CAPS Rally addresses commitment to safety for children
GOSHEN — The attendees at the CAPS Rally Thursday morning in Elkhart were reassured that leaders in child services were going to take a stand for the children of Elkhart County. It was also evident in the presentation that children also feel the gleam of hope.
Rebecca Shetler Fast, CEO and president of CAPS, opened the event talking about the equal want in the community to watch out for children in need and build and encourage the hope for their future, together.
CAPS reached 3,400 kids in the past year and more than 2,000 families, Shetler Fast pointed out. The organization also spent more than 1,775 hours advocating for children. CAPS' forensic interview team conducted more than 581 interviews for information about vulnerable children.
Shetler Fast then presented photos and videos of what hope looks like through the eyes of children in honor of Child Abuse Prevention month. She selected a few of the hundreds of drawings made to show.
'We had hundreds of pictures of hope that kids drew. A testament to their resilience, and I think the imagination of kids,' she said.
'A middle schooler painted hope as a beacon of life, stretching across the ocean guiding her way forward. A high schooler found hope in the riot of colors based on nature, a reminder of the wild and unpredictable that there's beauty.'
She continued, 'An elementary student saw hope in a butterfly and the support from the Big Sister, reminding us that hope comes from the people who will believe in us. Preschoolers pressed their hands into paper creating a tapestry of light. Bright, undeniable reminders that children are the way from the darkness.'
A variety of speakers took turns speaking about their experience in child services including Elkhart County Prosecutor Vicki Becker, who said she will never forget the moment a young girl held her hand as they went to court to prosecute her abuser.
''What hope looked like for her was not to be afraid anymore,' Becker said. 'And so when she was holding my hand as we were walking in, and she gave me a little squeeze right before I let her go, and she got up on that stand and she talked about some of the worst things that anybody could possibly imagine. That little girl told her story to a bunch of strangers and after the conviction came in, when I got to talk to her and explain to her what had happened, she looked at me, she hugged me and she said 'I am not afraid of him ...''
Another speaker was Director of Elkhart County Department of Child Services Jim Cornish, who emphasized the importance of empowerment and resources to families and even admitting he personally could not be the parent he is without support, education and resources.
He said that ultimately as an agency, DCS's goal is to be out of business, for there to be an environment where children could live where the department doesn't need to exist, where they have everything to succeed.
Cornish ended his speech with a call to action. 'Most families just need that one person that says, 'Hey, I see you need help, I see you need resources. Let me be that person to give you help. Let you be that person to direct you where you need to go,'' he said. 'And if you can't be that one person, encourage somebody else to be that one person. One person recruits, and another person does, and then we get more help from them to work with.'
James Stewart-Brown, magistrate of the Juvenile Court, shared with the room that in the community alone within the last year there were 5,400 cases recorded for abuse and neglect and how that struck him. Although there was an upside, he said, because that meant there were 5,400 people who picked up the phone and they did something about it.
'That's a huge amount of hope right there,' he said.
To close the event, CAPS' president invited all the county officials to gather at the podium for the county commitment which included Elkhart Mayor Rod Roberson, Elkhart County Commissioners president Brad Rogers, Elkhart County Councilor Adam Bujalski and Nappanee Mayor Phil Jenkins, who was unable to attend but had words shared on his behalf.
All leaders gathered and recited their commitment to the children county wide.
'So let the commitments and partnerships fertilize today and serve as a catalyst toward making Elkhart County the best and safest place for children and families not only in Indiana but across the nation,' they said. 'This work starts now and we are dedicated to see it through. We hereby pledge our commitment to the safety and well being of all children across Elkhart County.'
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