PRESS RELEASE
May 2, 2023
For immediate release
Media Contact: Cara Scarola Hansen
Counseling Center for Children Public Relations Advisor
cara@votremissionmarketing.com
Children’s counseling center receives grant to prevent and cure child sexual abuse
Impact the Palm Beaches awards $100,000
(Palm Beach Gardens, Florida)–Impact on palm beaches recently awarded a $100,000 grant to Children’s counseling center (CFCC) to keep children safe by preventing and curing child sexual abuse.
Child sexual abuse is one of the major health issues facing children today. About one in 10 children will be sexually abused before the age of 18. Among child victims of sexual abuse, 90% are abused by someone they know and trust.
To address this crisis, in October 2022, the Center for Child Counseling officially merged with the KidSafe Foundation, an organization with more than 13 years of expertise in sexual abuse education. As a program now under the CFCC umbrella, KidSafe is expanding to provide more education to prevent child sexual abuse.
With support from the Impact Grant, the Center for Child Counseling will provide 14 Palm Beach County schools with Stay safe©–an age-appropriate program that simplifies the sensitive topic of preventing child sexual abuse and trafficking with a fun, interactive program that teaches children protective skills from a place of empowerment, not fear. The program will give children concrete tools and skills to stay safe. Children will learn to recognize their feelings, to go to their “safe adults” and to speak up confidently when they feel uncomfortable. The training will extend to parents, guardians and teachers, making them better front-runners in child safety. Adults will learn how to: communicate safety awareness and provide skills to children; build their ability to spot signs of sexual abuse; and have open conversations about safety. This implementation of the program will impact over 7,000 children and over 4,000 adults in the county.
“Through this Impact award, we are addressing the public health crisis of child sexual abuse in Palm Beach County through prevention and early intervention, because every child deserves to grow up feeling safe. We believe that every child should have the KidSafe program. Our dream is big, but Impact the Palm Beaches is helping us take an important step towards making it a reality,” said Renée Layman, CEO of CFCC.
The KidSafe program is also available to the more than 7,500 children served annually through CFCC’s clinical programs. Additionally, it will be integrated into CFCC’s Community Social-Emotional Well-Being and Child Care Program, funded by Impact the Palm Beaches in 2019, which is offered on-site at 30 partner daycares and elementary schools. Through a collaborative agreement with the Palm Beach County School District, the program will be available free of charge to all elementary schools in Palm Beach County.
For more information on the Center for Child Counseling’s KidSafe programvisit www.centerforchildcounseling.org/kidsafe.
About the Children’s Advice Center:
Children’s advice center has laid the foundation for a playful, healthy and hopeful life for children and families in Palm Beach County since 1999. Its services focus on preventing and healing the effects of negative experiences and toxic stress on children, promoting resilience and healthy family, school and community relationships. Since October 2022, KidSafe now operates under the Children’s Counseling Center as the two entities are now stronger together in their education and prevention of children sexual abuse and childhood trauma. www.centerforchildcounseling.org Twitter: Facebook @ChildCounselPBC: @CenterforChildCounseling Instagram: @pbc
PIC ID:
Photo credit: Capehart Photography
142: The leadership team and members of the Board of Directors of the Center for Child Counseling.
148: Lisa LaFrance, President of Impact, President of the Board of Directors of CFCC, Dr. Eugenia Millender, President and CEO of CFCC, Renée Layman, Treasurer and Secretary of CFCC, Jeffrey Petrone, Past President of Impact, Lauren Sterlacci.
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