House Community Budget Issue Requests - Tracking Id #2719 Emerald Coast Children's Advocacy Center
Requester:	Curtis Golden		Organization:		Office of the State Attorney
Project Title:	Emerald Coast Children's Advocacy Center		Date Submitted:		01/31/2000 11:40:06 PM
District Member:	Jerry Melvin		Service Area:		Regional
Counties Affected:	Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton
Recipient:	State Attorney, 1st Circuit		Contact:		Dick Schoditsch
	PO Box 12726		Contact Phone:		(850) 595-4761
	Pensacola 32575
Project Description:
Public-Private partnership for Children's Advocacy Center. Development of Disciplinary team model for the tracking of child abuse reports, investigation of said allegations, prosecution of crimes against children, and the referral of child victims for treatment in Okaloosa and Walton Counties, as the core program of the Emerald Coast Children's Advocacy Center, Inc. There are about 2,500 reported incidents of child abuse in Okaloosa and Walton Counties every year. About 1,000 are confirmed maltreatment cases by the Department of Children and Family Services.
Services Provided/Benefit to State:
All the professionals will work under one roof, in a warm, child friendly environment, collaborating as a team, for the benefit of the child. Children will no longer have to wait in emergency rooms for medical examinations, or police stations for interviews. No longer will a little girl or boy, just violated, have to travel, over a period of weeks, to several strange adult offices, and meet numerous different adult strangers, to get help when other communities across the country built their Children's Advocacy Centers, they experienced an 85% increase in criminal convictions of child abusers and molesters. This multi-disciplinary team approach will be able to successfully address the following issues: Abused children have an enormously increased probability of later being prosecuted for juvenile and/or adult crimes. Children who were sexually abused are twice as likely to use illicit drugs when they get older. 80% of the homeless teenagers in America were victims of child abuse. 50% of abused girls are diagnosed as clinically depressed, and abused children are two times more likely to have poor mental health. 77% of unwanted teenage pregnancies are by mothers who were sexually abused as children. Many abused children will become adult abusers, or allow their children to be abused, if they don't get proper intervention. Most violent criminals were abused as children or came from abusive environments. 60-70% of sexually abused victims come from households with domestic violence. Little girls who are sexually abused are, later in life, three times more likely to contract the HIV Virus.
Measurable Outcome Anticipated:
The Children's Advocacy Center will provide the setting for a "team" interview conducted by a selected expert forensic interviewer, in an expertly designed setting, while the other team members observe and electronically monitor the progress from another room, providing input to the interviewer through electronic communications. The medical exam is conducted within the center in a non-clinical atmosphere. The mental health screening, crisis intervention and referrals are provided immediately.
Amount requested from the State for this project this year:				$402,627
Total cost of the project:		$1,000,000

Request has been made to fund:			Operations
Is there Local Government or Private match for this request?						No
Was this project previously funded by the State?						Yes
	Fiscal Year:	1999-2000		Amount:		$100,000
Is future-year funding likely to be requested?						Yes
	Amount:	$381,000
	Purpose for future year funding:				Recurring Operations
	Will this be an annual request?					Yes
Was this project included in an Agency's Budget Request?						Yes
	Agency:	Justice Administration
Was this project included in the Governor's Recommended Budget?						Yes
Is there a documented need for this project?						Yes
	Documentation:	State Attorney, 1st Judicial Circuit - Budget request
Was this project request heard before a publicly noticed meeting of a body of elected officials (municipal, county, or state)?						No