Transporting traumatized children to specialized confidential counseling has been a longstanding problem for Will County residents living east of Harlem Avenue, according to Steger police Chief Pat Rossi.
“We have victims where the parents call and say, ‘I have to cancel; I don’t have the means to drive to Joliet,’ ” he said of the typical hourlong drive from his village to the Will County Children’s Advocacy Center.
“I can’t imagine a victim who has anxiety issues and being a parent trying to calm them down, and then you get to downtown Joliet and try to find a place to park,” he said.
But eastern Will County residents now can obtain free specialized confidential counseling in half the previous time or better, thanks to a new satellite Will County Children’s Advocacy Center office in Steger.
It’s possible one or two members of James Glasgow’s League of Distinguished Canines might drop in as well.
The office operates from 1:30 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Louis Sherman Community Center. Families in need of services will still have to go to Joliet for an initial intake procedure but will can seek follow-up counseling in Steger.
The Children’s Advocacy Center is a nonprofit arm of the Will County state’s attorney’s office, which works with children who have been abused, or who have witnessed a violent crime.
Chief Deputy State’s Attorney Ken Grey said the center also provides special expertise in interviewing young children about physical or sexual violence they may have experienced.
During a recent Children’s Advocacy Center open house in Steger, Grey introduced people to one of the center’s “comfort dogs,” Jackson, who he said can help youngsters open up about horrific experiences.
He told of a little girl who came into the main Children’s Advocacy Center “and wouldn’t talk. She was sitting there with Jackson, just laying her head on him. At the end of the day, she would not cooperate.”
Three or four days later, the state’s attorney’s office received word: “She’ll talk, but she’ll only talk to Jackson,” Grey said. “We left her with Jackson for a little while and she opened up.”
Having the dogs “is a wonderful service that the children seem to really enjoy,” he said. “We’re blessed to have them.
Jackson, along with fellow comfort dogs Kiwi and Malley attended the open house with Child Sexual Exploitation Advocacy & Outreach coordinator Cheri Johnson, who “came here all the way from Joliet,” Grey said.
“Now,” quipped Will County Board Member Laurie Summers, D-Crete, “she understands the distance.”
The motto of the Center, which serves more than 450 children, is “hope, healing, and justice.”
“Aside from prosecuting the bad guy, one of the most important things we’re doing is providing counseling,” Grey said. “Once the rough part is over, we go into the hope and healing part to minimize the negative part.”
Center Executive Director Lisa Morel Las has determined that eastern Will County residents account for approximately a quarter of the total referred by police and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
But only about 50% of those residents making it to the first counseling session typically return for the second, she said, acknowledging the distance issues raised by Rossi.
“After that, it’s really bad,” she said. “Therapy is no good when you don’t complete it, and this is specialized, structured therapy.”
Much of the credit for the Steger office goes to Summers, who chairs the Will County board’s Public Health and Safety Committee. Summers, who represents eastern Will County with Judy Ogalla, R-Monee, worked with the Children’s Advocacy Center to establish the satellite operation.
Acting on an idea from senior trauma therapist Lorraine Guerrero Neumayer, Summers contacted Steger Mayor Ken Peterson, who gave a quick yes to using the village’s community center.
“I got an answer in 10 minutes. It doesn’t work like that, usually,” Summers said.
Terrell Steele, a member of a leadership-training program established by Crete-Monee School Board member Nakia Hall and Governors State University, said he was pleased “they’re doing this for the younger children. It should make them feel they’re being cared for.”
Services provided by the Children’s Advocacy Center are free to Will County residents.
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