Amount of children coming to the center reporting abuse

Year 2001   47 children
Year 2002   53 children
Year 2003    61 children
Year 2004   67 children
Year 2005   77 children
Year 2006   105 children
Year 2007 104 children

The 2007 year has ended and the statistics are complete.  Even with the center shut down for two months for remodel in 2007,  the number of children interviewed was nearly the same as the year before.  It was noted the average age of the child reporting abuse at the center rose from 8 years of age to 10 years of age.  Of those interviewed at the Center, 79 were female and 25 were male.

January 2008     13 children interviewed at the center
February 2008      7 children interviewed at the center
March 2008          15 children interviewed at the center
April 2008             15 children interviewed at the center
May 2008             11 chidren interviewed at the center
June 2008               6 children interviewed at the center
July 2008                 6 children interviewed at the center

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More and More children are becoming victims through the internet

Technology can be a wonderful tool and advancement for our society.  But technology can also bring into our very own homes, predators that seek our children as their victims.  On line child exploitation takes place everyday to any child that may enter a chat room or get on a computer and begin conversations with someone they may never see.  From a study by Wolak, Mitchell & Finkelhor in 2003 they found some startling statistics. One in five children received unwanted online requests to engage in sexual activities or to provide intimate sexual information. "25% of youth were exposed to unwanted online pornography.  Most of those unwanted exposures occurred while youth were surfing or searching the web, as a result of clicking on links or misspelling web addresses."  In 15% of those incidents, the solicitor attempted to contact the child in person, via telephone or by mail.  The study examined 2,577 arrests for internet sex crimes against minors during a 12 month period.  It was found that 97% of the offenders acted alone in the crime, 10% of those offenders had prior arrests for sexual offenses against minors, 67% possessed child pornography, 22% distributed child pornography, 27% solicited an undercover Officer.  44% of the offenders were between 26 and 39 years old, 40% were 40 years and older.  Of  the images of child pornography that has been sent out on the internet, 82% of the images were of children between the ages of 6 and 12.  These number are very worrisome to parents of young children who have access to the web.  Worse, though, are the predators known as "travelers".  Travelers hunt  in Yahoo, AOL and MSN chat rooms.  They hunt the websites for teen chats.  They will engage young children into chatting with them and attempt to set up a time and place where they may meet them.  Hence the term, "Traveler".  Travelers are extremely dangerous, they may promise gifts, and attention, but the meeting usually results is a sexual abuse crime.  Travelers will come from anywhere in the United States if they are able to set up a meeting with a child. It is vital that parents monitor what their children are doing when they are on the computer.  Some steps that can help with that kind of monitoring is to keep the computer where parents can observe it.  It's not a good idea to let a child have access to a computer in their own room.  Parents can check the history on the computer to see where their child has been going on the webb.  This is not to be confused with an invasion of privacy, it should be looked at as a proactive approach to what their child could possibly become a victim of. 
*If you, as a parent, should discover your child has been in contact with a predator on the webb, notify the Police Department, do not allow your child  continual contact and if need be, take the computer off line. Education and awareness is key to prevention of these kind of crimes.  Communicate with your children, open a dialog with them.  You are the ones your children should be chatting with, not the predators on the webb.                                            Detective Lieutenant T. Walton

LINKS

Registered Sex Offenders

We are often asked where to go on the world wide web to locate where convicted sexual offenders are living.  One web site that will provide home addresses of those convicted is the KBI web site.  By typing in www.kansas.gov/kbi/ro.shtml you can search any City or County in Kansas.


An interesting link to a story of abuse and cover up of a Catholic Priest
www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/handofgod/view/

A nice link to a Center in Oklahoma
www.kidsonfirst.com

A link to Kansas largest Child Advocacy Center
www.sunflowerhouse.org

Good information on child abuse and child issues
www.safehorizon.com

This site provides information on Early Childhood development through scientific reseach
www.developingchild.net

The Ryans have continued to support Heart to Heart, a great couple.  They own a business called "Those Blasted Signs" excellent quality work
www.thoseblastedsigns.com

From the Executive Director’s Desk

THE DIRECTOR'S  COLUMN

    This year has been one of tremendous growth for Heart to Heart.  The National Children*s Alliance accreditation and the opening of the Center in McPherson have been major accomplishments.  The McPherson center is now taking cases and providing services in that county.  The linkages between Harvey, Marion and McPherson counties are healthy ones for a number of reasons.  The opening of the McPherson Center adds more professionals with good ideas and expertise at investigating and prosecuting physical and sexual abuse cases.  Other professionals who understand the impact of abuse on child development and add their knowledge of medical and mental health issues to be resolved for abused children.

    In building the Heart to Heart organization we have critical needs to be met.
Victim support and individual therapy are costly endeavors but well worth it in terms of return on investment.  Research shows that an abused child who receives support and therapy is less likely to become a juvenile offender or to act out in a destructive manner.  Please consider a significant financial gift to help us meet the mental health needs of abused children.  Other ways that would be helpful is for you to join our *FRIENDS* family and help us with a FUN- Raiser that will bring resources to Heart to Heart. 

    As we begin the holiday season, I am reminded of the opportunities we have to help abused children and how stewardship benefits the giver as much as the receiver.  Our gifts come back to us in many forms.  Primarily, giving for the benefit of others adds meaning and purpose to our lives.  Given a choice, most of us would choose families with ample resources and good health in a country with a family-friendly form of government.  But we know, children do not get to choose the circumstances they are born into or the individuals who may cross their path and cause them to need the services of Heart to Heart. 
From the Honor The Circle materials that we use at our support circles, I ask that you:  

    **provide a peaceful and safe home for your family; 
    **create peaceful communities so that we all may live in harmony;
    ** resist addictions that hurt us and our families;
    ** seek education and knowledge, and the opportunities they bring; 
    **be responsible with money, so that it brings peace to the household and not turmoil;
    **care for all children, for they have joy to give us, and respect elders, for they have wisdom to give us; 
    **share your heritage and traditions with others, especially the young;
    **be respectful of your heritage and honor your culture as well as that of others;
    **live connected to all of life for the joy of it.

PEACE
Marlene K. Lemmer Beeso

Art Therapy Changes Lives of Abused Children

Art Therapy Program Heals Hearts and Empowers Young Survivors

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Cathy Malchiodi, ATR-BC, Professional Relations

American Art Therapy Association (AATA)

11160-C1 South Lakes Drive, Suite 813

Reston, VA 20191

1-888-290-0878 or info@arttherapy.org

Alexandria, VA--- Child abuse is widely recognized as a serious problem, not only because it results in long-term trauma reactions, but also because it involves an abuse of power by adults over children in their care. Violence and assault to children results in attachment, mood, and behavioral disorders as well as acute or posttraumatic stress disorders, among other problems. Art therapy, a form of intervention thought to be effective in the treatment of trauma disorders, is being increasingly used to address child abuse and is often a primary form of therapy with children who are recovering from physical or sexual assault, verbal abuse, and neglect. For more than three decades, art therapy has been documented as an important method in addressing the emotional pain of young survivors of violence.

Tamara Herl, ATR-BC, an art therapist who works in Kansas, is working to help abused children find recovery and hope through art therapy. She recently initiated a program at the Heart-to-Heart Child Advocacy Center with children. Herl says, “I think the greatest value of art therapy with children who have been abused or neglected is that it provides an opportunity to give voice to their pain. The images they create provide tangible proof of progress that has been made and this can be especially helpful on days when children feel discouraged about their progress. Visual art seems to come readily to many children and adults who have been abused or neglected.”

Marlene Beeson, director of Heart-to-Heart, affirms the importance of art therapy with children who have been abused, saying, “The art offers a child something to ‘do’ besides talking. Children may resist a verbal approach to therapy. One of the reasons for this is that small children simply may not have the language skills to tell what happened to them. Older children may distrust verbal communication because their abuser probably lied to them and threatened them. To add to this insult, other adults may not believe them.” A new monograph on art therapy and traumatized children will be available from AATA in June 2008. For information about art therapy, please visit the AATA website at www.arttherapy.org or Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association at www.arttherapyjournal.org. The American Art Therapy Association, Inc., was founded in 1969 and develops and promotes educational, professional, and ethical standards for the practice of art therapy. The AATA provides information to its members and the public regarding the field of art therapy through publications, a scholarly journal, and an annual conference.

American Art Therapy As soc i a t ion, Inc . (AATA) 1 - 8 8 8 - 2 9 0 - 0 8 78
11160-C1 South Lakes Drive, Suite 81, Reston, VA 20191

www.arttherapy.org info@arttherapy.org