Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Open Board of Directors Meeting
San Bernardino Community College District
114 S. Del Rosa Drive
San Bernardino, CA 92408
Minutes
Present: Dimitrios Alexiou, Don Averill, Deborah Barmack, Carole Beswick, Tom Brickley, Erin Brinker, Ann Bryan, Ron Freemont, Richard Hart, Mark Kaenel, Lowell King, Sue McKee, Charlie Ng, Steve PonTell, John Prentice, Kristine Scott, Larry Sharp, Paul Shimoff, Phil Waller and A.J. Wilson.
Guests: Richard Chinnock, Sue McKee, Mayor Pat Morris, Erin Phillips, Zareh Sarrafian
Announcements: 1) The Inland Action closed board of directors meeting on December 4, 2012 will be held at the IVDA offices located at 1601 E. Third Street. Further information will be sent to the membership. 2) The annual trip to Washington, D.C. is planned for March 19, 20 & 21, 2013. Attendees should plan on traveling on Sunday, March 18, 2013. Meetings with agencies and staff will be planned for Monday and meetings with legislators will be scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.
M/S/P: Minutes from November 13, 2012
Erin Brinker introduced Dr.s’ Clare Sheridan-Matney & Amy Young-Snodgrass.
Created in 1986, the Children’s Fund Assessment Center is a non-profit member of the San Bernardino County Children’s Network. Their mission is to prevent child abuse in the community; to ensure that at-risk children who are abused, neglected, impoverished, or abandoned receive adequate food, shelter, clothing, medical care and education; and to provide equal opportunity for social development for these children.
Prior to the opening of the Children’s Fund Assessment Center, abused children referred to Child Protective Services (CPS), often had to endure a number of interviews performed by multiple agencies involved in the investigation of the case. Victimized children often suffered unnecessary trauma in this process. In an effort to minimize that trauma, a task force was established by the Children’s Network Policy Council in 1992 to explore the possibility of creating a quality comprehensive program to provide forensic interviews and evidentiary medical exams in one, child-friendly location in San Bernardino County. Subsequently, a partnership between the County of San Bernardino and Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital was formed to develop a one-stop Center where victims of child abuse could receive forensic interviews, evidentiary medical exams and referrals for treatment in a child-friendly setting. As the Center grew and needed a larger and permanent facility they entered into a partnership with the County and began a capital fund raising campaign. The program relocated to its facility on Tippecanoe in 1999.
Victims of alleged child abuse are referred to the Assessment Center from a law enforcement agency, Family Law Court or the Department of Children’s Services. Parents receive crisis intervention services as well as referral services. The Center provides forensic interviews and evidentiary medical examinations assisting the evaluation of child abuse allegations and coordinates services in a child focused atmosphere. The Forensic Pediatric Specialists are a critical component, as they are specially trained pediatricians who are recognized by the legal system and society as credible experts.
The Children’s Fund Assessment Center now has an accredited fellowship program for those who wish to train in forensic pediatrics. This three year sub-specialty program is critical for the future of this and other programs across the state and nation.
The Center provides wraparound service. Wraparound service is an intensive, strengths and needs based service delivery, community-based family-centered process designed to allow seriously emotionally disturbed children to remain in their community or at the lowest level of care possible. The wraparound process “wraps” the child and their family with flexible services while supporting the child to succeed in a lower placement level, usually within the child’s community. Based on an individual assessment of the children and families needs, services could include:
- Provision of direct home-based and community-based services and supports
- Parent advocacy and support development
- 24-hour crisis intervention and management
- Intensive case management
Crisis intervention and referrals for counseling are provided to family members by a Victim Witness Advocate from the District Attorneys office assigned at the Center.
The Children’s Fund Assessment Center is a good example of multi agency cooperation. They now serve more than 1,100 children per year and have outgrown their current facility. The proposed new center located on Gilbert Street is owned by the county and offers many benefits – location, size and adaptability to the needs of the program. A fundraising campaign is planned in addition to continued cooperation between agencies.
A Q & A period followed.
Meeting adjourned 8:37 a.m.