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How it all began
In April 1990, the
community identified a need for a Children’s Advocacy Center in Deschutes
County. The group was headed by the District Attorney Mike Dugan, with
sponsorship from the Children Services Division, The core steering committee
worked on creating an advocacy center which would follow a medical model
by incorporating medical assessment services with therapy and advocacy services
while at the same time always looking upstream at how to prevent abuse from
ever occurring. The center would be about 3300 sq. feet and was to be
built on the Deschutes Children’s Foundation’s Rosie Bareis Community Campus on Bend’s Westside.
By 1992
a Board of Directors were appointed. And by 1993 groundbreaking
took place and of the $500,000 needed for the building, only $180,000
needed to be raised in cash. The remaining amount was donated
in goods, services and volunteer labor. No government funds were used in
the construction of the KIDS center.
And on May 2, 1994, KIDS
Center opened its doors.
Many community partners were involved in the formation of KIDS
Center. The newly formed Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) on child abuse
began meeting at KIDS Center.
From 1994-98
the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program was housed
within the building as well. From the beginning Deschutes
County Mental Health therapists were housed at the KIDS Center and this
vital relationship has continued to evolve through the years. When the
KIDS Center became a regional service provider, our educational and support
functions to central and eastern Oregon counties expanded. Prevention
efforts began soon after KIDS Center opened in the form of the Blue
Ribbon campaign. In 2005 Darkness to
Light’s Stewards of Children curriculum was added and
the tri-county initiative formed as support for the program. The Child Abuse
System Task Force formed through KIDS Center Prevention and Education
Department in order to address child abuse from a systemic perspective.
By 2006 there was a
clear need for both a building expansion in Bend and for an additional facility
in Prineville to serve a growing population and increase accessibility to
services in Crook County.
In October, 2007 the Satellite Office began seeing its first
clients at the Pioneer Memorial Hospital in Prineville. The
Prineville clinic site is now open one day a week, providing evaluations for
children from Crook County. Jefferson County and Warm Springs children are
served when time allows, otherwise they are served in the Bend office.
May 2008, Deschutes KIDS Center employees were housed in
a newly updated building with nearly twice the original square footage. This
additional space has allowed KIDS Center to more than double the amount of
children served. The Bend site is open five days a week, providing evaluations
for children.
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