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It Takes A Village to Protect a Child: CYAC Simcoe Muskoka | Kate Waugh · Behind The Village Podcast

0:00
What can we be doing to make sure that we're
0:01
really supporting children and youth in our community?
0:03
And I was thinking about it going, well, what
0:05
is the most impactful thing? Who do we need to
0:07
hear from? We need to hear from a young survivor
0:09
who's been through our system, not just some
0:12
random, like this system. And in working with
0:16
her on her speech, it was just like. I was almost
0:21
in tears the entire time. But because of the
0:24
hope she has, she said, you know, I walked into
0:26
this building and the first thing I realized
0:28
was I'm not alone. You're listening to the Behind
0:31
the Village podcast. Our guest today is Kate
0:34
Waugh from CYAC Simcoe Muskoka. I guess let's
0:40
start from the beginning. CYACSM, as it's the
0:44
acronym of it. What if I know if I know it to
0:50
be correct and you can and you can correct me
0:51
if I'm wrong. Child and Youth Advocacy Center
0:54
Simcoe Muskoga. Right. That's us. Yes. That's
0:57
awesome. Yeah. What does that mean? What does
1:01
it do? Yeah. So what do we do? So the Child and
1:04
Youth Advocacy Centre, so they're in Europe,
1:08
they're called Bornhouse, and they're all over
1:09
the United States, and they're across the whole
1:11
country in Canada as well. But it's a non -profit
1:14
organization that works with kids and their families,
1:17
their non -offending family members, who've been
1:19
affected by abuse. We start right at the beginning
1:23
when an investigation is about to take place.
1:25
And then we work with the kiddos or the youth
1:28
or the families going forward until they no longer
1:31
want our services. So this is a large organization
1:34
then. It's not just for this specific area. It
1:38
is and it isn't. So it is. They originally started
1:43
more as standalone nonprofits. coming from the
1:47
model out of Europe and what's been happening
1:49
in the United States. So in the United States,
1:51
they're mandated, which means a police agency,
1:55
child protection services have to use a child
1:59
and youth advocacy center if they're going to
2:01
investigate abuse with someone under 18. And
2:04
in Canada, it's a choice. So they've been popping
2:07
up in Canada as we see such an intense need for
2:10
it. And then more recently, we've really come
2:15
together. So I shouldn't say more, like over
2:17
the last decade, it's really come together. So
2:20
now there's provincial associations that are
2:23
coming together and supporting each other. And
2:25
there's a national association, which was just
2:27
launched, that will be working with us all together
2:31
so that we can have some more. consistency across
2:35
the country, be able to support each other, lobby
2:38
the government, look for, because we don't have
2:41
core funding. So those are the things that our
2:43
national association will work with us on. So
2:46
it is a large region that we really try to service,
2:49
which works out to 16 different police detachments
2:51
and three different child protection agencies.
2:54
And so we have to think about is because they're
2:57
not mandated to use us, we're constantly doing.
3:00
outreach and constantly making sure that they
3:03
know that we're here it's so much more trauma
3:06
informed and better for families and the kids
3:08
to be to work with us through this whole process
3:12
and we will help the police and child protection
3:14
we make their lives far easier as well interesting
3:17
so when you say abuse is it any kind like Any
3:23
kind of abuse, neglect, abuse, online exploitation,
3:26
human trafficking. We do witnesses of intimate
3:31
partner violence, witnesses of violence at all.
3:34
We're there to support children. Basically, what
3:38
happens is if there's been suspected child abuse
3:41
or exploitation or human trafficking or even
3:44
just the start or, you know, we've got some concerns,
3:46
then the police or the child protection services
3:49
call us and ask to use our center. So when they
3:53
use our center, we have state of the art forensic
3:56
recording equipment. So rather than going into
3:58
a cold police station and not the police, you
4:00
know. Police stations try to be as nice as they
4:02
can, but it is a police station. We definitely
4:04
have communities that are very resistant to going,
4:08
working with police or working with child protection
4:11
services due to their own historical reasons.
4:13
So this is a, you know, where we look like a
4:17
living room, we look like a house, right? So
4:18
we've got living room, we've got toys. Our investigative
4:22
room is like a big living room with couches and
4:26
cushions and the cameras are, I mean, we tell
4:28
them the cameras are there, we're not. trying
4:30
to pretend they're not there, but they're not
4:32
in your face. We have dogs. We have therapy dogs
4:36
through COPE, which is, they're amazing. And
4:39
then we assign an advocate to those, that kid
4:43
and that family. So when they come, they're greeted
4:45
by somebody who. Specifically tells them, I'm
4:48
not child protection. I'm not police services.
4:50
I am here for you. I'm your advocate. I'm here
4:54
to help support you through this process and
4:56
anything else going forward that you'll need
4:58
from me. We're now working with the Child Victim
4:59
Witness Program. We've just brought that in.
5:01
So we now go all the way through court and supporting
5:05
the kiddos and the families. Wow. So from suspected
5:09
abuse or anything, all the way to it going to
5:13
the court if need be. If need be. And we also
5:16
don't, if it's not, we call it verified. Some
5:20
people are talking about calling it believed,
5:22
but it's just, it's a hard, it's a hard word
5:24
for me. It's, even if it's not verified, we'll
5:28
still continue to work with the families and
5:29
the kids. I mean, there's, you know, trauma is
5:32
trauma. People coming to us for these kinds of
5:34
reasons, they need support. The community, you
5:36
know, communities are struggling in so many ways.
5:39
So we're there for you, regardless of what the
5:41
outcome of the investigation is. Studies have
5:44
shown that, first of all, they get far more disclosures
5:47
when they're happening at a CYAC than if they
5:51
were happening at a police station. And we've
5:52
we experienced that recently firsthand. So there
5:55
was a teen girl. They wanted to bring her into
5:58
the center, but we were booked. So they weren't
6:02
able to get in, didn't want to wait till the
6:03
next day. So they brought her into the police
6:05
station. No disclosure. But a week later. They
6:09
called and said, you know what, we just want
6:10
to talk to her again. Can we bring her into the
6:12
center? Absolutely. We've got space, brought
6:13
her in. And then there was a disclosure. And
6:15
now there's a full investigation happening. So,
6:18
I mean, imagine being a kid. I mean, this is
6:22
the worst thing that's ever going to. have happened
6:24
to you. And now you're sitting on a couch, at
6:28
least with this sweet, cuddly dog, who's literally
6:30
trained to do deep pressure and just be there
6:32
for you and a far warmer environment. Police,
6:36
they don't wear their kits when they're in our
6:38
center. There's no, like we have even cabinets
6:41
to put the gun. If you come in as a road officer
6:43
with your gun kit, you have to put it away. It's
6:45
just, this is, we're there for the children and
6:48
we're looking at it as being a child -centered
6:50
approach rather than everybody else's. needs
6:53
or desires yeah and i really like the fact that
6:57
like you said you there's someone that gets appointed
6:59
to you right and that person i'm assuming doesn't
7:02
change uh throughout the process right they stay
7:06
as like a center of support right for the entire
7:09
process and court can happen a lot i mean it's
7:13
a mess i mean and this is this is also part of
7:15
it the justice system i don't want to say it's
7:17
a mess everybody's doing their very best but
7:19
it's quite complicated Right. And there's many,
7:22
many factors. And it's not something that you
7:24
probably have been exposed to until this has
7:26
happened in your life. So this is a person who
7:29
can can keep you on track, tell you what's happening.
7:32
You can call for questions. We have people that
7:35
say, OK, you know what? I'm good. Thank you so
7:37
much for your support. I don't need you. Three
7:39
years down the road, okay, the court case is
7:41
coming up. I'm struggling. Can you hook me up
7:44
with some supports again? Can I talk to somebody?
7:47
And then other people who are just years down
7:49
the road, you know, something surfaced. I need
7:50
some help. And we never close a case. We won't
7:53
bother you and call you all the time, but we
7:55
never close a case in case somebody wants us
7:58
again in the future because we know trauma resurfaces.
8:01
Yeah. So what about because we were talking primarily
8:05
about kids, I'm assuming under under 18. But
8:07
what about over 18? Like once you become of age,
8:10
there's still support for that as well. There
8:13
is. So we actually do up to 24. I said 18, but
8:17
we do do up to 24. But it's generally we're around.
8:20
We don't get a whole lot of those older kiddos.
8:25
And I think some of it is miscommunication out
8:29
there with some police and child protection services
8:31
that, because we do have a toy room. People,
8:34
I think, sometimes think about it as being juvenile,
8:35
but it's still not. And we actually run a group
8:39
for girls who are at risk that goes up to 18.
8:42
And we, if you age out of us, we're still there.
8:45
We also support the caregivers and we will support
8:49
siblings. We will support who needs it. As much
8:52
as we can because we are a nonprofit. So we do
8:55
the very best that we can with the very little
8:58
that we have. But it's a dedicated team and it's
9:02
dedicated nationally to making a difference here.
9:05
And tell me what kind of support do you usually
9:08
do for, I guess, the caregivers, like the parents
9:11
or whomever? So, first of all, we'll connect
9:15
them to any community resources that they need.
9:17
So maybe they have some food insecurity. Maybe
9:20
they might need some counseling. Maybe they need...
9:24
you know, some help connecting with a parent
9:25
group, any of those kinds of things, then we
9:27
have all those connections. And our advocates
9:30
are really amazing at knowing what's happening
9:33
in the community, what's available, what can
9:35
we connect people to. So they will do that. We
9:38
also, the wait times for mental health support
9:41
right now is... I mean, has been for a while
9:44
now, especially since COVID. It's couldn't be
9:47
six months to a year. And we know that when you
9:49
work with a kiddo within 90 days of the disclosure,
9:54
they have, I think it's like 86 % less chance
9:57
of having complex PTSD down the road. So we started
10:00
our own counseling program with a clinical counselor
10:03
on staff and we'll do a, you know, short, it's
10:06
brief. It's about, you know, well, it was six
10:08
weeks, but we've already extended it to eight
10:10
and it will probably go to 10, but just that.
10:12
crisis intervention until we can get you connected
10:15
and then once we and we work with New Path which
10:19
is the child mental health agency here in Simcoe
10:21
Muskoka and they're amazing and we will we can
10:24
directly refer to them once they have an opening
10:27
and we can send the families on so and my counselor
10:30
will talk to caregivers siblings she's done basically
10:33
worked with parents on parent daily she will
10:35
work with whatever she can to help you and support
10:38
you that's pretty awesome so I guess you guys
10:43
work very closely together with a lot, like you
10:45
mentioned, the police stations with, you know,
10:48
clinical like counseling. Yeah. All sorts of.
10:51
We call them our MDTs, our multidisciplinary
10:53
team. So we're always talking about our MDTs.
10:56
But yeah, like everyone. So if you're working
11:00
with children in this community and if we haven't
11:03
worked with you, there's a. you know, call us
11:05
up because we work, right. And we work with all,
11:09
you know, as many Indigenous community agencies
11:11
as we can. We've hired an Indigenous advocate
11:14
so that we're giving appropriate cultural supports
11:17
to families and being able to connect them in
11:20
an appropriate way. Sometimes it's families who
11:22
are coming in saying, you know, I identify as
11:25
Indigenous, but I'm not really. working within
11:28
my culture right now and then she's able to connect
11:31
them to some things or you know do the smudging
11:33
whatever it might be that somebody needs we want
11:36
to make sure that we're ready to give them the
11:38
support that will best help them There's a stigma
11:42
and a silence attached to abuse, especially when
11:45
it's sexual abuse. And that is something that
11:48
we are working really, really diligently on being
11:50
part of the movement to break that. We have,
11:53
for example, a youth ambassador. So it's a young
11:56
woman who's been through our center and advocating
11:59
is a really... amazing way to heal. And she's
12:04
really embraced that. And that's her number one
12:07
push is that we can't be quiet about this anymore.
12:10
I shouldn't be embarrassed to talk about this.
12:12
And I'm really working, because I was a former
12:14
teacher, I'm really working with getting us involved
12:17
a lot more with the school boards, you know,
12:19
supporting teachers, but also doing, we did an
12:22
in -service last fall for teachers, high school
12:24
teachers on how to recognize and report signs
12:26
of child abuse. I mean, people don't, they don't
12:29
also know. You know, the facts around this, there's
12:33
and even on our social media, I'm always saying
12:36
we've got to be strength based, strength based.
12:38
But there is there are some scary facts out there.
12:41
And I don't think the public is aware of how
12:44
prominent of an issue this is. Human trafficking
12:48
in our area in Simcoe, Muskoka is 67 percent
12:52
higher than anywhere else in the country. Wow.
12:55
Like that's. Massive, right? So people don't
13:00
know that. And they don't know what the signs
13:02
are. And they don't know when their kid is possibly
13:05
entering that and something is happening to them.
13:08
And human traffickers, they know what they're
13:11
doing. They make $300 ,000 a year off one kid.
13:14
So it's, yeah, it's a big business. And it's
13:18
not like the movies. They're not kidnapping you
13:21
and putting you in a shipping container and taking
13:23
you off somewhere, right? They're most often
13:26
leaving you at home now because then nobody's
13:29
looking for you. But they'll be sitting outside
13:30
that high school making sure that you go straight
13:33
home or you're picked up at the right time. And
13:36
it's a massive issue. So the education needs
13:38
to get out there. I mean, teachers are a front
13:41
line for everything. They spend more time with
13:44
kids than their parents do. you know, 90 % of
13:47
the time. So I wanted to make sure that they
13:49
knew this is what you, if you see a kiddo suddenly
13:51
change their clothes, all of a sudden they've
13:53
got their nails done and their hair done. You
13:55
notice that they have two phones, you know, there's
13:58
multiple things. Then that should be a warning
14:00
bell. And this is actually something that happens
14:03
in our area. I saw. Dr. Bruce Perry, he's a prominent
14:09
psychologist. I heard him speak the other day
14:11
and that's his number one push right now is community.
14:13
We don't have community. We don't have, you don't
14:17
talk to your neighbor. We don't, we don't go,
14:21
you know, kids aren't necessarily involved in
14:22
this. They're involved in a lot of sports, but
14:24
we just need that community back, that village
14:27
back so that we're all working together and looking
14:29
out for one another. Absolutely. And just the
14:32
idea of like, you know, keeping an eye out for
14:34
each other. Like we're all in this community
14:36
together. Like we're protecting each other. That's
14:40
what it used to be back in the old days of the
14:42
hunter gatherers, right? Yeah, exactly. And that's
14:45
what we need to go back to. And I think that
14:48
that's been lost and then people are lost. And
14:50
so we're trying to. Really position the CYC in
14:56
Simcoe, Muskoka as a hub. On your website, it
14:59
has like a little circle that kind of points
15:02
out all the different like services, all the
15:04
like police stations are all different that you
15:06
guys are connected to. And I love that because
15:07
it just kind of firms up the idea of that community,
15:10
of that hub. Right. Which is is is actually quite.
15:16
important for people to understand that there
15:18
is a place right where you can talk to someone
15:21
globally one in five girls and one in seven boys
15:24
will be sexually abused before the age of 18
15:26
that's astounding so if you think about a classroom
15:29
of 25 kids right i know so it's just it's just
15:36
something that we can't pretend isn't happening
15:38
it's not something that we can ignore And we
15:42
need to, you know, we need to be engaged. We
15:44
need to be enraged about it. And we need to be
15:46
fighting for services that will protect and support
15:51
and then hopefully prevent this from continuing
15:54
in the way that it is. Sorry, I'm just, I'm taking,
15:59
I'm taking a second. Let's like take in that,
16:01
that information. Like, it's just, it's so ridiculous.
16:05
I can't even believe it. I know. And I'm telling
16:08
you, I've only like I've been working here for
16:09
just over a year and a half. And every day I
16:12
hear something new that I go, I can't believe
16:13
this is happening. But I also. Like my team,
16:17
people will say, you deal with so much trauma,
16:20
you have so much heaviness, not as much as the
16:21
police or child protection services. And we definitely
16:23
bow down to all the things that they take on
16:25
and hear and deal with every day. We make these
16:28
beautiful connections with people and see them
16:31
grow and develop and change with us and due to
16:34
our support or just because there was some other
16:36
connection made. And we're so proud of the work
16:39
that we do. We have this. Other little kiddo,
16:43
she's going to be doing a presentation with me.
16:46
So I'm having this breakfast event just to thank
16:48
my multidisciplinary team. And we've got some
16:51
really cool speakers coming just as a whole crew,
16:55
like, hey, what can we be doing to make sure
16:56
that we're really supporting children and youth
16:58
in our community? And I was thinking about it
17:00
going, well, what is the most impactful thing?
17:02
Who do we need to hear from? We need to hear
17:04
from a young survivor. who's been through our
17:07
system, not just some random, like this system.
17:10
And working with her on her speech, it was just
17:14
like, I was almost in tears the entire time.
17:18
But because of the hope she has, she said, you
17:21
know, I walked into this building and the first
17:23
thing I realized was I'm not alone. She said,
17:26
you know, she walked into it was a youth group
17:29
and it's, you know, 10 girls who are either have
17:31
been through the center or at risk of being exploited.
17:34
And she looked at that group and she said, the
17:36
first thing that hit me was I'm not alone. Like
17:37
this has happened to other people. She said,
17:40
then it hit me. Oh, my gosh, if this is 10 people
17:43
right now, how many people are there out there
17:45
that this has happened to you? And she said,
17:48
I can't let that that happen. I need to do something
17:50
about this. But then. Also talking about how
17:53
important it was for her to be believed, how
17:55
every day it was, well, nobody believed me. Nobody's
17:58
going to believe me. And having a place where
18:00
that wasn't the issue. I'm here to support you.
18:04
I'm here to be here for you. And the fact that
18:07
we can provide that, I'm just so proud of our
18:09
team. Yeah. That's amazing. Exactly. Because
18:14
everybody is looking, that's just a human condition.
18:16
Everybody's looking to feel seen, heard, a place
18:19
where you can belong, a place where you feel
18:21
safe, a place where you feel, you know, acknowledged,
18:24
right? And to be a place for the people that
18:27
don't have that, right? For the kids that don't
18:30
have that. That's massive. Absolutely. The conversations,
18:33
some of them are a little astounding that the
18:35
girls will have at the Common Ground Youth Group
18:38
program, but they can talk about anything. Because
18:42
they can talk. And nobody gets into the details
18:45
of their case or their situation. But somebody
18:48
else knows what they're going through. Somebody
18:50
else could say, oh, yeah, court sucks. When it
18:52
happens, make sure you bring blah, blah, blah
18:54
with you. Or I sat there all day. They can't
18:56
talk about this in the lunchroom because nobody
18:59
wants to talk about it. And they have a place
19:02
to be able to share that. And that's what I was
19:04
like, I really, really want to get that going
19:06
for boys as well. Not only do boys get abused,
19:10
but there's something going on with boys in our
19:13
society. And I think they just need some support
19:16
and some love. Absolutely. So in terms of, you
19:22
know, educating the public and educating people.
19:25
What are some signs that we should know about,
19:29
like whether we should be reporting or whether
19:32
we should be concerned of, you know, something
19:35
might be happening? Right. We talked a little
19:37
bit about, like you said, you know, changing
19:39
clothes, having multiple phones or stuff like
19:41
that. Right. What are other things that we. When
19:45
you see a massive change in behavior or massive
19:47
change in personality. I mean, teenagers are
19:50
teenagers, but when you see a dramatic change,
19:53
there's a dramatic there's something going on.
19:55
If you have any inkling or any concerns, I'm
19:59
very big on believing in your gut and your intuition.
20:03
And I think there's this misnomer out there that
20:06
if you report, you're going to tear an entire
20:09
family apart and the whole world's going to end.
20:11
And oh my gosh, you've ruined these people's
20:12
lives and nothing ever happened. That's not the
20:15
case. If you call Family Connections, which is
20:18
our... Child Protection Services in Cinco, Muskoka.
20:21
And then there's also Nogdwin, Mogdwin, Ojiog
20:23
for First Nations families. And there's Rama
20:26
as well. But if you call them, you're going to
20:29
talk to somebody who's just going to, first of
20:30
all, listen to, here's my concerns. Here's what
20:33
I'm thinking. And as the experts, they'll bring
20:35
it, they'll decide whether it is something we
20:38
need to follow up on. And sometimes it's just
20:40
a quick little phone call. Sometimes it's an
20:42
investigation and like, goodness, you've saved.
20:44
child's life. I just think you have to weigh
20:47
the pros and the cons, but they're not going
20:50
in there guns a -blazing. Their mandate is to
20:53
keep families together as much as possible because
20:56
studies have shown that you tear them apart,
20:58
it doesn't go well. So, I think the number one
21:03
thing is if you, I mean, we know physically if
21:05
you see those bruises and those scrapes and,
21:07
you know, nobody falls into a doorknob. You know,
21:09
something has happened. Neglect, you know, they
21:14
don't have, as a teacher, I'd see it all the
21:16
time. They don't have food. Their clothes don't
21:17
fit. They're sleeping all the time because they're
21:20
exhausted and they're lacking nutrients. Emotional
21:24
abuse, if they're either. really into pleasing
21:28
you and getting that constant reinforcement,
21:30
that's a sign as well as the person who's terribly
21:33
withdrawn and thinks that they're a horrible
21:35
person. But it's just to ask the questions, ask
21:40
them the questions. How can I support you? Is
21:43
there anything that you need? You know, and then
21:45
report. It's not report doesn't mean you've started
21:49
an investigation. Report means you've expressed
21:53
a concern to the experts. The experts will then
21:56
take it from there. And you don't know if your
21:58
concern is the ninth one they've received in
22:02
the last year. And so it becomes a more important,
22:05
something for them to really look into. And sometimes
22:08
yours will just sit on that file until maybe
22:11
there's more that comes in or the next sign happens
22:13
or they hear from the school or something, and
22:15
then they'll go and investigate. And I like that.
22:19
That's a really good point because I feel like,
22:21
and you see it a lot. The media, not necessarily
22:25
about child abuse per se, but just about going
22:29
to court, similar to what you said, superstars
22:32
going to court and doing all these things. And
22:34
it's like, oh, my God, the whole thing is broken
22:37
and everybody is culpable and everything. Yeah,
22:41
yeah, yeah. Everybody's a suspect. Everybody's
22:43
a suspect and everything is wrong. So just understanding
22:47
that just because you're calling or just because
22:49
you are suspecting of something doesn't necessarily
22:51
mean that one. anything is happening is going
22:54
to happen. Right. Or two, that there is going
22:57
to be an immediate like judgment or, you know,
23:02
you need to run away or you need to like, you
23:04
know, unless you're going in jail, they're picking
23:06
up your parents and they're putting them in jail.
23:08
Yeah. Yeah. So it's, it's not, it's definitely
23:11
not like that. And, and again, it's happening
23:15
so much and we're not reporting it. Like it's
23:18
not reported and it's over like. Almost 60 %
23:23
of people say they wouldn't report it if they
23:25
suspected it because they'd be too afraid that
23:27
they were making a mistake. And I just think
23:29
we need to flip that. I'd be too afraid I was
23:32
making a mistake the other way. You know, I'd
23:35
be too afraid that I'm leaving a child in an
23:38
abusive situation and I'm just too busy protecting
23:42
my neighbor because I don't want them to be mad
23:43
at me. You know, and I don't. I don't think people
23:46
think that. I just don't think they think it
23:48
through. And I think there has been this whole
23:51
stigma around reporting and that the police and
23:54
child protection are bad guys. I work with some
23:56
of the most caring, amazing, compassionate human
24:00
beings in both of those services. I don't think
24:03
it's as scary to report. I know it's not as scary.
24:06
And I've done it as a teacher and thought the
24:08
same thing. Oh, my gosh, I don't want to call
24:10
her to know it's from the school. And thank God
24:13
I did. Yeah. Sure. So circling back around some
24:19
of the things you've talked about, you know,
24:23
you've mentioned here and there about different
24:25
programs that the CYAC does. Can you kind of.
24:29
go through all the programs that you guys do
24:31
offer or that people could participate or people
24:34
could outside in the public as well. Yeah. So
24:37
we have the Common Ground Youth Group. So that
24:39
runs on Thursday evenings from five to seven.
24:42
We take about 10 girls in and it's a seven week
24:44
program. And we cover everything from, you know,
24:48
signs about human trafficking to healthy boundaries,
24:50
consent, healthy relationships. social media
24:55
how to be safe safe on social media we started
24:58
a youth advisory group um i mean the most important
25:02
voice to be directing us strategically and planning
25:05
is the people that it's we're we're looking to
25:08
help yeah right the that's the youth voice so
25:12
we have a youth advisory group and they also
25:14
go through our programming and let us know you
25:16
know what this needs to be better. Or this was
25:18
something that I think I really struggled with
25:20
when I was at the center. Or families need more
25:23
information on this. So we have that program.
25:27
And then we also have our Bridging Supports to
25:29
Wellness, which is our counseling program. And
25:32
then we want to start the prevention education
25:33
for boys is our next big goal and our next big
25:37
push. And like I said, I'm just working on the
25:40
grants for that because we are all It's all donations
25:44
and grants. That's how we exist. So the only
25:47
other like the other question that I have is
25:50
how can people then that are listening to this,
25:54
how can people help the CYAC? Right. How can
25:58
they be involved or how can be a part of what
26:01
can they do to help? Absolutely. So, I mean.
26:04
We definitely are always looking for funding
26:07
and for support in funding. You know, you can
26:10
donate on our page. You can do monthly donations.
26:13
If there's anybody that wants us to come and
26:16
speak and share what we do, we're more than happy
26:18
to do that. And also, if they want us to come
26:21
and speak about some of the things we work on
26:23
and how to recognize child abuse. And we definitely
26:27
want to be involved in the community as much
26:28
as possible in that respect. We do, we will.
26:33
always have programs that come up where we look
26:34
for volunteers. Any agencies that want to support
26:38
by giving some free passes, like Veta Day Spa
26:42
has been terribly generous with us and gave us
26:44
10 free passes to raffle off, but also to give
26:47
to frontline workers to say, hey, you're doing
26:50
a great job. And Horseshoe Resort is also doing
26:52
the same. So anything like that is always more
26:56
than welcome. We definitely, definitely. encourage
27:01
that and would appreciate any help we can get
27:03
in that respect and also lobby your government
27:07
lobby your mps lobby your provincial parliament
27:10
parliament lobby federal these should be funded
27:13
core funded by the government and they should
27:16
be mandated and that's that's simply the the
27:19
way it should be yeah absolutely makes total
27:24
sense to me what are What's next for CYAC? What's
27:30
the future look like then? What are you, where
27:32
are you looking to do? I know that you're looking
27:33
to create a program for boys now. That's one
27:35
of them. We're calling it our village of support,
27:38
our village theme. So we want to work with, you
27:42
know, the community schools, parents, boys, and
27:45
more prevention, you know, prevention education
27:47
across. We would. Down the road, our big, big
27:50
dream, our big goal is to have what we call a
27:53
co -location where we have a big, beautiful center
27:56
where the CYAC is in the center and we've got
27:59
police and child protection and mental health
28:01
all embedded under one roof. So it's your one
28:04
stop. You come here. We're all there to support
28:07
you. Some places in the States even have, you
28:09
know. like a family family services underneath
28:14
there. They might have a lawyer's office in there,
28:16
whatever it might be. So that, which is, which
28:19
is great. I didn't mention as well. We also have
28:23
an RC scan. So the regional center for suspected
28:26
child abuse and neglect out of soldiers Memorial
28:28
hospital, they do all of Simcoe Muskoka as well.
28:32
We have a medical room in our center in Aurelia.
28:35
So they will do well child exams. just for that
28:40
peace of mind. If you have to go in for evidence
28:42
collection, you have to go to the hospital, but
28:44
somebody who's been abused as a family just want,
28:47
you know, the kiddo just needs to make sure that
28:48
everything's okay. They will do that. And I'd
28:50
love to see a full facility like that within
28:53
our building one day. So again, that you can
28:56
go to one place and all the experts for child
28:58
and youth are right here. Yeah. That sounds amazing.
29:03
It would be amazing. That'd be really great.
29:05
And where can people find you and donate or,
29:08
you know, find out the volunteering opportunities,
29:12
you know, your website, social media, that kind
29:13
of stuff. Right. So where our website is CYC
29:16
Simcoe Muskoka dot C -A and everything is under
29:21
under there. We also we're on Instagram at CYC
29:26
Simcoe Muskoka. And Facebook too. But those are
29:30
our main areas right now. I also forgot to mention
29:34
too that we have a mobile approach. So because
29:38
our region is so big, we had a vehicle donated
29:41
years ago and we have mobile forensic recording
29:44
equipment and we have... an agreement with New
29:49
Path that has more offices that we can go and
29:52
use their office for an investigation. So we
29:53
can bring the dog and an advocate and everything
29:56
to the family and that police station, that police
30:00
area, rather than them having to travel to us.
30:04
But anyways, that was just an aside. Yeah, that
30:06
makes total sense. Yeah. The area is so large.
30:09
It's so large. And we didn't want travel to be
30:11
a barrier for you to get proper support and care.
30:15
Yeah, those are probably the best ways for anybody
30:19
to be able to reach us. Absolutely. Well, Kate,
30:24
it was lovely having you here. And I really learned
30:28
a lot about CYAC, more than I thought I actually
30:31
knew as well. Wonderful. Yeah, all the different
30:34
percentages and all the different data points
30:38
that you mentioned and stuff like that. It's
30:39
just, yeah. Good. Well, thank you so much. And
30:41
I really appreciate you inviting me on here so
30:44
that we can help get the message out there and
30:46
any part of the message that this is happening.
30:48
Make sure that you're taking care. Report if
30:52
you have any questions. And also we're here to
30:54
help if anybody needs us. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
30:57
Well, thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you
31:00
for listening to the entire episode. All the
31:02
links and info you heard in this conversation
31:04
will be featured in the show notes on our website,
31:06
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