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March 01, 2005

Bright Tomorrows gets grant for new center: Agency that counsels victims of child sexual abuse still needs more funds

March 1, 2005 [Idaho State Journal] By Casey Santee - Journal Writer

Bright Tomorrows Executive Director Kathy Downes recently received a National Children's Alliance grant of $48,485 to develop a child advocacy center. Journal photo by Bill Schaefer

POCATELLO - A local non-profit counseling agency for child sexual abuse victims and their families has received a $48,000 federal grant which it plans to spend on a new child advocacy center.

Bright Tomorrows was started 24 years ago when authorities realized it would be better to interview victims only once in a child-friendly atmosphere rather than multiple times at police stations or elsewhere.

"When a child is abused and comes forward, the more times they are questioned, the more they think adults don't believe them," said Kathy Downes, Bright Tomorrows' executive director.

Now interviews are done in a special interview room located in the courthouse annex. They are conducted only once and recorded.

"It's better than taking the child to the police station, but with an advocacy center, we could conduct interviews, medical exams and counseling all under one roof instead of shuttling the child between three locations where it is easy for them to fall between the cracks," said Downes.

Currently free counseling services are available at Bright Tomorrows' office, 956 E. Maple, and medical exams are done at Portneuf Medical Center's emergency room.

Downes said the best location for a new advocacy center would be near PMC, because the hardest part of coordinating all the services in one place away from the hospital is working around doctors' schedules.

She said it would be easier for them to go next door than to drive somewhere across town.

Chubbuck Police Chief Randy Severe said an advocacy center would not only be beneficial to the Pocatello and Chubbuck communities, but would serve victims and their families across southeast Idaho.

"We have a good working model in mind," Severe said. "But securing more funding and finding a location for the center are still problems."

Downes agrees.

She said while the recent grant will help, it is not nearly enough to construct an advocacy center.

Anyone who would like more information about Bright Tomorrows or would like to make a donation may call (208) 234-2646.

Casey Santee covers courts, law enforcement and safety for the Idaho State Journal. He can be reached at (208) 239-3135, or by e-mail at csantee at journalnet.com

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