DON’T WAIT! Report Child Abuse or Neglect
Any individual who has reason to believe that a child is a victim of child abuse or neglect must report the circumstance to the Department of Child Services by calling the Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-800-5556.
If a child is in immediate danger call 911.
Nurse Family Partnership – Grand Opening
Nurse Family Partnership pairs a first time mother living in poverty with a free home-visiting nurse from pregnancy through the first two years of a child’s life. Decades of evidence-based research shows how this program results in a broad range of benefits – including health, economic stability, and public safety impacts. These benefits last well into later years of life and positively influence the child, the mother, and the whole community.
Watch Prosecutor Chris Gaal’s speech about the Nurse Family Partnership program at the Grand Opening on March 9, 2018.
Learn more about the Nurse Family Partnership at www.nursefamilypartnership.org
Contact the local Nurse Family Partnership program at IU Health at (812) 353-3200
Never Leave A Child Unattended
Never Leave A Child Unattended
Never Leave a Child Unattended
Monroe County Prosecuting Attorney Chris Gaal organized the “Never Leave A Child Unattended” public education campaign to create greater community awareness of the potential harms that may result from leaving children unattended, including the threat of abduction, heat stroke, wandering off, and drowning. The specific goal of the campaign was to reduce the number of cases of children being left unattended in vehicles.
Click here to download a printable version of the poster.
Learn more at www.neverleaveachildunattended.org.
Child Advocacy Center
Susie’s Place Child Advocacy Center
“Child Advocacy Centers are widely-recognized as the best practice for conducting an interview with a child victim or witness. The prosecutor’s job is to seek the truth, so it is extremely important that allegations of child abuse are investigated in a way that provides the most credible information possible. An interview conducted by a trained professional using a child-appropriate forensic protocol is the method most likely to result in reliable information that will enable the prosecutor to make a wise charging decision, and where the evidence warrants to successfully prosecute a case to obtain justice.” – Chris Gaal, Monroe County Prosecuting Attorney
In the Spring of 2010 Bloomington’s Child Advocacy Center (CAC), Susie’s Place, opened its doors for the first time. Since then a trained professional has interviewed hundred of children in a neutral, comfortable and child-friendly environment. The CAC has enabled a multidisciplinary team to thoroughly investigate allegations of abuse and neglect, has brought together the professionals and agencies needed to offer comprehensive services, and has strengthened the community’s ability to nurture and protect children.
Susie’s Place
The existence of a child advocacy center in our community was the result of a year-long organizing effort by key stakeholders working together to create this important new resource. Since the center came online, Bloomington hosted a “Finding Words” training to ensure that team-members were familiar with the best-practice protocol used at the center for conducting child interviews. In 2011, Bloomington also hosted a three-day “Justice in Our Communities” training sponsored by the prestigious National District Attorneys Association (NDAA) National Center for Prosecution of Child Abuse.
The Office of the Monroe County Prosecuting Attorney continues to participate in the multidisciplinary team at our local child advocacy center, and remains committed to continual improvements in the ability of our community to respond effectively to allegations of child abuse and neglect.
Learn more about our local child advocacy center by visiting the Susie’s Place website: www.susiesplace.org.