Kids Hope provides local advocacy center for children
Elisa Adolphsen, Children’s Advocacy Center Coordinator at Kids Hope, poses with Valor.
Rebecca Pettingill/Columbia Basin Herald
Valor is a courthouse facility dog that Kids Hope utilizes in many other capacities for clients. One additional way they utilize Valor is he will sit with children during their forensic interview.
The forensic interview room at Kids Hope has hidden microphones and cameras for law enforcement to observe during the interview of a child.
Law enforcement can listen and watch the forensic interview from another room near the interview room.
MOSES LAKE — Kids Hope, a sister agency to New Hope, provides services for children who are suspected of being the victim of abuse, neglect or sexual abuse and in some cases, witnesses of a crime.
“When you’re looking at dynamics of the cases, a large percentage of the cases we see over here are sexual abuse. However, we also are referred cases of neglect, witnesses of a crime and physical abuse. But the large percentage are sexual assault cases and in those cases, 90-plus percent are known abusers,” said Elisa Adolphsen, Children’s Advocacy Center Coordinator.
Unlike New Hope, Kids Hope clients can only receive services from Kids Hope by referral from law enforcement or Child Protective Services, and Kids Hope focuses on services for children.
Suzi Fode, Director of Kids Hope Children’s Advocacy Center, said Kids Hope not being open for walk-ins is for privacy and confidentiality reasons – since the situation involves the allegation of a crime – and to make children and their families more comfortable.
“Confidentiality and privacy are held in the utmost regard,” said Fode.
The New Hope website states that Kids Hope was started after staff saw an increasing level of child sexual abuse referrals coming into New Hope. At the time, around 2010, only nine children’s advocacy centers existed in the state of Washington, the nearest being in Spokane. New Hope formally put in an application for developing a CAC-Kids Hope in 2017 and was nationally accredited in November 2019.
The children at Kids Hope receive services such as forensic interviews, behavioral and mental health, basic necessities and an advocate who will be with the child through each step of the process – especially if a criminal case proceeds to trial. Non-offending caregivers for the child are also given referrals for community resources that may help them through the situation.
Kids Hope also has a four-year-old Labrador retriever named Valor who is at the office every day. While Valor is a courthouse facility dog, he does many other things for clients of Kids Hope. One of those things is lying next to a child while the child goes through the forensic interview.
Kids Hope works as an advocate for the child, in coordination with any other partners that may be involved such as prosecutors, law enforcement, CPS, medical providers and behavioral health, among others.
Fode and Adolphsen said that many people don’t realize that abuse and neglect happen right here in Grant and Adams counties.
“Especially sexual abuse. It happens,” said Adolphsen. “Talk about it. Have age-appropriate conversations with your kids about their bodies, about consent when it’s the right age to do so. Those are very important conversations to have with your kids.”
Adolphsen said that children knowing their body parts is important, especially for forensic interviews.
“Everything can be geared to the age of the person who you are trying to teach something to,” said Fode.
Fode and Adolphsen also encourage citizens, if they see something, to say something. They said that if you suspect any form of neglect or abuse, make a report to both CPS and law enforcement.
Kids Hope is located next door to New Hope’s main office at 311 W. Third Ave. in Moses Lake, but is able to be mobile depending on the needs of the individual case.
Rebecca Pettingill may be reached at rpettingill@columbiabasinherald.com.
