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Children's Advocacy Center to expand This drawing shows the Children's Advocacy Center's planned expansion, at left, thanks to receipt of a $600,000 federal community block grant. Eases overcrowding at clearinghouse for sexually abused kids By JONEL ALECCIA Step through the door of the Children's Advocacy Center in Medford and it's immediately apparent why the clearinghouse for sexually abused kids plans to expand. Photo by Jim Craven Jackson County sheriff's Det. Carl Sieg and Children's Advocacy Center Executive Director Jane Hamilton talk about the center's plans to expand. The renovated old home at 816 W. 10th St. is bursting with social workers and police detectives, grand jury members, office staffers, parents -- and, of course, kids. Two toddlers run through the hall. A preschooler perches on a receptionist's lap. A small boy waits in one room for an interview; a teenager waits in another. A year from now, all this activity will be spread out in a space that more than doubles the existing 4,000-square-foot building, thanks to the approval of a $600,000 federal community block grant. The center recently got word that it was awarded the funds, funneled through the Jackson County Urban Renewal Agency, to finance construction of a 5,000-square-foot addition. "We'll have room to turn around twice," said Carl Sieg, a detective who has worked at the center since it opened in 1991. Plans call for construction of therapy offices, a play therapy room, group meeting rooms, a training center and, most important, a medical office that will house a full-time doctor to perform exams. Organizers hope to open in January 2001. "I think it was a little miracle," said Jane Hamilton, executive director. Hamilton worked with local grant writer Kathy Ingram to coordinate the application. It took more than a miracle to snare a share of competitive block grant funds, noted Cathy Conlow, director of the county Urban Renewal Agency. Hamilton and Ingram carefully researched and followed new federal funding guidelines. "It's a tough grant process," Conlow said. "Jane had done her homework. She knew what she was doing." More space is vital if the center, begun in March 1991, is to continue its mission to provide comprehensive services to reduce the trauma of childhood sexual abuse. When the center opened, it served between 200 and 300 Jackson County children a year. Last year, Hamilton said, it served nearly 700. The incidence of sexual abuse probably has not increased in the last decade, said Hamilton. She attributes the rise in service toward more awareness of the problem and increased reporting. "That's the $64,000 question. Is there more abuse or are people reporting it more? I think there's more disclosure," she said. With the addition, the center will be able to provide comprehensive evaluation and treatment from the moment a child reveals abuse has occurred. Law enforcement interviews, medical examinations, court hearings, therapy and follow-up will all be conducted within the new center. Having an on-staff doctor to perform delicate sex-abuse examinations is especially important, Hamilton said. Curtis Oddo, an Illinois specialist in child sexual abuse, will be hired by the Asante Health System for the center. He is set to begin work in May. Although the law requires that all children who report serious sex abuse be examined, it can be difficult to find doctors willing to perform the exams. Of the 700 children treated at the center each year, fewer than 100 are able to be examined. With the addition of Oddo, Hamilton expects that number to increase to 400. Advocacy center volunteers plan to conduct a fund-raising campaign to furnish the addition. Construction should begin in a few months. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA