Scottsdale Family Advocacy Center

Hey guys!

So, this summer I got a tour of the Scottsdale Family Advocacy Center through my internship. The man giving me the tour was great! Everyone said that if I was going to look around the center than he was the man to take me around. He loves giving the tour; and he is very animated as he goes around to the different rooms. As, we visited each room, he told me the purpose of it. Basically, the advocacy center was built so victims had a safe and comfortable place to go after being hurt. It was also a way to avoid all the long and drawn out proceeding victims have to go through after reporting their crime. Before the advocacy center, victims might have to travel from the hospital to the police station (to give their statement) to anywhere else they were needed. The center provides all these services in one building; they are shaken up enough, so to be able to go to one place that feels safe is nice for the victims.

For example, crimes of sexual assault, child abuse, or violent crimes including homicide are seen at the advocacy center. The building is staffed with nurses that are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They are there to collect forensic evidence, write reports of their findings, and provide medication for the victims. There are also interview rooms in the building; they have child protective services staff to look in on the interviews and sometimes to observe the child in the playrooms that they have in the building. They also, importantly, have police crisis intervention specialists there to provide comfort and support to the victims. Other rooms in the building include three quiet rooms, a kitchen, conference and training rooms, an evidence processing room, and much more.

It was a great opportunity for me to be able to get a tour of the center. And, I am so grateful that we have place like this for victims. They all have gone through something horrible if they are there, so to have a place that is meant for comfort is nice for them. At the end, I just want to put two statistics. Sexual assault affects 1 out of 6 American women! And, a report of child abuse is made every ten seconds!