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County continues to back Child Advocacy Center

ESCANABA — The Delta County Board of Commissioners heard about recent changes at the Delta Regional Child Advocacy Center Tuesday.

The child advocacy center was established by the Northern Michigan Alliance for Children to provide and coordinate services for child victims and their families in 2018. It began transitioning towards being controlled locally the following year.

At its Oct. 8, 2019 meeting, the Delta County Board of Commissioners approved a Victims of Crime Act grant amendment providing about $93,000 in emergency funding for the center through Sept. 30, 2020. During the Oct. 8 meeting, the board called for the center — which had been temporarily operating out of the prosecutor’s office — to move back into its original location in the building behind the Delta County Service Center. The boardagreed to waive rent on the building for a year, as well.

Representatives of the child advocacy center — including Delta County Prosecuting Attorney Brett Gardner, Program Coordinator Kelly Chandler, Forensic Interviewer Melissa Middaugh and Family Advocate Katie Menard — attended Tuesday’s meeting to give board members a look at what has been happening at the center since it came under local control. They also voiced their appreciation to the board for its help.

“I wanted to take the opportunity, outside of any discussion of asking for anything, to thank the board for all of their assistance, their support and backing of the child advocacy center,” Gardner said.

According to Gardner, the child advocacy center is providing its services to those who need them across the region.

“We’re servicing anybody who needs it, but primarily Schoolcraft, Alger, Delta (and) Menominee,” he said.

It is also working along with child advocacy workers in Iron and Dickinson counties.

The center now has two forensic interviewers — people trained to interview children while following a protocol that ensures their interviews will be admissible in court.

“When someone’s out doing training, vacation, whatever, we’re always able to supply those services,” Gardner said of the advantages of having two forensic interviewers.

Additionally, Gardner spoke about ongoing efforts to “centralize” child advocacy center-related services. He noted the center sometimes sends families to services offered elsewhere.

“What happens a lot of times is that, when we send them there, something happens — they get lost in the transition,” he said.

Because of this, Gardner said the child advocacy center is aiming to offer these services “in close proximity” and on-site if possible. It may form a partnership with Tri-County Safe Harbor, as Tri-County needs more space for offices.

“One of those persons who needs office space is also a child counselor, so that would give us an opportunity to bring them out — have on-site a child counselor that would be available for either before or after an interview to provide that service,” he said.

After Gardner’s remarks, Chandler shared pictures of enhancements made to the Delta Regional Child Advocacy Center’s building.

“We just wanted to show you some before-and-after photos of what the center looked like when we moved into the building and what it currently looks like today,” she said.

Rooms shown in the presentation included the center’s family room, forensic interview room, care closet, conference room and lobby. According to Chandler, work on the building has focused on making it more welcoming and family-friendly.

She provided some statistics on the center, as well.

“Since the transition to local leadership, we’ve had 48 interviews of children throughout the service area,” Chandler said.

Other topics discussed by Chandler included work the Delta Regional Child Advocacy Center has done outside of handling interviews, fundraising efforts in support of the center, and the center’s goals for the relatively near future.

Commissioner David Moyle asked if the center had any immediate needs.

“What we need is what we’re getting, and that’s your support,” Gardner said.

The county’s building rental agreement with the Delta Regional Child Advocacy Center was also discussed Tuesday. The board voted to charge the center rent at a rate of $1,000 per month after a grant it has applied for comes through.

“We don’t feel we need to make money off of it, but we do need to just at least look at the cost of maintaining their building — repairs, that sort of thing,” County Administrator Emily DeSalvo said.

In other business, the board:

– accepted a resolution from Menominee County approving the appointment of Jean Healy as magistrate for the Delta County District Court.

– agreed to renew a vacation payout agreement for corrections employees from Jan. 1, 2020 to Dec. 31, 2021.

– heard an update on efforts to renovate bathrooms at the Delta County Service Center in order to make them ADA-compliant.

– agreed to extend the application deadline for a request for qualifications for the criminal law attorney — first appearance counsel position.

– authorized requests to fill a district court probation clerk position and a part-time corrections officer position.

– approved the reclassification of Trudi Forvilly’s position from Tech I to Tech II.

– approved out-of-county travel for DeSalvo to attend BS&A Software training March 11-12 and for commissioners to attend a Michigan Association of Counties conference April 15-17.

– appointed Larry Johnson to the building authority and the construction and zoning board of appeals. As Larry is Board Chair Patrick Johnson’s father, Patrick recused himself from the vote.

– was informed of a presentation about Great Lakes water levels set to be given at Northern Michigan University today.

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