The Childrenâs Listening Place, Inc. (CLPinc) Child Advocacy Center (CAC) has a new tool to help families in need of our services get to the center when they have no means of transportation.
The 2021 Chrysler passenger van was purchased on June 24th with the help of the Sisters of St. Joseph Health and Wellness Foundation in Wheeling and the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation (PACF) in Parkersburg.
CLPinc conducts nearly all the forensic child interviews and family advocacy regarding abuse, serious neglect, and sexual abuse for law enforcement and Child Protective Services (CPS) in Wood, Wirt, Pleasants, and Ritchie counties officially. Courtesy interviews are also done for Calhoun County, with the plan to take them on officially later this year. Interviews are also conducted for Gilmer, Clay, Jackson on a regular basis, just to name a few.
Family advocacy sometimes can last a year or more for each child. âProviding transportation to children for our more rural areas of the region is important as they shouldnât be without this important service because of where they live or how much they have.â
Medical exams are also provided at CLPinc by our certified nurse examiner in a state-of-the-art medical room. The exams are often scheduled, but occasionally depending upon the recency of
the suspected incident, kids must get to the center for immediate examination. The van will make sure that they can be seen quickly if the non-offending guardians do not have access to transportation.
âThe purchase of the van will give us the ability to get kids to the center that may otherwise be forgotten. There is no charge to them or their family. It also gives us the ability to transport
kids to get a medical exam when our nurse is not available to do one at our center. These medical exams occur in Kanawha or Harrison counties as CCMC does not provide these types of exams. Our staff must attend mandated multi-disciplinary team meetings (MDT) in each of the
counties we officially serve, and the van now provides us a means of getting them there without using their own vehicle.â
CLPinc is currently seeking a few special and responsible volunteers to provide transportation using the van when needed. Thorough background checks and driving history will be conducted for anyone who applies to serve the center.â
CLPinc had the highest number of forensic interviews in West Virginia last year with over 600. The second highest CAC had 437 forensic interviews. There was an increase in the number of
forensic interviews at CLPinc from 2019 to 2020 of 22%, and the center is on pace to break last years number with 336 interviews thus far this year.
Pandemic or no pandemic, day or night, weekend or work-day, this center continues to provide this vital service relying only on grants, foundations, and donations. The Childrenâs Listening Place is quickly becoming one of the premier CACs in West Virginia, not only because
of the vast number of children we serve, but because of the talent and caring of our areas law enforcement, CPS, prosecutors, and Family Courts. Its terribly sad that we even need this type of service, but glad we are here for the kids who fall victim and for the non-offending parents or guardians that are trying to put their life back together.
The Childrenâs Listening Place, Inc. is located at:
200 Star Ave. Suite 212 Parkersburg WV
304-917-4437 or 833-245-4437 toll free
or for more information visit  childrenslisteningplace.org
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