Thanks to the personal intervention of Sacramento District Attorney Jan Scully, one of the most devastating cuts proposed for Sacramento County has been averted, at least for now.
Last week, the county had proposed eliminating the unit of experts specially trained to interview and examine children who have been abused.
Some 20 years ago, before the establishment of these special units, a child sex abuse victim often had to endure multiple interviews, first by police, then detectives, then social workers and prosecutors. The multiple interviews took a toll on the young victims.
Under a system established to rectify the problem, one expert trained to interview children conducts a single interview while others with a need to know watch on separate monitors. Representatives of other agencies may suggest more questions, but only one person interviews the child.
In addition, anytime a child is taken into protective custody, experts conduct body exams to spot any injuries that occurred before authorities picked up the child.
These so-called clearance examinations not only provide evidence of abuse, they also protect foster parents against false charges of abuse that occurred before they received the children.
Together, the two programs cost the county almost $400,000 annually. Faced with big budget cuts, Child Protective Services had proposed eliminating them.
Alarmed by the obvious risk of such a cut, Scully urged supervisors to find a way to keep these programs alive. Then she went further. She sent appeals to agencies across the county to help backfill the county's cuts.
The DA's own office, the Sacramento Police Department, the county sheriff and the cities of Elk Grove, Folsom and Citrus Heights all came forward with enough funding to keep the sex abuse examination program running for the balance of this fiscal year.
CPS is appealing to the county's First Five Commission to fund clearance examinations. Hats off to Scully and others for stepping up.
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