The Youth Advocacy Center of Lewis County paid a visit to the Lewis County Board of Commissioners meeting on Tuesday to give a brief update on recent changes to the organization and to reiterate its commitment to serving child abuse victims.
During the brief presentation, the center's Care Coordinator Katrina Wulf started with an update on recent leadership changes within the organization and its partners, such as the Monarch Children's Justice and Advocacy Center and the Community Action Council of Lewis, Mason and Thurston counties.
She also spoke to the center's goals to improve their services to East Lewis County, despite uncertain funding.
“This past year has brought a season of change and opportunity for us from leadership transitions to evolving community needs,” Wulf said. “We are committed to continuing our mission of building resiliency in families.”
Touching on the leadership changes, Wulf lamented the retirement of a longstanding director of the Monarch Children Justice and Advocacy Center and welcomed two new leaders to the Community Action Council, including the organization's new Executive Director Justin DeFour and Director of Community Services Esmeralda Triplett.
Without going into the details of the funding challenges, Wulf said the organization would do its best to stretch its resources and maintain the quality of its current services. She included that the change would be an opportunity for growth and improvement and specifically highlighted the organization's goal of improving access for people in rural East Lewis County.
The Youth Advocacy Center operates under the umbrella of the Community Action Council of Lewis, Mason and Thurston counties and investigates instances of child abuse while also offering support to victims and non-offending family members.
As part of the process, the organization coordinates with law enforcement and conducts forensic interviews with victims of a range of abuse, including physical abuse and sex trafficking, among others.
According to the organization's website, it's a chance for the alleged victims to provide statements and answer questions in a place and manner appropriate to their age and situation. In tandem with investigations, the organization also offers care coordination where clients are connected with other types of support.
According to the presentation during the Tuesday morning meeting, the Youth Advocacy Group has worked with more than 250 children and adults in the past year with 40% of those children coming from outside Centralia and Chehalis.
At the end of the presentation, Commissioner Lindsey Pollock commented briefly, thanking Wulf and the Youth Advocacy Group for their services.
“I just definitely appreciate the work that you do for the youth in our community,” Pollock said. “I think being able to have the additional opportunity to connect them and their families with services in addition to just the basic forensic interviewing process is something that sets us up for success in the future.”
