Sexually Abused Children Need a Helping Hand and a Helping Paw

When a child has been sexually molested by an adult, especially an adult member of their own family, it is always a difficult thing for the child to tell others what happened to them. The fear and anxiety level is off the charts. This is one of the reasons that so many sexually abused children wait many years before they ever tell the story of their childhood abuse. I would like to spotlight an organization in Missouri that has found a way to aid these abused children and enabled them to feel more comfortable as they share their experience of sexual violation.

Kids Harbor Advocacy Center
Located in Osage Beach, MO and St. Robert, MO, Kids Harbor serves ten counties within the state. This is a multifunctional program with many agencies participating, including local police departments, physicians, nurses, prosecuting attorneys and therapists.

Introducing Ronny
One of the newest members of the team at Kids Harbor, is Ronny, a two-year-old black Labrador Retriever. Ronny (named after former President, Ronald Reagan) has undergone a special training program prior to his service at Kids Harbor. Ronny works with children at the center, as they struggle to tell their stories of abuse, and he also is a court advocate, accompanying the child to the courtroom as they testify against their abusers. Because Ronny is such a patient, kind and lovable comrade to the children, they readily embrace him, both physically and emotionally as they share the story of their abuse. Ronny helps to relieve a lot of the fear and anxiety associated with "telling" on their abusers, especially when those abusers are members of their own family. It seems that not only do these abused children need a helping hand, they also need a helping paw and Ronny gladly provides that support for these children.

Kids Harbor is a Shining Example
The numbers of abused children is simply staggering. At Kids Harbor, alone, in 2009 there were 516 children referred to the two centers. Of those children, 84% were sexual abuse victims. These statistics are only for two centers in one state. Imagine what the numbers would be for the entire country. I believe Kids Harbor is a shining example of child advocacy. They have knit together a great team of experts, including Ronny, who know how to work effectively with abused children in order to accomplish evaluation, treatment and prosecution, as well as prevention of child abuse. Kids Harbor is easily a model facility that other states need to emulate.

Sources:

http://www.lakenewsonline.com/communities/camden_county/x684374143/A-helping-paw-Dogs-aid-with-childrens-therapy

http://protect.org/tools/newswire

http://kidsharbor.typepad.com/