Montco Child Advocacy Center Picks Up Critical Grant To Expand Services
By Brad Segall
BLUE BELL, Pa. (CBS) - Montgomery County's Child Advocacy Center has received critical funding that officials say will be used to expand the training they provide to better protect children.
The $10,000 grant for Mission Kids comes from the Verizon Foundation, and will be used to train first responders and healthcare advocates and personnel on what to look for when it comes to identifying signs of abuse and then how to respond.
Mission Kids co-founder and Montgomery County DA Risa Ferman says education is critical to preventing abuse:
"The more that we can educate and make people aware of the dynamics of abuse -- we're not only teaching them how to better respond to it as we inform the community, we're actually working to prevent child abuse."
Ferman says government funding for child advocacy centers has been limited, so it's important for the business community to step up and support programs in their communities.
Only a third of Pennsylvania's 67 counties currently have dedicated Child Advocacy Centers.
