Safe horizons is a place where the victims of abuse can come and find treatment under one roof. the reception area is designed to make the child feel comfortable and safe with toys and movies.
Safe horizons helps children do what is extraordinarily hard: talk about the abuse they suffered. During the forensic interview, the specially trained interviewers task is to amass as much information and detail possible while making it easy for the child to talk about what happened. At the same time, a team comprised of police detectives, child protective service reps, safe horizons staff and a representative from the DA office and a medical specialist watch via closed circuit from another room. That team then plans a course of action based on the case at hand.
This multidisciplinary team approach towards helping young victims makes the process easier on that victim because they only need to be interviewed once and it allows all these specialists to consult each other and work together under one roof to provide the best possible care.
The site is a Child Advocacy Center and as such, is specialized. Whereas most medical practitioners and police officers are not experts on child abuse, this site is designed to bring together experts specialized in the field of child protection. Dr. Daniele has been involved with child abuse evaluations for more than 16 years. She is an expert at the difficult task of performing the medical examination on these victims of abuse. We spent time discussing the finding that are typical and more importantly, the fact that usually there are no findings. We talked about anatomy and how the correct terms should be used by doctors when documenting findings and reviewed picture guides in the discussion. She is very informative and in-tune to the needs of these children. She makes her patients feels safe and encourages them to express their feelings.
We also received a tour of the part of the building that houses the police. The police station is a Special Victims Unit popularized as SVU. Once again, like the medical examiners, these police are specially trained in dealing with victims, perpetrators and families of abuse. The unit is large and houses an interview room and even a jail cell.
In the same way that a multidisciplinary approach to medical treatment provides optimal care for a patient, bringing together all these specialities under one roof gives them the opportunity to consult one another and work together to provide for the families and victims of abuse.
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