THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 27, 1994 TAG: 9410270498
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH SIMPSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
A medical center will open in January for the exclusive treatment of one type of patient: abused children.
The Child Abuse Center of Hampton Roads will not only evaluate the increasing number of abused and neglected children in the area, but also treat their physical and mental wounds, all in one place.
Currently, abused children are likely to go from hospital to social worker to psychologist to get treatment. The center will coordinate those services for the child, and also present a more complete report for people in charge of prosecuting child abusers.
``Coordination of care will be the No. 1 advantage,'' said Dr. John DeTriquet, who will be the director of medical services at the center.
The center, expected to cost $250,000 a year to run, will double the services available to abused children during its first six months of operation.
The need for such specialized care stems not just from the rising number of child abuse cases - Hampton Roads has the highest number in the state - but also from the severity of the abuse.
``We're seeing more sexual abuse, more severe burns, more head injuries,'' De Triquet said. ``We're seeing more children having to be admitted to the hospital for child abuse.''
De Triquet, who now is medical consultant for child maltreatment at Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters, evaluated about 500 children for child abuse in 1993, 100 more than in the previous year.
This year, he has already evaluated 650 children.
Because of the increase, some children must wait three to five weeks to be examined by De Triquet, who is considered the area's expert on child abuse evaluation. The Child Abuse Center will end the wait for children, and also provide them with a wider range of psychological and social services.
King's Daughters has promised a $100,000 annual grant for three years to get the center up and running. The first year's grant already has been matched with funds from individuals and companies.
The city of Virginia Beach also has weighed in with a donation, and other cities are considering the proposal.
The idea for the center was born 20 months ago when Solon and Johan Paul, a Hampton couple, approached attorney Edward Stein for help in planning their estate.
The couple have no children and wanted to find a charity to leave their estate to after they died. The couple thought child abuse was an important issue. So Stein approached De Triquet with the idea of opening a center devoted to abused children.
``He told me it had been his dream for 15 years,'' Stein said.
Together they began working with experts in the field of child abuse treatment to make the center a reality. Alan Rountree, a clinical psychologist, agreed to be director of psychological services for the center.
The center, set to open Jan. 2 at 915 Hampton Blvd. in Norfolk, is expected to serve 1,000 children a year.
De Triquet believes the center will be a drawing card for child abuse experts to move to Hampton Roads. The center also will help train students of medicine, psychology and social work.
``There's an extensive array of professionals in Hampton Roads who work with child abuse victims, plus there's a community here that has a real investment in children,'' De Triquet said. ``Now all we need is the focus to bring that together.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
STEVE STONE/Staff
CHILD ABUSE: REPORTS VERSUS REALITY
Shown here are the number of child abuse and neglect cases that
were reported as compared with those determined to be well-founded.
1990/91 1991/92 1992/93
Reported/founded Reported/founded Reported/founded
Chesapeake 935 275 1,026 289 924 267
Norfolk 1,894 296 2,765 449 2,418 494
Portsmouth 1,059 176 1,049 162 1,102 215
Suffolk 336 60 322 450 300 58
Virginia Beach 1,825 431 2,284 450 2,617 504
SOURCE: Child Protective Services
by CNB