Kids First CAC Hosts Child Abuse Awareness Event 
In honor of Child Abuse Awareness Month, Kids First Child Advocacy Center hosted a special event on April 12th, 2024. Community members, law enforcement, board and staff members of the CAC, along with many members of the Child Protective Investigative Teams came together to plant 320 pinwheels. Each pinwheel represented a child victim served by Kids First last year from Loudon, Roane, Morgan, and Meigs Counties.
The event also served as an opportunity to express gratitude to the dedicated members of the Child Protective Investigative Team with a cake and a special gift, acknowledging their tireless efforts to ensure the safety of children in our community.
Executive Director Chris Evans-Longmire highlighted the critical services offered at the Child Advocacy Center and their significance to the families and victims they serve. These services include forensic interviews, medical forensic examinations, trauma-focused therapy, court preparation, community education/trainings, and school-based intervention/prevention programs. These services are at no cost to the victims or their families.
Statistics reveal that only 1 in 10 child victims disclose their abuse. Awareness is vital to empower the remaining 9 children, or the 2880 child abuse victims in our communities, to feel safe and empowered to share their stories, seek help, and embark on their healing journey. The Kids First Child Advocacy Center served 320 children in 2023. 92% of child victims seen at the center were under 12 years old, and 94% of the victims suffered child sexual abuse.
KaDee Andreasen, Development Director, provided information on upcoming events organized by Kids First. The Paint The Town Blue: Annual Dinner and Auction is scheduled for April 18th at The Venue in Lenoir City, with tickets still available for purchase. Additionally, the annual Aim For Advocacy clay-shoot tournament will take place on August 23rd, 2024, at Iron Mountain Sporting Clays and Hunks In Heels, benefiting Iva’s Place, the domestic violence program, will be held on October 17th, 2024, at The Venue in Lenoir City.
The Kids First Child Advocacy Center of the 9th Judicial District (Loudon, Roane, Morgan, and Meigs) serves children who have been identified by the Department of Children Services as having been sexually and/or physically abused, drug-endangered or have witnessed a heinous crime. Child Advocacy Centers are a State of Tennessee-mandated program and are in part funded by federal and state grants. The Kids First CAC is heavily supported by partnerships with local United Way Agencies, private foundations, churches, civic groups, fundraisers, and members of the community.
For further details about these events, please contact: KaDee Andreasen, Director of Development at kandreasen@cac9jd.org