ROCHESTER, NEW YORK- April 12, 2010

WHAT: The Bivona Child Advocacy Center and 12 area law enforcement agencies form a partnership to ensure children receive the best standard of care during child abuse investigations.

These new partnerships will be formalized by a joint signing of a “Memorandum of Understanding”. This demonstrates the entire law enforcement community’s commitment to collaborate with Bivona Child Advocacy Center’s multi-disciplinary team, ensuring that abused children receive all the necessary services to begin their journey of healing.

WHEN: Wednesday, April 14, 2010; 10:00 a.m.

WHERE: Bivona Child Advocacy Center
275 Lake Avenue
Rochester, NY 14608

WHO: Chiefs of Police from 9 jurisdictions formalizing this new partnership, including:

• Towns of Brighton, Gates, Greece, Irondequoit, Ogden and Webster
• Villages of Brockport, East Rochester and Fairport

Existing law enforcement partners, including:

• Rochester Police Department, including Chief David Moore
• Monroe Co. Sheriff’s Office, including Sheriff Patrick O’Flynn
• New York State Police, including Major Mark Koss
• Monroe County District Attorney’s Office

Mary E. Whittier, Bivona Child Advocacy Center Executive Director

WHY: April is Child Abuse Prevention Month and by formalizing official partnerships with all area law enforcement agencies, the Bivona Child Advocacy Center can ensure that every child in the Greater Rochester community that has been sexually or physically abused has access to its comprehensive services and resources, not just cases that have involvement from Child Protective Services.

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About Bivona Child Advocacy Center

Bivona Child Advocacy Center, a non-profit organization, is a safe, welcoming place where children who have been sexually or physically abused can begin their journey to recovery. Bivona staff facilitate an under-one-roof collaboration of social and legal agencies to protect, treat and counsel child victims and their families, and to investigate and prosecute the abusers. Bivona provides a compassionate, efficient, cost-effective infrastructure for child abuse intervention.

Bivona Child Advocacy Center is the only agency in the Greater Rochester community to provide these services. More than 1,000 children are helped at the Center each year. Although Bivona receives some government funding, the majority of its support comes from donors. Bivona Child Advocacy Center is an accredited member of the National Children’s Alliance (nca-online.org). The Bivona Child Advocacy Center has quickly become a resource to the community for all issues related to child sexual abuse. For more information, please visit www.BivonaCAC.org. 

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