A pair of western Kentucky nonprofits are partnering to provide more support for children of abuse.
Lotus – Kentucky’s regional advocacy and sexual assault center – is providing a mobile unit to help children of abuse through a partnership with CASA by the Lakes in Murray, which gives children in the Calloway and Marshall legal systems Court Appointed Special Advocates.
The mobile unit will provide children who have been abused and their families support by offering medical exams and investigations. It will also allow families who don’t have transportation to access the same services Lotus provides at their Paducah headquarters and increase community outreach for both nonprofits.
Donations to Lotus will go toward maintaining the mobile unit, which will be able to provide services in all eight Purchase Area counties in far western Kentucky.
Lotus unveiled the “Hope Heal Grow” mobile unit in Murray last week, with staff members giving tours of unit to educate the public and Lotus’ partners about its capabilities.
CASA leadership say their partnership with Lotus gives area children the best services they need to recover.
“It's a great resource,” CASA by the Lakes director Jessica Foust said. “It can reach families that don’t have transportation or families that live far out. A lot of the families that we work with fall below that poverty level so they cannot drive to Paducah or even to a hospital to have a forensic exam.”
Lotus community relations director Caroline Neal said the mobile unit will serve as a child-friendly environment for specialized medical examinations, family and legal advocacy, mental health services and resources on victims rights. It will also be crucially available for forensic interviews, which she said can increase a child’s likelihood of healing.
“A forensic interview is an opportunity for a child to share what they have experienced in a safe and trauma-informed way,” Neal said. “It’s an important piece of child abuse investigation.”
