SungateKids co-hosts conference on working with developmentally disabled victims
DENVER, April 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In honor of Child Abuse Awareness Month SungateKids and its partners – The Arc of Aurora, The Aurora Police Department and arc Thrift Stores – are hosting a conference on Friday, April 16th, that will focus on supporting developmentally disabled victims of child abuse. The conference, hosted by the Colorado Community College System at Lowry, will also kick-off Victims' Remembrance Week (April 19th – 23rd) and will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 1061 Akron Way, Denver, CO 80230.
This conference will provide information to help improve Colorado's systems' response to crime victims with developmental disabilities. The featured speaker will be Bob Laurino, Acting Essex County (N.J.) Prosecutor and lead prosecutor on the Glen Ridge sexual assault case, where a teenage girl with developmental disabilities was sexually abused by a group of high school athletes. Mr. Laurino was the subject of the book "Our Guys" by Bernard Lefkowitz and served as a consultant to Robert Greenwald Productions for the 1999 ABC-TV movie Our Guys: Outrage in Glen Ridge, which was based upon his case.
Other featured speakers include: Det. Del Matticks, CIT, HNT, Crimes Against Children Unit, Aurora Police Department; Nancy Bowden, Director of Advocacy, The Arc of Aurora; Sgt. Joe Young, CIT, Crimes Against Children Unit, Aurora Police Department; Lisa Cesario, Forensic Interviewer, SungateKids; Douglas Miles, Attorney Advisor, Western Region – Aequitas: The Prosecutors' Resource on Violence Against Women and former Chief Deputy District Attorney, Office of the District Attorney, 4th Judicial District, Colorado; J.P. Moore, Chief Deputy District Attorney, Office of the District Attorney, 17th Judicial District, Colorado; Officer Nicole Sundine, CIT, Lone Tree Police Department; Krista Flanningan, JD, Director of Community Partnerships, Office of the District Attorney, 17th Judicial District, Colorado; Sheilah Michaels, Advocate, The Arc of Aurora; Terese Morse-Aguilar, Resource Specialist, Gateway Battered Women's Shelter; Karen L. Nerger, RN, BSN, SANE, Coordinator at Medical Center of Aurora; Lori Ridgeway, Ph.D., Intercept Program, Aurora Mental Health Center; Carole O'Shea, Victim Services Supervisor, Aurora Police Department; and Darla Stuart, Executive Director, The Arc of Aurora.
A developmental disability includes diagnoses like autism, Down syndrome, Fragile X, and often finds those it affects to be among the nearly 10.7 million people aged 6 and over who need personal assistance with one or more activities of daily living. Studies have indicated that children with developmental disabilities because of their reliance on assistance were at twice the risk of physical and sexual abuse (Crosse et al., 1993) and at a 1.7 percent higher risk of maltreatment of all kinds (Westat, 1993) than children without such disabilities.
For more information on the Conference, please visit http://www.bit.ly/responsiveresponders.
For more information on Child Abuse Awareness Month, please visit www.sungatekids.org or contact Diana Goldberg at 303-550-5169 or [email protected].
About SungateKids
SungateKids (www.sungatekids.org) is a Colorado based 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency serving Colorado's 18th Judicial District which includes Arapahoe, Douglas, Elbert, and Lincoln Counties. Established in 1995, SungateKids provides families with hope and healing through the use of nationally recognized forensic interviewers to help children safely reveal the truth about a crime. Each year SungateKids serves more than 1,000 children and their families through its services.
SOURCE SungateKids
Share this article