Note: This story contains references to child sexual exploitation.
Yesterday was the beginning of Child Abuse Prevention Month. Benton County's EverHope, formerly the Northwest Arkansas Children's Shelter, hosted an event that gathered state leaders to educate and discuss how they serve the state's kids in crisis. Ozarks at Large attended the event and brings us this report.
Preventing abuse and maintaining hope were the topics of discussion at EverHope yesterday. The organization celebrated its new name and the beginning of Child Abuse Prevention Month. CEO Rebekah Mitchell says EverHope is an acknowledgment of the full spectrum of preventing abuse and helping children navigate the trauma it causes.
"EverHope represents hope, which is in the name, but it's hope always. It's hope at all times, no matter where a child is at on that journey, if it's before they even need that support, if it's during that moment of crisis, if it's afterwards as they begin to heal and look at what that next chapter looks like. And so for us, EverHope shows children that they're not alone. EverHope shows them that everything is possible, and EverHope is safety in that moment when they need it most."
Mitchell spoke to state leaders yesterday, including Lt. Gov. Leslie Rutledge, Secretary of State Cole Jester and Benton County Sheriff Shawn Holloway. She told them that EverHope cannot do this work alone.
"We all see child abuse, we all see neglect, we all see trafficking from different angles every single day, and we all know that it's not a single decision. It's not a single moment, and it is not something — I wish it was — but it's not something that any one agency can solve alone. It's pressure on families, on children, on systems, on communities that builds and when it breaks, we step in, we step in to support, we step in to protect, and that work changes lives.”
She said the current system of providing support to children in crisis is often put into categories, that is not how people in crisis experience those events, especially children. She says the crisis management aspect of the shelter is not changing. They are modifying their approach to abuse prevention throughout a child's life.
"Safety is critical. Our shelter isn't going anywhere. But we also have learned something else over the years, and that is it, if we only show up in points of crisis, we miss the opportunity to potentially change the trajectory of a child's life earlier, which is exactly what prevention allows us to do, because the goal is not just safety for a moment, the goal is stability for a lifetime. That's what we're all working for, and we all own a piece of that. Look at this room. If you look at the people around you, this is the system that matters. That's important. This doesn't happen very often. The system is right here in this room, and the future of child safety will be determined by how well we all align, how well we work together, how well we create a system of care. Let's not treat this month of prevention like a campaign. Let's treat it as a design challenge."
Benton County Sheriff Holloway spoke to the room about a growing trend in child abuse cases. He says that many incidents now start or take place online, and cautions parents to be aware of what their children are doing on platforms like Snapchat and Roblox.
"We spend a lot of money and resources making sure that our children are protected, but they're being targeted online. Just this week, two days ago, my detectives worked a case where a gentleman was expecting to come and meet a mother and her 11-year-old daughter at a hotel to do sexual things. We got to greet him in the parking lot. Instead, he's in our big county jail."
He says the Sheriff's Office hosts Parents' Night Out, in which they educate community members about the risks their kids face online every time they log on.
"There's messaging areas. And one of the things we do during our class for the parents, we'll go live as an electric road on the internet, and we have a live feed. We warn them you're getting ready to see things you don't want to see. Usually, within three minutes we're getting pictures of private parts sent to an 11-year-old. 'Hey, where do your parents live? Where do you go to school?' They're digging for information. So those real threats are out there, so just be vigilant in protecting your children online or your grandchildren."
Lt. Gov. Rutledge reiterated the need for parents' information.
"We need to educate adults. As I've long said, you wouldn't allow your child to get into a car with someone you don't know. You wouldn't allow your child to go home with someone you don't know. So why are you allowing strangers to come into your child's bedroom every single day and night? Through the internet, through children's games, evil people are unfortunately looking to have a relationship with your child, to expose them to things that they should never be exposed to."
Event attendees got a tour of the 83-acre campus. From the trauma-informed school project to the fishing pond, the up to 32 children staying at the shelter have a lot to explore. Mitchell says that's intentional.
"It allows children a sense of normalcy during a time in their life when nothing is normal. They've been removed from everything that they thought was normal, everything that they were familiar with. And we want to ensure that they know that normalcy is still possible, right? Childhood is still possible. Love and healing is still possible, and we see that every day. We have all of the care that these children need. But if you go outside and you walk through our campus, you see children laughing and playing and riding bikes and running around, and that's what children need more than anything to be able to heal. They need to be able to be children again."
She also says that EverHope has grown over the past three decades, but it's still not enough.
"What we need to continue to grow is to grow connection between other nonprofits, between other agencies, between other partners, because right now there's so much opportunity for more cohesive support. And so when we look at what growth looks like in the future, it means people coming together to truly support the needs of children and families in a holistic way that puts the child and the family first."
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline and edited for length and clarity. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The audio version is the authoritative record of KUAF programming.
