Kimberly’s Center for Child Protection helps youth impacted by abuse and neglect.
Kimberly’s Center for Child Protection was formed after a task force comprised of law enforcement, prosecutors and child protection leaders convened in 1996 to help find a better way to care for children and teenagers in the aftermath of child abuse allegations.
“The task force identified the Children’s Advocacy Center model as the best way to care for our communities’ children and founded this organization,” notes Executive Director Dawn Westgate. “During its formation, Thad Boyd was approached by the task force and asked to prayerfully consider supporting the mission. Boyd and his family championed the work of protecting and advocating for child abuse victims and out of that commitment to children came the name, Kimberly’s Cottage and, today, Kimberly’s Center for Child Protection. Thad, Chris and Snow Boyd’s sister, Kimberly, had lost her life in a car accident in 1994 and the task force asked to honor her legacy by naming the newly formed nonprofit for her.”
The nonprofit was awarded 501(c)3 status in 1999 and is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
“Kimberly’s Center for Child Protection was established with a vision of reducing trauma to children and teenagers who have experienced abuse and neglect,” Westgate explains. “Today, Kimberly’s Center is an integrated part of the child welfare system, that both assists child abuse investigations in collaboration with local law enforcement and also provides ongoing specialized trauma therapy and advocacy to help children heal from abuse and neglect.”
Kimberly’s Center is accredited by the National Children’s Alliance as one of only 25 Children’s Advocacy Centers in Florida. So far this year, Kimberly’s Center has provided critical services to more than 1,400 children in Marion County. To date, the agency has helped more than 22,000 children begin healing from the trauma of abuse.
“We have a team of 25 staff, ranging from a pediatrician, to APRNs, mental health therapists, forensic interviewers, child advocates and more,” Westgate notes. “We are co-located with a unit of child protective investigators from the Department of Children and Families as well as a major crimes detective from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, all placed full-time in our facility.”
Kimberly’s Center provides specialized care, including trauma therapy and advocacy, and also assists in child abuse investigations with local law enforcement. There are between 20 to 30 children scheduled for services on an average day, Westgate says. These services may include medical exams, forensic interviews and trauma therapy. Unscheduled emergency cases come in all the time and children are often brought in for care while they are waiting for a foster bed.
“Interviews, medical exams and support while waiting for foster care are all programs that are available 24/7,” Westgate continues.
The center’s Child Protection Team, which is funded by the Florida Department of Health, makes safety recommendations to the
Department of Children and Families and assists law enforcement in child abuse allegations.
Four master’s level therapists provide trauma therapy and are trained in various treatments to assist children who are victims of abuse. Every family that comes to Kimberly’s Center is assigned a child advocate who works closely with non-offending family members to help them access support. This program also provides for the physical and emotional needs of Marion County children while they are being placed in a foster care bed or otherwise moved out of their home and is unique to Kimberly’s Center, Westgate says.
To help prevent the abuse that brings children through Kimberly’s Center, a team of advocates teach age-appropriate information to students in classrooms across Marion County, which includes topics such as bullying, digital dangers, body safety, mental health awareness, dating violence and human trafficking.
“This program, in partnership with Marion County Public Schools, is in its fifth year and was in every public-school last year,” Westgate notes.
Kimberly’s Center is funded primarily through private donors, corporate sponsorships and partnerships. Government grants and aid from foundations and charities provide valuable funding for specific projects and the center also brings in revenue through fundraising events such as an annual auction, annual 5K and more.
The agency is in the process of adding an additional 5,000 square feet of space to create a new lobby and make space for the Trauma Intervention & Advocacy program for children waiting on a foster care bed and also for expansion of other key services.
“Some of our most compelling moments are when we are able to work with a child who has struggled to put words to the abuses they have endured,” Westgate offers. “When those children are able to talk with one of our interviewers and disclose what has happened and for them to feel supported and believed is incredible.” OS
To learn more, go to kimberlyscenter.org
