AVON — Just one year ago, if children were the victims of abuse or witnesses in violent crimes there was no set standard as to how they were interviewed about what happened to them.

Now, thanks to a passionate group of people, child advocacy center Susie’s Place has filled the void over the past year as to how those children are cared for and interviewed.

Emily Perry, executive director of Susie’s Place, said the past year has shown them that there was a definite need for a child advocacy center in Hendricks County.

“We very intentionally positioned ourselves in the midst of the community, we firmly believe we are a community program,” Perry said. “To have the positive reaction we’ve gotten from the community, it’s such an affirmation of what we do. Anything we can do to promote healthy families and get that message out is just great for us. To see people wanting to be involved, it’s kind of a momentum builder to move in the right direction.”

As of April 15, the center has conducted 317 interviews of children. They also recently hired a part-time forensic interviewer to conduct interviews and work with law enforcement officers to build cases.

Perry said that although they’ve had cases the center has handled be prosecuted in court, they recently saw a case through the entire process to get a guilty verdict.

“It was the first case that we did as a full multi-disciplinary team and it made it all the way through and got a guilty verdict. We got to see it all the way through its entirety, successfully through,” she said. “It’s a blessing to see all of your efforts come to fruition, to get to see how the new way is so beneficial to the children in terms of the left hand and the right hand communicating and not letting them fall through the cracks.

“From that case, the progress we’ve made throughout the year, honing our skills and moving our team from being good to being great has been exceptionally rewarding.”

The center was named for Susie Austin, who was the first female merit deputy in Hendricks County. She eventually became a detective and then a lieutenant. As a detective, she specialized in crimes against children and sex crimes, and founded projects like Officer Teddy and Teach-a-Bodies programs. She passed away in 2003 from cancer.

Perry said she hopes Austin would be proud.

“I didn’t know Susie personally, but from what I’ve heard about who she was and what she stood for, this would be right up her alley and she would be warmly embracing it, the concepts that the team is embracing right now,” she said.

Susie’s Place works with law enforcement officers and the Department of Child Services, the only two groups that can request interviews. Though, Perry said every once in a while they accept interviews from a prosecutor, she said the vast majority still come from law enforcement.

Before Susie’s Place came into existence, interviews could have been conducted in any number of places.

“Historically what happened, a case would come in and an interview may take place at law enforcement, school, it may take place in the home, or over at the Department of Child Services, there was no set standard or operating procedure for those,” she said. “They flew by the seat of their pants, so by going through this, we’re really trying to emphasize the effectiveness and efficiency of a team approach. It’s easier for children and easier for the team in working together. Everybody’s on the same page and talking to each other.

Perry said they are beginning to take their interviewing on the road, to help children and families that cannot travel to Avon.

“We’re in the process of expanding our service to the Bloomington region and the four surrounding counties. We’re also developing a mobile child advocacy center, we’re laying the foundation for it, we’ll start the fundraising process this year, we’re hoping that will remove the barriers that continue to exist for rural communities ... we need to make sure those kids receive the services they deserve.”

Of course, like businesses and others struggling with financing right now, Susie’s Place also has to deal with raising money to keep going.

“It’s still difficult for us, we have one other person that works here, and funding is always that kind of treacherous, slippery slope that you’re on. It’s important to become such a part of the community, we want to be an integral part so that the community will continue to support us, so we won’t go anywhere and we’ll continue to be here 10 years from now, serving kids,” Perry said.

One of the upcoming fundraising opportunities is an Applebee’s Dine to Donate day April 20 at the Avon Applebee’s. During lunch, dinner, or any carside order to go, Applebee’s will donate 15 percent of your purchase to Susie’s Place. A flyer or a copy of this article must be presented with your check for Susie’s Place to receive the donation. For more information, call Applebee’s at 209-1692.

Also, to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Susie’s Place, they are collecting paper products, to honor the traditional first year anniversary gift.

For more information on Susie’s Place, visit the website at www.susiesplace.org.

charlee.beasor@flyergroup.com