ESCANABA – Representatives of the Delta Regional Child Advocacy Center say the center has adapted to the coronavirus pandemic and the effects COVID-19 has had on the issues the center deals with.

The Delta Regional Child Advocacy Center serves Alger, Delta, Menominee and Schoolcraft counties. It provides advocacy, forensic interviews, support and comfort to children and families who are impacted by physical and sexual abuse.

Program Coordinator Kelly Chandler said the center was quick to respond to the pandemic earlier this year.

“As soon as we received word of the shelter-in-place orders, we immediately began working with (the) county administrator and Delta County and working with Prosecuting Attorney Brett Gardner,” she said.

As it is considered essential, the center has been able to continue providing all of its normal services.

“The only thing that has changed is how we are safely executing all these services,” Chandler said.

Some changes have been made to the center’s operations, including the removal of toys usually provided for children to use while they are there.

“We have removed a lot of the extraneous items from our family room,” Chandler said.

Additionally, the center has been rearranged to allow for social distancing, temperature checks are being taken at the entrance, face masks are being provided to visitors, and phone screenings are being done one hour before families and team members plan to arrive at the center. The center is being cleaned at the beginning and end of every work day, as well as before and after each interview takes place.

Family Advocate Katie Menard said she has been working with families remotely.

“For my own safety and the families’ safety, I have not been meeting with them — just communicating with telephone, etc.,” she said.

Menard has still been able to provide services to these families despite the change.

“A lot of the families and caregivers that I work with have definitely struggled during this time — financially, emotionally, and everything in between — so a big part of my role that I wanted to do was to ensure that they were receiving as much support as possible during a time of isolation and uncertainty,” she said.

She has been referring people to mental health services, listening to their concerns, providing care baskets for them and sending grocery and gas cards to families outside of the area.

In Michigan, reports of child abuse hit an eight-year low in the months of March and April. According to Chandler, this does not mean sexual assault and physical abuse slowed down as a result of COVID-19.

“They’re not only still happening during the pandemic, but they’re increasing,” she said of these situations.

Chandler said for 90 percent of children who are victims of sexual assault, the perpetrator is someone in their household or someone they know.

Menard said one reason why reports declined this spring was the closure of schools. Many of the reports the center normally receives are based on complaints of suspected abuse or neglect made by mandated reporters at schools, including teachers and counselors.

“When the schools close, that means less calls and less reports because the children aren’t seeing those people,” she said.

As COVID-19-related restrictions have started to be lifted, reports of sexual assault and physical abuse impacting children are once again increasing. In the last two weeks, the center provided more services than it had in the months of March and April combined.

Now that people have started to leave their homes more often, Chandler encouraged local residents to assess the well-being of any children and families they suspect may be affected by abuse.

“Remember, there are children still in unsafe environments that we have a responsibility to check in on,” she said.

On another note, Chandler said that COVID-19 has threatened the center’s financial viability. Many of the fundraising events that support it had to be canceled; the Amazing Race for Child Advocacy, the center’s biggest fundraiser of the year, may or may not take place in 2020.

“The fate of that event is kind of up in the air right now,” she said.

Because of this, the center is currently seeking donations and volunteers.

“We’re looking to our community to really work alongside us to support these children affected by sexual and physical abuse,” Chandler said.

For more information on the Delta Regional Child Advocacy Center, visit www.deltaregionalcac.org.