An Open Letter Thanking Child Safe Here In Sedalia
If you don't know about Child Safe, it's a big deal.
I was reminded of everything that they do and how that hits home for me after watching that video. I had a member of my family who had to go to the Child Safe house several years ago. I won't go into huge amounts of detail, but basically a grown man was incredibly inappropriate with several young girls, several of which I knew.
It's so hard to be on the side of something like that, and not knowing what you can do to help, or if there's anything you SHOULD do. Should you step back and let them come to you? Should you reach out and ask them? And just what is it that you CAN do? It's not like you can erase this or make it go away. You can't prevent something that already happened. It can make you very angry, powerless, frustrated.
Although I do know that these things are not easy to process from personal experience, I try not to assume that I know what they're going through. It's so hard to know where to turn. You feel lost, There has to be someone who can help you work to help your loved one. And that's what Child Safe is all about, to try to make the process a little easier. And to get the family some kind of justice. I mean, nothing can ever make it right again, but at least they can try to get some help to move on.
Child Safe makes it as easy as it can be for these kids to tell their stories. They come to the house, and everything is as cozy as Grandma's. The interviews are recorded, so they don't have to keep retelling people what happened. In some ways, that can be traumatizing too, to keep reliving with people over and over again, people who are trying to help, but can never understand. They show the kids some gentleness, some truth, some accountability. They let them know that they're heard, they're believed, and that someone is actually going to help them.
The process afterwards is also so wonderful. They don't just interview the kids and cut them loose forever. There's follow up. There's help to the families. Guidance through the justice system. They do everything they can to make these kids feel like they are allowed to talk about what happened, and how it made them feel. That those feelings are real, mentionable, manageable, and valid.
I can't say much more. Just... thank you, Child Safe.
Thankfully yours,
Behka