Ellie Hartog, CGC Director, Interagency Collaboratives and Coordinator of the SART accepting Proclamation from Governor (for more images from the event, click on this picture)
The Child Guidance Center of Southern Connecticut, celebrated the 20th Anniversary of the Child Sexual Abuse Response Team (SART) of Lower Fairfield County . Featuring a keynote address by Chris Hansen, renowned correspondent for Dateline’s “To Catch a Predator,” UBS hosted a brunch on June 15, 2010 at their Stamford Headquarters, in recognition of the twenty years of protection and healing the team has provided to over 1,000 child victims and the successful apprehension and adjudication of sexual offenders.
Chris Hansen spoke to his experience with child predators as an investigative reporter, acknowledging the crucial need to protect children and commending the SART for their commitment and dedication, exclaiming “If you guys don’t do it, nobody will.” Department of Children and Families Commissioner Susan Hamilton presented the team with an official proclamation from Governor Jodi Rell designating June 15, 2010, as ‘Child Sexual Abuse Response Team of Lower Fairfield County Recognition and Awareness Day’ in the state of Connecticut. Ellie Hartog, Interagency Director at the Child Guidance Center, was presented with a commemorative plate honoring her 19 years as team coordinator, stating the success of the collaboration is rooted in “the overarching goal to put the child first.”
Supported by both federal and state funding, commendation letters from Senator Chris Dodd, Congressman Jim Himes, and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal were proudly displayed in their absence. Debra Hertz, representing the William Pitt Foundation, shared the importance of this successful team from the prospective of a grantmaker, stating “this program really models how much more effectively agencies can be by working together.”
Accredited by the National Children’s Alliance , as a Children’s Advocacy Center , the Child Sexual Abuse Response Team is an interagency collaborative, integrating criminal justice and protective services investigations, while providing comprehensive services for child sexual abuse victims and non-offending parents. Developed under the auspices of the Child Guidance Center of Southern Connecticut in 1990, the Child Sexual Abuse Response Team was the first in the state and has been replicated in 15 communities across Connecticut .
Partner agencies include: Child Guidance Center of Southern Connecticut , the Center for Sexual Assault Crisis Counseling and Education, Stamford Hospital , Connecticut Department of Children and Families, Police Departments of Stamford , Greenwich and Darien , State’s Attorney’s Office, Superior Court Juvenile Matters, Office of Adult Probation, and Office of Victim Services.
The Child Guidance Center of Southern Connecticut is a non-profit mental health resource, serving children and teenagers in Greenwich, Stamford, Darien and New Canaan, both self referred and through referrals from schools, physicians, courts, and public and private human service agencies. CGC’s clinical staff of psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and care coordinators provides individualized, comprehensive, culturally competent and sensitive services to families representative of the rich ethnic mix of communities CGC serves. Preventative services are provided to youngsters, parents, and professionals through community education and consultation programs. www.childguidancect.org
