Compassionate Capitalism - May 2005

Family and Child Treatment

Helping Heal the Hurt

Family and Child Treatment (FACT) is a nonprofit United Way agency dedicated to helping children, adults and families overcome and heal the traumas of abuse, neglect and violence. The organization was formed by the merger of two United Way counseling programs – one dealing with treatment of child sexual abuse and the other dedicated to family counseling. FACT has provided prevention, education and treatment services in Southern Nevada since 1990.

Its goals are to strengthen families while breaking the cycle of child sexual, physical and emotional abuse and neglect. Historically the only nonprofit agency in Clark County addressing the needs of sexually-abused children and their non-offending parents, FACT has developed expertise and leadership in the treatment of victims of family violence and abuse and has assisted thousands of children and adults develop into more functional, productive members of the community. FACT maintains community-based partnerships to ensure families affected by violence and abuse have access to affordable professional services, as well as ongoing support, education and a place to begin to heal.

"Mental health needs of children are grossly underserved in Southern Nevada," said Karen Marconi, executive director of FACT. "Child abuse in Nevada is nearly double that of the national average," she continued. "Access and affordability to services for low- income and at-risk families, Southern Nevada’s burgeoning population and the scarcity of services continue to challenge our community."

A board of directors composed of 11 volunteers is responsible for ensuring that the mission and the fiscal viability of FACT are maintained. With a 2005 budget of $885,000, FACT employs 11 therapists, a clinical director, two community outreach educators, two administrative specialists and an executive director. In fiscal year 2004, FACT served 673 children and adults at its counseling center and 319 clients through its offender program. A total of 1,140 children throughout the community received education about preventing sexual assault.

Child and Adult Victim Services include counseling for child victims of sexual abuse, physically- and emotionally-abused children, counseling for adults who were sexually abused as children, domestic violence survivors and rape victims. Other programs include: treatment for adult and juvenile sexual offenders; prevention education for youth in the community; a Let’s Chat program for children in Child Haven (the abused children’s shelter), as well as special-needs youth at local high schools and Opportunity Village; Life Skills (which focuses on dating violence, rape, anger management and personal responsibility) provided to youth involved in juvenile probation and parole; individual and group services to area youth overcoming their drug and alcohol addictions; and many others.

"Research has repeatedly shown that the impact of childhood sexual abuse on future functioning can be devastating," said Marconi. "When compared to non-abused children, sexually-abused children exhibit much more significant problems in all areas of functioning, including low self-esteem, depression, post-traumatic stress symptoms and difficulties in forming and maintaining interpersonal relationships, as well as school-related problems that can lead to dropping out. While the immediate goal of our programs is to help victims in the short-term, our long-term goals have been to strengthen families by breaking the cycle of abuse, and increasing victim self-esteem and autonomy."

FACT programs are funded through several state and federal grants, as well as an annual fund-raiser honoring members of the community who are dedicated to children’s issues and the prevention of child abuse and neglect. This years’ event, to be held June 23rd at The Stirling Club, will honor former Las Vegas mayor Jan Jones and John Ritter of Focus Commercial Group.

For further information, or to get information about the fund-raiser, contact:

FACT

1050 S. Rainbow Blvd.

Las Vegas, NV 89145

702-258-5855