Communities Against Predators

We have several ID creating events coming up in the next few months. These ID events create identification kits to use in case the worst happens and a child goes missing.

Trained volunteers, typically law enforcement officers, take a digital image of the child, fingerprints, and physical descriptions, and place it on a CD. The parents file it so that it can be used to aid a search for the child.

We've focused the ID events for this year in areas of Washington that have higher incidents of crimes against children, such as luring, attempted abduction, and exploitation.

Some of these ID events are sponsored by state agencies that have their own secure notebook computers, but others are handled by volunteers who do not have notebook computers that can be used to assist in making the ID discs.
 
So many people are upgrading their notebook computers to run Vista, I'm hoping that two of our supporters may have XP notebook computers that they can donate to Wash-CAP for use at these events.
 
The FBI will be stripping all the software off of the computers prior to use, so no sensitive data will inadvertantly come our way.
 
We appreciate your generosity, and your continued support of our efforts.
 
Thank you,
 
The folks at Wash-CAP

Posted by Bethan at 06:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Safe Child Week - Organizations and businesses across Washington State are signing up to participate in this week-long effort toward preventative safety education. Town Hall meetings, ID Kit events, community seminars, library story-times, PTA programs, public service announcements... in a week or so, you'll be able to enter your location into [this] event form, and find a participant near you.
• Legislation - Not a single bill that we proposed got through. Thankfully, others have recognized the importance of that legislation, so there are more people working on it and helping it along. Some other legislation that we're working on is the Statute of Limitations on CSA crimes, and researching issues that members have had over the last 18 months, to see if there are systems that need work. Head over to our blog and talk about it!
• PlayGround Watch - is in the works. Have a community area that your family enjoys, like the park, playground at school, or a public pool? You'll be able to talk to others that use that same space, and trade community information and safety issues.
• Introducing Heather, who is our rotating Director of Special Projects. Right now, most of this is a special project! Heather will be working on establishing a seminar program for the state, and on formalizing Safe Child Week. She comes to us with a strong background in management and training, and we really appreciate her help.
• Town Hall meetings - In response to the large number of emails we received expressing disappointment with this session's results, we've talked to our State's Senators and Representatives about scheduling Town Hall meetings in their districts. Some of these may be hosted by community members, some by cities and towns, but all of them will provide a forum for YOU to tell your local government what you think about community and child safety, and also will provide some common-sense safety education. Contact your district office to find out if one is scheduled in your area.

Talk to Us - Volunteer - Donate

Posted by Bethan at 02:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

What do you think about the statutes of limitation placed on felony sex crimes committed against children? Do you think they should go away? Do you think they should be extended? What do you think about statutes of limitation on ANY felony?

This year, we're working on this - and it will be a lot of work. Things to consider:

• quality of the victim's memory regarding traumatic events; accuracy of victims' memories after long periods of time.
• why are there statutes of limitation on any felonies? What's the legal basis for statutes of limitation?
• can we do this incrementally? extend the limitation by, say, five years, and separately, work on removing the statutes of limitation on all Class A felonies.
• is there room for comprimise? between legislators, current law, and victims' advocates/activists there are some very varying ideas on what justice looks like.

Email us, or post here, and tell us what you think. We read them all, and we appreciate the responses.

Posted by Bethan at 06:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

 Diagnosis: ADHD—or Is It Trauma?

"Though we tend to think of traumatic experiences as rare, in fact, by age 16, seven of 10 children have been exposed to at least one potentially traumatic event—such as a natural disaster, severe car accident, child abuse or the loss of close family member—according to a study of a representative sample of more than 1,400 children living in North Carolina published in 2007."

This article discusses the symptoms of trauma and how they are similar to ADHD or ADD, and so are often mistaken by pediatricians who don't have sufficient training, or who haven't received the information they need to do a proper screening for the REAL cause of the behavioral issues.

This is an area where the parents and care-givers need to be observant and stay attuned to their children: if you see a change in how your child behaves, such as nervousness, a strong startle response, increased aggressive behavior which seems out of character - then you need to look around at the people and circumstances of your child's environment and see if you can find some clues, and you need to get your kid screened by a professional. There are a lot of great child psychologists out there, and a lot of insurance companies cover a certain number of visits per year, especially when you have behavioral disruptions. Many of these psychologists and counselors are available through school districts.

Remember, younger kids have 'magical thinking'. If abuse starts before the kids are more logical thinkers, then they probably assume that you know about it, or that you can pick up on the tiny little clues that they drop, which are often disguised as erratic behavior.

Talk to your kids, follow up on random statements, and don't let erratic or unusual behavior go un-discussed and dealt with.

Posted by Bethan at 06:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)