Shasta County organization is sharing new approaches beneficial to children in need with 25 surrounding counties
Children’s Legacy Center (CLC) announced the creation in Redding of two new resources to address the impacts of severe child abuse, neglect, and trafficking in our area.
Work is underway on a counseling center to be called the Children Legacy Center for Resilience that will pioneer counseling services for child victims of trauma. The organization also announced the State of California has licensed the Center to place foster children needing homes in the care of resource families in the area.
"Our first step several years ago was reducing the additional trauma that children and youth can experience as they undergo the necessary investigative process,"said CLC Executive Director Kimberly Johnson. "Our next priorities are to provide trauma recovery assistance and find resource families for children who need a healthy place to call home."
When the new counseling center opens this summer, 14 clinical staff, including a clinical director, social workers, therapists, and other behavioral health providers, will treat as many as 150 children, youth, and non-offending family members per month using pioneering evidence-based approaches to trauma recovery.
"Contributing to the restoration of victims and their families is the primary goal of the new counseling center," said Alyson Kohl, Ed.D.,LMFT, director of the new Center for Resilience. "Through a team of treatment specialists, we will help children move beyond the pain of the past. In addition, we will provide workforce development training to new clinicians and therapists, elevating the level of trauma-informed care available in our community years into the future.”
The Children’s Legacy Center for Resilience will be housed at 1400 Oregon Street, Redding.
“Our new Children's Legacy Center Foster Family Agency provides enhanced support for youth and caregivers by creating groups of resource families. This structure mirrors the care we experience in a natural extended family,” said Sarah Peery, M.A., head of the CLC’s new service.
Their service model, sometimes called “Fostering in Community,” provides caregivers with an experienced lead family who mentors and provides additional care. A team of professionals supports each group of families.
The new foster care team is located at the CLC anchor building at 1110 Shasta Street in downtown Redding.
The CLC was founded in 2016 when six local agencies determined there was a better way to serve children in our area who have experienced trauma. The initial goal was to replace the need for abuse victims to make multiple appearances before county agencies, retelling the painful details of their trauma in government facilities. Instead, children are interviewed once at the CLC in a warm, home-like setting. Since its opening, the Children's Legacy Center has assisted 297 children.
Currently, the CLC employs 14 staff members across multiple services. With the addition of the counseling facility and foster care agency and other planned expansions, 48 professionals will serve the area's children and youth by the end of this year.
New practices used by the CLC staff, including pioneering approaches to reducing childhood trauma and enhancing recovery, are being shared with 25 counties in Northern California through CLC’s Regional Pilot Program. This regional service aims to assist the State of California with driving best practices for serving the children and youth of their communities.
"We work with neighboring county responders and the State of California, communicating discoveries as we care for children, "said Johnson. "In the process, Shasta County is becoming a statewide model for providing the best care possible to the most vulnerable in our communities."
About the Children's Legacy Center
The Children's Legacy Center exists to give hope, provide healing, and ensure justice for children and youth impacted by abuse, neglect, or other significant trauma. The CLC is based on the Children's Advocacy Center (CAC) model created more than 30 years ago in Huntsville, Alabama. Based on this original model, there are now approximately 950 CACs in roughly 25 countries world wide.
