saw that kiddo completely closed up in the corner become more open,” Cowger said. “Before I knew it, not only were they petting Jezzy, but they were lying on the floor with her, kind of sprawled out in our lobby.” When it came time for the child to have their forensic interview, Cowger said, she and Jezebel walked them back.

“When the kiddo realized that the door was going to be shut with the interviewer in the room, they had a complete meltdown,” she said. “Being locked in a room was part of the abuse that the child had experienced. Jezzy and I were able to sit with the kiddo for about 45 minutes to the point where we got them out from behind the door, … and go sit down on the couch.” Cowger said the child asked if Jezebel could come in the interview room with her.

“That child was able to sit back with the interviewer … and they told the interviewer all kinds of things that had been going on,” she said. “When the interviewer got done, she let me know that, ‘if Jezzy had not been here, that child would not have spoken to me.’ That child would still be in the lobby with their arms crossed, totally terrified.” Jezebel brings children comfort, Cowger said, and is someone they can talk to about things they do not want to talk to people about.

“We’re the only agency in Morgan County that provides the services we provide,” she said. “So, if we were not here, kiddos, I sus-pect, would be going back into interrogation rooms at police departments being interviewed about things that have happened to them, which nobody wants.” Susan Roberts is the director of Parents And Children Together (PACT) whose efforts seek to prevent child abuse, but they do work with the advocacy center.

“We refer it on to DHR, and then they work closely with the Child Advocacy Center to get the children’s needs met after abuse has occurred,” she said. “We’re partners and can make sure families get what they need. We’re very blessed to have a Child Advocacy Center; not all communities have one.” Roberts said the more organizations that are involved with child abuse the better.

“The old adage, it takes a village, it really does take a village to make sure that children are kept safe and that their needs are met,” she said.

The advocacy center is currently located at 801 Church St., but they are moving to 210 E. Moulton St. and hope to be moved by the middle of August. There will be a ribbon cutting and open house for the public at a later unspecified date.