LDS Church Donates to Child Abuse Prevention Charities at Home and Abroad

By Megan Clasper
KUTV
June 28, 2018

http://kutv.com/news/local/lds-church-donates-to-child-abuse-prevention-charities-at-home-and-abroad

Women leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints presented a $50,000 donation to the Children’s Justice Center June 27, 2018. The money will be used to help child abuse victims and their families around the state. (Photo: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints announced two donations, totaling $75,000, to child abuse prevention organizations in Salt Lake City and abroad on Wednesday.

The church's female leaders traveled to the Children's Justice Center in Salt Lake City to deliver a $50,000 donation to help child abuse victims and their families. The money will help Children's Justice Centers statewide.

“[The Church recognizes that abuse is] a societal problem, that it also affects our members," Jean Bingham, the church's Relief Society general president, said in a press release. "And so, we want to support these wonderful organizations who are dealing with this on a day-to-day basis.”

The Children's Justice Center provides resources such as counseling and law enforcement support to help child victims overcome abuse. It serves as a centralized place for child protective services, victim advocates, and medical, law enforcement, mental health and prosecution services, according to a video provided by the center.

The center said it plans on using the donation to update interview recording equipment, continue a trial phase of an in-house forensic interviewer program, support renovations and assist in establishing a victim advocate in its San Juan County center.

An additional $25,000 was donated to Bolivia-based child abuse survivor charity A Breeze of Hope. Founded in 2004, the charity offers free legal services and social and physiological services to victims of sexual assault. The foundation has stated the donation they received will go toward technology updates and program supplies at Centro Una Brisa De Esperanza (CUBE) in Cochabamba.

This is the fourth consecutive year the church has provided financial assistance to child abuse prevention organizations around the world.

“Child abuse is a community problem, and it's really up to all of us to do something about it, and we need everyone to embrace the solutions and be part of it,” said Susanne Mitchell, who directs the Salt Lake County Children's Justice Center. “And what we've found is that the need is great. The caseload continues to rise. There's children out there that continue to suffer in silence. We want them to come forward and get help, and we want to have the ability to serve them with all the necessary resources to give them what they need."

The Utah Children’s Justice Center program is affiliated with the National Children’s Alliance in Washington, D.C. The alliance estimates that one in 10 children will experience abuse in some form by the time they reach age 18.

Families who have experienced abuse can go to the Children’s Justice Center to receive access to resources such as counseling, information about legal services, law enforcement support and information to help them overcome abuse. More information about the center can be found on its website.