Alli Willis and Christie King with Centier Bank of Whitestown presented Sylvia’s CAC and Executive Director Kassie Frazier with a $5,200 check this week. The donation will support prevention education efforts in Boone County over the next year.

“Prevention education is one of our biggest drivers of reduced caseload,” says Frazier. “When we talk to people about the signs of abuse, how to report abuse, and how to respond if and when a child discloses abuse, it makes a huge impact. The right response immediately after a disclosure improves investigations, increases successful intervention, improves prosecution outcomes, and gets kids away from abuse and neglect.”

Throughout the last few years, caseloads at Sylvia’s CAC and other CACs have been declining slightly, mostly since COVID-19. A variety of factors contribute to this welcome decrease, including increased abuse prevention education in communities. But one contributing factor is adults knowing how to react when they suspect abuse.

“We see it all the time,” says Frazier, “Where an adult goes from thinking, ‘Maybe I should ask some more questions or maybe it’ll work itself out’ to ‘No, this is serious and requires a professional response. It’s my obligation to report this for further investigation.” That shift comes from abuse prevention training held by Sylvia’s CAC staff throughout Boone and Montgomery Counties.

“This gift from Centier Bank covers the modest costs we have for curriculum, printouts, materials, and our staff time,” says Frazier. This $5,200 donation will cover the costs of training around 325 area residents.

Upcoming events are listed on our website, but you can also contact us if your group, company, or organization would like to request a dedicated training. Each prevention training lasts about 2.5 hours. Training is highly recommended for a company lunch-and-learn, training young adults in their first jobs around kids, churches, educators, youth groups, and daycare workers.

“This is a big impact for area kids and families. We can’t thank Centier Bank, Alli, Christie, Linda Bricker, and the Centier Gives campaign enough,” says Frazier.