Caitlin Whyte (Host): Welcome to In Their Words, a podcast brought to you by UPMC in Central PA and the UPMC Pinnacle Foundation. Before we begin, we want to inform our listeners that today's episode deals with sensitive topics, including child abuse and neglect. This episode explores how these cases are investigated and handled, but we understand this subject matter may be difficult for some listeners.

Today, we're shining a light on the crucial work of the UPMC Child Advocacy Center of Central PA known as the CAC. This organization stands at the forefront of our community's efforts to protect its most vulnerable members, our children. Child abuse and neglect are harsh realities that many find difficult to confront. However, understanding how our community responds to these challenges is vital. The CAC plays a pivotal role in this response, bringing together various professions to ensure that children receive the care, support, and justice they deserve.

In this episode, we'll hear from four dedicated individuals who work alongside the CAC. Their stories will provide insight into the complex, often challenging process of investigating child abuse cases and supporting young victims. From law enforcement to victim advocacy from criminal investigation to prosecution, each of our guests offers a unique perspective on this collaborative effort. Their experiences highlight not only the difficulties they face, but also the hope and healing that their work can bring.

As we navigate this sensitive topic, we invite you to listen with an open heart. The conversations you are about to hear are a testament to the resilience of survivors and the unwavering commitment of those who dedicate their lives to protecting children. Remember if you or someone you know, need support related to child abuse or neglect, help is available. Contact information for support services will be provided at the end of this episode.

Now, let's begin our journey into understanding the vital work of the UPMC Child Advocacy Center of Central PA through the words of those on the front lines. We begin with Detective Lee Tarasi from the Susquehanna Township Police Department

Detective Lee Tarasi: My name is Lee Tarasi. I've been with Susquehanna Township Police Department since 2007. And I came over into criminal investigations in about 10 years ago, 9 or 10 years ago. About a year or two into criminal investigations, I started to handle the majority of the child abuse cases, sexual assault cases, elder abuse cases, and pretty much anything having to do with assaults or juveniles.

Just about for almost every case, we utilize the Children's Advocacy Center. One of the largest attributes that they have for us is I would say that they are the meat and potatoes of our investigation. There's protocols in the county and one of the largest protocols is to just get minimum facts from the kids or children or victims, no matter what age, so that we're not re-victimizing them.

So generally, a call will come in to the patrol division, which is the uniformed division. So, a patrol officer will go out and take the minimal facts. So, basically, they're the childhood advocate, but they're also kind of like our little deputy, so to speak, because they're the ones that are handling the interview. One main attribute is the fact that they do all the investigations the same way, the same types of questions that are all open-ended so that the child or victim has to bring forth their own story. It's not drawn out of them, so to speak, or it's not told to them. They're not cops, they're not law enforcement officers, but they work very well with us. And I think from that consistency, and a lot of the departments using the same detectives for these types of crimes, they've learned a lot from us. And I can tell you, I've learned a lot from them. Even my partner now will say, you know, where did you come up with that question? And I can honestly say, I came up with it because of listening to so many and going to so many interviews at the Children's Advocacy Center. I've coined how they interview children, incorporated into my own investigations with adults and kids, and I've seen even the interviewers develop as well, because they already know what we need in order to bring forth a charge, I coin it as the one-stop shopping. Often times, first off, you have the victim child who's a victim, who doesn't know how to handle maybe what has happened to them, and the outside forces and things that are going on.

Then you have, you know, parents and guardians that don't know what to say to their child. They don't want to talk about it too much. They don't want to talk about it too little. So, it is literally one-stop shopping from the YWCA that's present. They're not present for the interviews. It's just us and children and youth. If there's a children and youth advocate assigned to them, caseworker assigned, but they're there to support and give services. The Children's Advocacy Center has its own mental health coordinator, but that is at least tripled since I've been there. Like, they only had one mental health advocate or coordinator, and now they have multiple, just to help that aspect of things. So, not only are they helping the victims, they're helping the parents, or the family. So, it's a very cohesive and supportive group. So, you basically come in, the child's being taken care of, and the atmosphere is just phenomenal. They have it broken into age groups for the younger kids and older kids, so it's age-appropriate, and in addition to then their support for whoever the family members are that are going to have to go home with the aftermath of what has happened to the child. It's never just one, it's not just me. This is a teamwork kind of thing. This is not just, you know, the detective did a great job, no. It's the CAC. It's Children and Youth. It's the law enforcement agencies. It's the DA's office. It's the victim advocate. It's everybody coming together as a team for the victim. It truly is.

Host: Next, we hear from Kim Sourbeer, Crime Victim Advocate with Dauphin County Victim Witness, who explains her role in supporting young victims at the CAC.

Kim Sourbeer: So, my name is Kim Sourbeer. I'm a crime victim advocate with Dauphin County Victim Witness at Susquehanna Township. I've been doing this work for about 10 years now. Once a referral is made, I'm able to go down with the kids. I'm able to explain to the kids, "Hey, this is an all-in-one kind of a place." They're able to be seen by the doctors, they're able to be seen by the forensic interviewers. I'm able to meet with family members and make sure that they're hooked up with all of the resources that we have available to them. That includes counseling, various interventions for the family, for the child.

Part of my being in the police station is for continuity of care. So as soon as an incident takes place, we reach out to them and then we follow them through indefinitely until they say that they're done. Typically, that's post-sentencing, but I have some clients who will just continue to utilize various services, especially counseling. I mean, having the children have an all-in-one place where they can be medically examined and they can be forensically interviewed at the same time is huge. I believe the more that you tell a story, the more victimized you are, the more traumatized you are. It's just a constant repeat of that trauma. And so, to have one place where you can minimize the times that these victims are telling their stories are huge. Let them become survivors. Let's not focus on, you know, having to make them tell it over and over without the CAC. They're telling officers and they're telling detectives and they're telling the victim advocates and they're telling the counselors. It's too much.

Child abuse is a very real thing. There are too many children being physically, sexually, emotionally abused. They need the CAC. It is a service that we can provide these kiddos who didn't ask for whatever their experience was. But they as an individual and we as a society, it's up to us to help them become survivors. And the CAC does that.

Host: Detective Jeffrey Corcoran of the Lower Paxton Police offers insight with the investigative process and collaboration with the CAC.

Detective Jeffrey Corcoran: My name is Jeffrey Corcoran. I'm a detective here with Lower Paxton Township Police. I've been with the department 23 years, I've been an investigator for the last 20. So, my primary responsibilities are the investigation of child abuse, child-related cases. So, one of the first steps that we take in Initiating a child abuse investigation, once we get the information from whatever source it may come from, we connect with the Children's Advocacy Center. We send in a referral. It's either us oftentimes, or a Children and Youth caseworker who's assigned as well. We work as a team. So, it's called the MDIT, so the Multiple Disciplinary Investigative Team that includes law enforcement, Children and Youth Services, the District Attorney's Office, medical staff, personnel, and Children's Resource Center, as well as some other periphery investigative bodies that help us out along the way.

So, when I get a case assigned to me, I reach out to the CAC, request a forensic interview to be scheduled. They make all the arrangements. It's very easy for the families. It's very interactive, as far as they go, the families get all the information they need directly from the CAC. We try to introduce them to how the process works to make the transition a little easier for the CAC staff, contacts them, makes the scheduled appointments. And then, once the families get there, the staff does a wonderful job introducing them to the facility, giving them a walkthrough and a tour, introducing them to the people who are going to be involved in the investigation, explaining everyone's various roles.

They keep it very child-friendly. So obviously, there's an age range from roughly about four years old, depending, up until 18, and then even beyond that when it comes to any kind of special needs. So, the staff does a great job of keeping it comfortable and, as you know, user-friendly as possible for the whole family. So, I think it's kind of a cornerstone tool as far as I can assess it and look at it. It is an integral piece of the investigative process. It is a way for us to allow children who are victims and/or witnesses to crimes, potential crimes of abuse, to feel comfortable enough to be able to speak freely, give as much detail about the situation as possible in a supportive environment, minimizes hopefully the impact on the child as far as having to talk to multiple people about it. The folks who do the interviews are well-trained and well-practiced in doing those. So, they have a great way to rapport build with the kids, make them feel comfortable about it. There's no pushing the kids to talk about anything. It's a very relaxed environment as far as allowing them to be able to feel comfortable enough at their own pace, their own comfort level, to express what's going on, what's happened to them.

The interviews are obviously recorded so that any other investigative bodies down the line who aren't physically present there to observe from an observation room. You're never in the room with the child. It's always just the interviewer and the child. It gives those agencies whoever may need to see and hear the child's story and see them how they are able to respond to these things, and it minimizes the times that we may have to re-engage with that child to have them tell that same story over and over again, because that's just re-traumatizing especially if you're a victim of a crime.

Tell everybody that we work with, deal with, all the folks that come into the system, unfortunately, we try to make sure that they understand that it's a team concept. We all work for them. We all work with them. Sort of a metaphor for it, is I tell kids a lot of times that if we are all on the same bus, going the same direction together, you are driving the bus. Your hands are on the steering wheel, your foot is on the brake, and on the gas. We, as the investigators and support staff, are standing with you, behind you, to guide you along, to give you directions, to help you get there as much as possible.

Host: Finally, Cumberland County District Attorney, Sean McCormack, discusses his longstanding involvement in child abuse cases and the evolution of child advocacy efforts.

District Attorney Sean McCormack: I'm Sean McCormack, I'm the District Attorney of Cumberland County. Prior to that, I worked over in the Dauphin County District Attorney's Office for over 30 years. Back in 1995, we started a child abuse unit in the district attorney's office. I worked in the Dauphin County District Attorney's office for over 30 years. And in, about two years ago, I moved over to the Cumberland County district attorney's office where I've been the Chief of Trials.

The role a district attorney's office plays, we're all part of a Multidisciplinary Investigative Team, the MDIT. And as part of the MDIT, we are the ones who present the case in court, we are the prosecutors. We're involved from the very beginning. The police do the investigation, the interviews are done at the CAC. Victim Services and Children and Youth are part of the team. And together, we work a case through the judicial system and ultimately a case either winds up pleading guilty or we wind up having a trial. You know, that's the good part of this team process. We kind of surround the victim and help the victim through the system. Everybody has a little bit of a different role to play to help the victim get to that ultimate point when the case is finished.

It's a lot different on child abuse investigations than a normal investigation. The district attorney's office works very closely with the investigators during this, during the investigation. We frequently meet with the investigators in what we call a case review. At the case review, we sit down with members of the CAC, law enforcement, Victim services, Children and Youth Agency. We discuss cases and make a determination whether we're going to file charges or continue to do more investigating. And then, together, we make a decision whether we're going to file charges or how we're going to dispose of the case.

There are numerous cases. I can give examples where the CAC has played a central role because it has a central place in the system. We all come together at the CAC. We have the discussions there and we make the decisions early on in the case with the people involved in the case. We have an opportunity there to coordinate our investigations. There have been numerous cases where I've met the kids at the CAC and, you know, here we worked through the system for over a year and finally have a jury trial. And I watched the child go from the very beginning all the way to the end of the case. And you often see a progression of strength that they get from this process that many times they don't even think that they would ever be able to testify or any of those things. And they learn that they really have that inner strength that they can do it, and do do it, oftentimes better than adults.

The CAC, and I was here before and after the CAC was formed, it has transformed the way that we do these cases. It has done so much to help children over the years and so many kids that you probably can't even count the number of children who have gone through the CAC since it was founded back in 1995. Really, the things that our CAC does here in central Pennsylvania has revolutionized the way that these investigations are done. They have done some things first in the state. And I'm very proud, very proud to be part of that group.

Host: We've heard powerful insights today from professionals working alongside the UPMC Child Advocacy Center of Central PA. Their dedication to protecting children and supporting families is truly inspiring. If you or someone you know needs to report a case of abuse or neglect, or if you have questions about available resources, please don't hesitate to contact the CAC. They have offices in Harrisburg, Lebanon, and Carlisle PA.

To make an appointment or for more information, check the link in our show notes. Remember your call could make a significant difference in a child's life. The CAC is here to help. Providing support, guidance and resources to those who need it most. Our exploration of the CAC's vital work doesn't end here. Stay tuned for our next episode, part two, where we'll continue our in-depth look at the CAC.

Thank you for listening to In Their Words. By understanding the work of organizations like the CAC, we all play a part in creating a safer community for our children. Until next time, take care of yourselves and each other.