Agencies team up for kids

Each week, a group of professionals gathers in a meeting room at the offices of Partners with Family and Children. They hear the saddest of stories, often view disturbing photos and together seek ways to act on the best interests of vulnerable children in our community.

“Our mission,” said Mary Ann Murphy, executive director of Partners with Family and Children: Spokane, “is to begin the healing for the children as well as seeking justice for them, and we can’t do either one alone.”

This weekly meeting of social workers, doctors, attorneys and others reflects a multidisciplinary approach to addressing issues concerning the safety and protection of children who may be abused or neglected.

Partners with Families and Children: Spokane is an accredited hospital-based children’s advocacy center, according to the Volunteer Solutions Web site. Children and their families, who are affected by child abuse, neglect and exposure to drugs and violence receive expert evaluation and treatment services.

That’s the beauty of this partnership. By working with various agencies, Partners with Family and Children has created a safety net designed to prevent children from falling through the cracks.

“This is a place where children are seen and heard,” Murphy said.

And children are what Partners is all about.

“We chose to be housed in a commercial building, which is much less scary for them than a hospital,” Murphy said.

Upstairs, far from the nondescript meeting room, a brightly colored playroom welcomes children who have been brought in by law enforcement personnel or Child Protective Services workers for an initial medical exam. A bright red child-size sofa and lots of toys make the room inviting and nonthreatening.

The medical workers are experts in their field and know how to make the necessary assessment less frightening. The exam room contains small plush animals for children to cuddle and is decorated with kid-friendly artwork.

But the warmth and coziness of the environment can’t soften the hard truth.

“There are vicious people out there hurting kids,” Murphy said. “That’s why we need to come together to seek justice.”

Through careful documentation and shared resources, agencies can make sure that those who harm children are punished.

The organization has found neglect to be a far more common problem than the appalling abuse cases that make the headlines. According to Murphy, neglect can be, among other things, simply not having enough food in the home or living in an unsafe environment with inadequate supervision.

Prevention is the ultimate goal. That’s why Partners with Families and Children is teaming up with Volunteers of America to offer prevention training through two new programs, Project Safe Place and Darkness to Light/Stewards of Children.

Murphy said that, in the past, programs have focused on the child speaking up. She emphasized the importance of this new approach.

“Adults need to be the ones to step forward,” she said. “We need to make it our business.”

Over the course of many years of working as a child advocate, Murphy said, the one thing she has learned is that good intentions are not enough.

“We don’t have this licked,” she said. “The solution for our community is to talk about it.”