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Good afternoon, good afternoon, and welcome to the City Club of Cleveland, where we are devoted to creating conversations of consequence that help democracy thrive.

It's Friday, July 24th, and I am Myesha Watkins, Administrator of Cuyahoga County's Office of Violence Prevention I'm pleased to introduce today's forum, which is part of City Club's Local Heroes series.

It's a series that spotlights champions right here in Northeast Ohio whose hard work changes the way we view ourselves in our community.

Today we have the honor to hear from Jennifer Johnson, the Executive Director of Canopy Advocacy Center.

Cuyahoga County receives over 20,000 reports of child abuse and neglect every year.

This means that every year our public services are responsible for the individuals' lives individual lives of 20,000 children who are impacted by trauma.

Once a report is made, a full investigation requires the work of many groups, including law enforcement, medical professionals, prosecutors, Child Protective Services, and victim advocates.

Asking child victims to retell their story puts them at great risk of being re-traumatized.

That's where the Canopy Advocacy Center has completely transformed how Cuyahoga County child abuse victims are empowered to heal.

Jennifer Johnson leads Canopy under a one-place, one-time philosophy where children visit the safe, welcoming environment of a center to tell their story to a forensic interviewer just one time.

This streamlined model of child advocacy centers is a gold standard nationwide.

Jennifer Johnson used her decades of clinical experience as a licensed social worker to ensure that the efficiency of the child advocacy center model is realized in Cuyahoga County.

Canopy now has served thousands of children and families affected by abuse and neglect.

Allowing for prompt convictions while minimizing trauma.

Today we are today we will hear more from Jennifer and learn about the Child Advocacy Center model, child abuse and how to recognize it, and how to report those concerns.

Recognizing that today's forum covers a difficult and heavy topic, a reminder for our audience to report suspected child abuse, call Cuyahoga County's Children and Family Services at 216-696-KIDS, 216-696-KIDS.

Or if you are a child or a child is experiencing a mental health crisis, please contact Frontlines Mobile Crisis Team at 216-623-6888.

Now, members and friends of the City Clubs of City Club of Cleveland, please join me in welcoming Jennifer Johnson.

Hello everyone, how are you?

Good.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you to the people that are listening online and the people that will watch later.

This is a difficult topic to talk about, as you heard Myesha say, but it's a really important topic as well.

I want to start out by recognizing that your presence matters.

As you'll hear today, presence and showing up is at the heart of everything that we do.

I'm Jennifer Johnson, as she said, and I've spent much of my career working with young children who've experienced some of the worst things that people can go through.

The thing that has been steady with me though is not the severity of what happened to them, even though that's what most people think.

It's that the systems that were meant to protect them were built around the needs of adults rather than the needs of the child.

Not out of indifference, not because the people working within them didn't want to help people, just out of the way things evolved piece by piece over time.

Without thinking about what it could look like from a child's perspective.

I want you to imagine something with me.

I'm 6 years old.

I'm not sure what's happening to me.

But I know that it doesn't feel right.

I'm at school.

And when a teacher asks if I'm okay, I say I'm sad.

I'm scared.

That I think I'm being hurt.

That teacher believes me.

Me.

He believes me.

And my teacher reports it.

He did the right thing.

He called the county's child abuse hotline, child abuse and neglect hotline, 216-696-KIDS.

I think to myself, maybe I'm gonna be okay.

I'm finally gonna be safe.

I'm never gonna have to feel like this again.

And I'm so glad I'll never have to talk about this again.

Now, hold that image for me for a minute while we slightly switch gears, because this is when things can start to get complicated.

Because that teacher's report, by necessity, triggers a process to ensure that the child is safe.

And that process, in it, the child has to tell their story again.

To a caseworker from Child Protective Services, then to a police officer, then to a physician who needs to document what happened medically, then to a detective who's following up on information, then maybe back to CPS for a second interview, and then to a prosecutor who has to build a case.

The child has to go to a hospital, then to an office building, Then a police station, and another office building even.

Now go back to that story with that 6-year-old.

I'm 6, literally 6.

We've all been 6 before, right?

Something terrible happened to me, maybe at the hands of someone I actually trust, maybe by someone I actually love.

I'm traumatized.

I want things to be normal.

I want to see my friends.

I'm worried I'm in trouble.

I'm worried someone I love is in trouble.

And I forget things.

I'm 6.

And now I have to tell that story again and again and again.

By the time a child has access to services and support they need to begin healing, they have told their story an average of 9 times.

9 times.

Think about what that means for a child.

Every time they have to tell it, they have to relive it.

Every new adult asking the same question sends the same message, that a child has to keep earning the right to be believed.

That the system is designed for the adults in it, Not the child in the center of it.

And here's the thing, most of the time everyone involved is genuinely trying to help that child.

But nobody sat down originally and said, what does this experience feel like for a 6-year-old who just told the hardest truth of their life?

What do we owe that child?

Child abuse is not something that happens in other neighborhoods to other families.

It crosses every zip code, every income level, every race.

1 in 7 children in this country is abused before their 18th birthday.

That means at all of the tables that you're sitting at right now with the people around you, 1 to 2 of those people at that table may have experienced abuse as a child.

In Cuyahoga County, As you heard Myesha say, there are more than 19,000 reports that come to the child abuse neglect hotline every year.

That is not a crisis happening somewhere else.

That is here in Cuyahoga.

That 6-year-old child, he was feeling relieved that he'd not have to say it again.

The exhausting, frightening experience of telling that story again again.

And before November of 2018, he would have had to, simply because of how things are designed.

That was the reality for children in Cuyahoga County then.

So what happened?

Canopy Child Advocacy Center opened in the county on November 18th, 2018.

We were the last urban county in the entire United States to open a child advocacy center.

The model has been around since 1985, and there's over 900 in the United States.

That context matters.

There have been 3 previous, very genuine some of you in this room were a part of them attempts to bring a child advocacy center to Cuyahoga County.

Every single one of them failed.

Not because the people that were involved didn't care, Because it's this hard to get it right.

This model demands that every partner that we have shows up fully, consistently, and that takes trust that has to be built over time across institutions that by design sometimes just don't naturally work together easily.

So what is the CAC?

What is a Child Advocacy Center?

At its core, it's deceptively simple.

That 6-year-old child comes to one place, one child-friendly trauma-informed location.

A trained forensic interviewer sits with that child and they listen.

But here is what makes it different from everything else that came before.

Law enforcement, Child Protective Services, and a medical team, they're all in the same place, a separate room though, watching together in real time.

Not in sequence, not one time in their separate offices with their separate paperwork, not even all 5 or 6 of them in front of the child.

They're watching together.

The child tells their story once.

The adults coordinate.

Picture this.

The child is likely tired.

Confused, and now worried because the adults seem worried.

The Cuyahoga County Division of Children and Family Services, who took the call from the child's teacher, gathers information, talks with the specialized medical team to understand if there's an injury and possible risk to the child, and they make a plan together for the child to come to Canopy Child Advocacy Center.

When the child arrives, he is offered a snack, he's shown around the center, he's prepared to understand gently what's going to happen next.

There are toys and games and time for him to become comfortable in a space that was designed specifically for children.

Canopy coordinates the response.

We bring in law enforcement, prosecution, medical professionals, and the others who need to be involved while assigning an advocate to support the child and family.

The child then meets with one trained interviewer in a calm, child-friendly room.

The rest of the team observes from another room.

So that that child does not have to tell that same painful story again and again.

If a medical exam is needed, that happens at the CRC too.

Not across town, not at a hospital with a waiting room full of strangers, not on another day unless that's necessary.

In the same building, in a space designed to feel safe, with a medical professional who has been trained specifically for this work.

The team creates a plan so the child is able to stay somewhere safe.

Law enforcement and prosecution receive the information they need to pursue accountability, and the child is able to begin therapy.

Before leaving, the child can choose a stuffed animal or a book or both.

It does not erase what that child had to talk about, but it definitely helps him leave with something comforting and hopefully with a sense that this is a place where adults listened.

Believed him, and worked together to make sure he was safe.

That changes everything for that child.

Now understand what this model requires.

It requires a prosecutor, law enforcement, 3 competing health systems, advocates, mental health providers, and a county child welfare agency to fundamentally change how they do their jobs.

And to trust each other enough to do it together in a county as large and complex as Cuyahoga, that's not a simple thing to ask.

It took years and years of relationship building.

I'm so serious when I say years.

I was there, and some of these people were there before me.

And the thing about it is, is it, it was worth it because When you have hard conversations and people decide what's best for children and that it matters more than what's comfortable for their institutions, pretty awesome things can happen.

One of the clearest examples I have of collaboration is something that people in this community have never heard of, the Child Protection Team.

This, in some ways, is where Canopy is genuinely innovating, and I don't think most people know in the community that it exists.

The Child Protection Team, which has been supported by the county since its inception, is based at Canopy, and it brings together mental health, University Hospitals and Cleveland Clinic.

3 institutions who, while many of the people that work there work together, are often known to be competing, working together willingly under one roof, all embedded under one protocol with one shared goal: to make sure that every child that needs an exam, who could benefit from one, has access to an expert medical evaluation.

The physicians and the medical practitioners in our child protection team are among the most specialized professionals in their field.

Child abuse pediatrics is its own subspecialty, and I'm telling you, there is a national shortage of them in the United States.

They treat children who have been physically abused, neglected, and sexually abused.

And the fact that Cuyahoga County has that expertise embedded inside Canopy, available to every child who comes through our doors if needed, is something that this community should know about and be proud of.

Because when I travel, they can't believe that we have access to child abuse pediatricians, to sexual assault nurses, to nurse practitioners in the capacity that we do.

Where that medical exam happens matters more than people realize.

It's at the same place as the interview, at Canopy, in a space that was designed from the ground up to feel safe for a child.

Our colors and our furniture and our layout are not an accident.

It's a deliberate choice because we know that a child who feels safe can begin to heal.

This work is hard.

It's not always obvious whether an injury is a result of a fall, which happens with children, or something worse.

It could be either or.

A bruise on a child requires careful, expert evaluation.

Getting it wrong in either direction has devastating consequences.

Missing and being incorrect could tear a family apart.

Not recognizing that it's abuse puts a child in danger.

I told you earlier that 1 in 7 children in this country is abused before their 18th birthday.

I want to say it again because I think the first time you hear a number like that, part of your brain resists it.

1 in 7.

In Cuyahoga County, there are more than 19,000 reports of child abuse and neglect every single year.

And since November of 2018, Canopy has served nearly 5,000.

Of those children and families.

And here's the thing, behind every one of those numbers is a child who was believed, who was supported, who was given a chance to heal.

A child like that 6-year-old.

Unfortunately, even in these times, not every child who is abused ends up in the same place or can come to Canopy.

Some receive services and begin to heal.

Many don't.

Unaddressed child abuse, though, is expensive.

The long-term costs, the potential involvement in the justice system, the substance abuse treatment, the emergency shelter, the physical health consequences that follow survivors into adulthood and increase healthcare costs for years, the lost economic productivity, the strain on families, in communities.

All of this adds up to far more than the investment it takes to do this work right the first time.

This is not just a child welfare issue, right, Jackie?

It's a public health issue, a public safety issue, Deputy Chief, as you know.

It is an issue that when we think about what it takes and the things that it does to employers and health systems, it's lifelong, and it ripples out into communities and families for generations.

Collaboration is at the heart of what we do.

In civic life, though, we use that word a lot, and it can start to mean nothing.

Collaboration is not a value statement on a wall.

It's a methodology.

It's actually how we function at Canopy.

Each partner does something that no other partner can do, and if the model fails it will if any piece is missing.

In the beginning, collaboration looked a lot like us planning and thinking about how we were going to bring people together, designing carpet, choosing forensic interview styles, how we were going to manage things.

Making sure everybody was heard.

Let me walk you through what collaboration looks like in practice today, and to acknowledge and say thank you to many of the partners that are in this room and make this work possible.

There's several of them here.

Cuyahoga County's Division of Children and Family Services is the backbone and the investigative side of this work.

They are involved in most cases that come through our doors, and they have statutory responsibility for child safety in the county.

Everything that we do is built in partnership with them, whether involved or not in each case.

Law enforcement investigates Cleveland and Suburban Police, the Sheriff's Office.

Thank you, Larry.

The criminal accountability piece of this work matters, and a child deserves not just to heal, but to know that what happened to them was wrong and that the system took it seriously.

The county prosecutor's office is at the table.

Because a strong forensic interview conducted once in the right environment with the right training produces better evidence.

Better evidence means better cases.

And better cases means more accountability.

And then come the courts.

And I want to pause here because people often don't understand that this is the longest part of the journey.

For the families we're with.

That child who came to us at 6 may be 9 when prosecution is complete, because the case moves through the system's timeline and not the child's.

And alongside that advocacy is therapy.

In the community, people often think that a forensic interview is treatment.

It's just the beginning.

Children who've experienced trauma need access to trauma-focused therapy with people who are trained in how to help them.

And then there are community organizations that extend what we do behind our doors.

There's Journey Center for Safety and Healing, Anne.

There's Frontline Service.

I know you're here somewhere, Corey.

The Collaborative to End Human Trafficking.

Belfair.

Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, the Child Wellness Campus.

These are not peripheral partners.

They are part of how children and families actually stabilize and recover.

Child abuse does not happen in isolation from other forms of trauma and family crisis, and this response can't either.

Our partners come together regularly to talk about cases, not to give updates, but to solve problems.

We ask what's getting in the way, who can help, and what we can do differently.

We think beyond our roles, and we bring every resource together that we can think of to hold one another accountable, but with honesty and respect and the shared understanding that no child should fall through the cracks.

Case Western Reserve University was involved in the beginning with laying the research for the groundwork of what was going to happen.

An advisory committee who's been a critical part of how we do our work and evaluate it is still in existence to this day.

Our funders like the Gunn Foundation, the Cleveland Foundation, Community West, Mount Sinai, and many others have made a bet on this model.

That bet is what makes it possible for every single service that Canopy provides to be completely free to families.

No family who comes through our doors pays a penny.

That bet has changed 5,000 lives.

The DCFS Advisory Group and Invest in Children, along with County Council and the County Executive thank you, Councilwoman have invested over and over again in keeping children safe, even when the budget was really tight.

We do not do this work alone.

At the state level, we have a state chapter that sets standards and provides training, makes sure that resources and policy environments try to help with the work that we're doing.

Being part of that network means that we're connected to best practices, and it also means that anyone who's doing this work should get anything that you would get here in another county in the same way.

So when one of our detectives has a case that happened in another county, they can call and say, hey, I need the CAC, I need to have a forensic interview with a child, and the very same thing happens.

None of these partnerships though are self-sustaining.

I want to be honest about that.

They require a constant investment of time and attention and trust.

The 3 previous CAC attempts in this county failed because that trust broke down.

We have spent 8 years building it and fighting for it.

But here's the thing, the work is working.

The children who come through our doors are being served by a model that's nationally recognized and locally proven.

It changes lives.

It saves lives.

Sustaining it requires the same commitment from our partners that they had back then, and that they still keep up with all these years later.

And I'm so grateful for that commitment.

I don't take it for granted.

Collaboration is hard work.

We choose it every day, day in, day out, hour by hour.

Along with every partner in this room and in this county.

In fact, if everyone is happy, you could probably be doing more.

When I talk about advocacy, I mean 2 different things, and both of them matter.

The first is client advocacy.

This is the work that happens inside of Canopy, through our doors, with an assigned advocate, a person who helps people understand that what's happening to them at every step of the way can feel overwhelming and confusing and frightening, but that they can also be connected to services services.

They show up at court dates, they check in weeks and months later, they connect families to services, and they hold people accountable gently to the next step.

They're the glue that holds everything together.

This is often the most important thing we do because a child can have the most expertly conducted forensic interview and the most thorough medical evaluation, and still fall through the cracks if there's no one else thinking about all the pieces and parts.

Canopy's advocates and multidisciplinary team coordinators are those people.

What I wish people understood more is that the families who come to us are not broken.

They're in crisis.

There is a big difference.

A mother who just found out that her child was abused is not someone who needs to be managed.

She needs someone to sit with her in one of the hardest moments of her life and tell her, you are not alone.

We know what to do.

And we are going to walk through this with you.

The second kind of advocacy is what brings me here today.

Public advocacy, making sure people know about Canopy.

This includes ongoing work of making sure that people who allocate limited resources and write child welfare policy understand what's at stake.

It's mayors, city council members, the county executive, county council.

It's state legislators, Congress, and even the President of the United States.

I'm at City Club today because I believe this community needs to know more about Canopy and the importance of the Child Advocacy Center model.

We have been called a hidden gem, and I appreciate the compliment, but I do not want to be hidden.

Nearly 5,000 children and families served.

3 major hospital systems working together.

8 years of building something that 3 previous attempts could not make happen.

That story is Cleveland's.

And Cleveland deserves to know it.

But there are more children who need to be a part of it.

Our capacity to serve in this community has not kept pace with the need.

There are children in Cuyahoga County right now who are hoping that someone notices, that someone cares.

There are partners in Cuyahoga County that are in desperate need of resources to keep doing this work together.

And every single one of those children deserves what Canopy provides.

You can help give that to them.

That is the ask.

Having more children to serve is not necessarily a complaint, though I wish I could put myself out of a job every single day.

It's an invitation.

Canopy is facing potentially deep funding cuts this year and next year, and I understand budget pressures behind that because everybody's feeling them, let's be honest.

But the thing that people have to understand is that when there's financial strain on families, The risk of abuse goes the other way.

It raises also the cost of dismantling a system that works when knowing the need doesn't shrink to match the revenue is unable to even be matched numerically.

So if you're a county official, any elected official, You have influence.

Choose to support the CAC and the child protection team work, but also the child welfare work, because this model works.

If you're a funder or a civic leader, I'm asking you to tell this story.

Talk about Canopy.

Consider whether there's a role for you to support not just this organization, but others that do the work.

And there's room for philanthropy when there's gaps that governmen I invite all of you to come see the center.

I've just explained it to you, but it's a whole lot better when you see it in person.

I've got staff all around this room and board members, so I'll make sure that they raise your hands so they know where you are.

Make sure you see them if you want to come see it.

But most importantly, and if there's nothing else that you hear, please hear this.

For every member of this community and the people listening online, I have an ask for you.

Learn the signs of child abuse.

Pay attention.

Trust your instincts.

If you see something, say something.

Abuse can look like unexplained injuries, but it can also look like a child who's withdrawn, Who flinches at unexpected touch, who's suddenly struggling in school, who's afraid to go home.

And it doesn't always leave physical marks like people often think.

Neglect is one of the most common forms of abuse, and it can look like a child who's going hungry, who doesn't have clothing, who can't get the medication they need, who may be chronically absent from school.

You do not have to be an expert.

You just have to pay attention.

And if you have a concern about a child, call.

We shared the information about the hotline and we'll continue to share it.

You don't have to be certain.

And I understand the fears that go along with calling, but gosh, do you understand the fear of a child who is at risk if you don't?

Because when you call, a child that is in need of help might end up at Canopy.

And when a child comes to Canopy, something different happens, as you've heard me explain.

Remember that child that we talked about, that 6-year-old, the one who told the teacher what happened to them?

Or imagine the 2 children who were abused by an uncle, a child who was being trafficked whose coach was the one that hurt them, siblings, one of whom finally said something so that the other one wouldn't have to carry it alone.

Any child.

Our children, my child, because abuse can happen anywhere.

When those children come through our doors, they're interviewed by someone who's been trained specifically to create safety in that room on purpose, who knows that the child doesn't have to ask the same question 6 different ways, someone who knows that the goal is to let the child tell their story in their own words at their own pace.

One time.

And they do.

They tell their story once and a team is watching.

A detective, a caseworker, a physician.

All of them hear it at the same time.

All of them ready to do their part.

And when it's over, the family is able to hear, we have what we need.

We believe your child.

Here's what happens next.

We'll be with you every step of the way.

A child can start receiving therapy and heal.

That child can go back to being a child.

And they can play.

They can be with their friends.

Not because of what happened will be erased, because it won't be.

But because every child has an opportunity to be anything and everything they want to be when they're given a chance to be resilient and heal.

Because they were believed, because they only had to say it once, because a whole team of adults and partners in this room and in the community decided to do things differently, that the child's one story was enough to move mountains for them.

That is what we have built in Cuyahoga County.

Every child who experiences abuse is worthy of that care.

Not because of what happened to them, simply because of who they are.

Thank you.

We are about to begin the audience Q&A.

For those Just tuning in via our livestream or radio audience, I'm Cynthia Connolly, Senior Director of Programming at the City Club of Cleveland, and I'm here with Jennifer Johnson, Executive Director of Canopy Child Advocacy Center, as part of our Local Heroes series.

We welcome questions from everyone City Club members, guests, and those joining via livestream at cityclub.org or live radio broadcast at 89.7 WKSU Ideastream Public Media.

If you'd like to text a question for Jennifer, please text it to 330- 541-5794.

Again, that's 330-541-5794, and City Club staff will try to work it into the program.

A reminder for those who are here with us today in the room, if you have we have a member of Canopy support team in our green room for anyone who may need to speak to a professional right away, and that is out the door and immediately to our left.

All right, may I have a first question, please?

Thank you, Jennifer.

Thank you for sharing your story.

You mentioned the importance of building trust a couple times.

Yes.

I'm wondering if you would be kind enough to share what you've learned about what you have to do personally to build trust with others so you can do this amazing work together.

Sure.

There's a lot of things, right?

But what I would say is the number, the number one and two things.

The first is authenticity, 100% of the way.

Be what you say you're going to be, do what you're going to say you're going to do, and follow through on it.

And that is not easy to do within the confines of some of our systems.

And I think the second thing is to be flexible, to listen to people, hear them where they're coming from.

If you're flexible with them, you build the trust with them, they're going to be flexible, hopefully in return.

But that is reinforced by when you say what you're going to do, you do what you say.

I want to applaud your efforts to help immigrant and refugee children.

I imagine more would be coming to you, but I at this time, I imagine trust is a major factor, right?

We serve all children.

All children.

You talked about the devastating cuts, right?

Yes.

Tell us what those really are in numbers so everybody knows.

And what impact if the HH levy doesn't pass, it's going to be on you?

I just want people to understand the dollar amounts we're talking about.

Thank you.

Yep.

Canopy's current budget is $3.3 million.

A significant part of it is the county funding that supports the Child Protection Team Project, and that is funded through the HHS levy right now in the current administration that we're handling and dealing with all of us being trying to be responsive to.

There are so many stressors on them that it requires them to figure out how to manage all of those things.

Earlier this year, Canopy received a $500,000 funding cut in order for our partners to be able to stabilize what they needed to do just to be able to do their own basic job of child safety.

Right now, because of where things are at, we're facing additional funding cuts if there is not additional funding that is put into the HHS levy.

Where am I looking?

Okay.

Hi.

Hello.

Hi.

Good afternoon.

I'm really glad I came here today to hear more about your program.

I worked for the county for 35 years here in Cuyahoga County, and 9 years was in intake doing abuse and neglect work.

And this was back in the '80s.

And like you were saying, things were so, so different back then.

I can remember just removing children and dropping them off at Metzenbaum and hoping for the best for them.

And, you know, it was a totally different system, not because we didn't want to do any better, but there were not the resources.

So I'm really glad to hear about your program, and I hope it gets funding to continue.

My question is, where does the parental involvement come in?

Like, when you do that initial interview, are the parents involved?

Are they aware?

I'm just curious how you handle that piece when it's initial, like, comes from the teacher to the hotline.

Yeah, well, in that scenario and I'm sorry, one last question is also, what do you feel is your biggest challenge right now other than finances going forward?

So I think the every what I will say, thank you for your service to the county.

They're one of our active partners, and it's hard work, and for recognizing and understanding everything I'm saying.

The second thing I would say is every case is different.

What we, what we hope for is that what we call the non-offending parent guardian is the one that is bringing the child.

Sometimes while the children are there though, if it's not known and they disclose that the person who's there is harming them, we will also respond to that.

So we aim for a parent to be involved, and we work with our partners to make sure that they can identify who that is and make sure they know and can be at the center.

But the reality of it is, is some of the children don't have those.

They are already in DCFS custody, and so when those children come, it's DCFS that brings them.

My biggest challenge outside of funding gosh, these days it is funding.

My biggest challenge is understanding and knowing how the systems work and knowing that they have things they can't do and can't accomplish and can't help serve, and seeing how if they are not able to, that full picture of what's going to happen.

That's what I would say.

To make that make more sense, you know, an example I mean, a child who engages in violence has often experienced trauma, right?

And then how does that system respond to them?

And then how does that system respond to them?

And it's cyclical, and it continues to repeat itself.

So trying to figure out how to navigate that within confines that just exist is a real challenge.

Go ahead.

Hello, Mayor.

Thank you, Jennifer, and thank you for the invitation.

Of course.

I want you to know that when you came to Maple Heights City Council and you gave your presentation, no one knew the magnitude of this, this problem.

And we have one of the highest numbers in Cuyahoga County.

We do.

I want you to know that it changed the way our police police.

And so my question is it definitely did.

That was very good.

I'm very aware.

Yes.

Um, what's next for us and, and for other leaders that that may have this challenge.

And I found out the numbers, which were staggering.

So, you know, I've been really committed to this.

So what's next after the presentation, after the police now understand as well as my EMS squad?

What's next for us?

Thank you.

You're welcome.

I got a whole laundry list, so come talk with me after.

But what I would say is to continue to support the law enforcement that works with us and and follows our protocols.

I think be mindful of what's happening in the future landscape.

If, as funding continues to get cut, caseloads are gonna get higher, services are gonna be minimized, not not done, just harmed.

We'll do what we can, but stay with us, see it through, continue to identify kids who have been abused, follow our protocols, because they matter and they work.

And tell people, keep telling people about us like you said, because a lot of people don't know.

Hi there.

I'm really asking a follow-up question.

Councilman Sweeney asked about what are the dollars that can be cut and how much.

My follow-up is, so then what?

When you cut something, what kind of services are you forced to cut?

Or will you be forced to cut?

Definitely.

It really is dependent on the number, right, of dollars that are cut.

But what first happens is we try to figure out how to still serve all of the kids, and then we have to start making changes to how we're serving them and the types of services that we offer so that we can entertain higher caseloads and try to still retain the staff.

And then beyond that, what will continue to happen if, if there's extreme mass amounts of funding cuts, we'll have to stop serving some of the kids.

Kids we serve, we'll have to change the age groups or the types of abuse.

Again, it depends on the dollar amount and the resources we have.

I have 2, like a statement and a question.

Could you maybe just express a little bit about the role forensic nursing does to help support your medical suite?

I think that anything we can do to educate our communities about the role of forensic nursing.

But the other thing is, is how do we make referrals in our community to Canopy?

So from CPS to other resources, the healthcare system, the ambulatory pediatric department at a hospital or freestanding, how do we refer our children to you?

Thank you.

Yes, ma'am.

So the forensic nursing is something that we've utilized with all 3 health systems over the years for when kids have experienced sexual abuse and sexual assault.

They are experts in identifying if there is sexual assault or sexual abuse has happened, taking images of that abuse and what the response may need to be, making sure that that child is responded to and is able to be safe and treated if there's treatment that's needed.

And the images that they're able to take and zoom in on in the most trauma-informed, even though it sounds scary, and supportive way enables prosecution to be able to do some of the things they need to in the event that something has happened.

We use them at Canopy through partnering with MetroHealth and the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals to be able to work out of the medical suite and provide care for kids that fall into those categories.

You can make a referral to Canopy predominantly through our partners.

So we take referrals from Children's Services, law enforcement, the Sheriff's Office, any of the hospitals, any of our community partners that you hear, hear Because Canopy's job on the back end is to see who is working with them, and if they're not working with anyone who they need to be, so that then we can respond accordingly.

The way you can do that is through calling these partners, and we also have an email that we monitor and watch specifically for hospitals through the child protection team so that they can make a direct referral.

Because these hospitals, y'all, they're large, if you don't know.

So there's lots of practitioners in there, and that helps them be able to make referrals.

You are the prime example of what all kids need, and including myself.

I wish something like you all existed when I was a child.

So please keep up the good work.

Thank you for sharing that.

My question is on the topic of corporal punishment, which, depending on who you talk to, can be listed as child abuse.

So the World Health Organization has concluded that corporal punishment provides no positive developmental benefit for children, and it increases the risk of harm to children and families.

As someone with a 4-year-old daughter who's going on 12 or on 12, you're gonna have your hands full at 12.

As someone who believes in positive and nonviolent approaches to parenting, I'm curious to know if Canopy has a particular stance on corporal punishment and how do you help families transition from the abuse to evidence-based nonviolent approaches?

Definitely a great question.

Thank you for sharing your story.

I don't I can tell you right now as I stand here that Canopy does not have a formal written stance on corporal punishment, but what I can tell you is that it's child abuse.

We don't support child abuse.

What I can also tell you is that it's very difficult not to engage in sometimes, given people's histories, given sometimes what feels like 4-year-old children going on 12, like you said.

And so what we try to do when families have come to us is recognize what may be contributing to those behaviors that have happened and give them the supports that they need to not do those things, to work on what has caused, whether that's generational, whether that's challenges with mental health or anger, so that we can model the better ways to respond to something when something has happened and connect them to the resources, even if they don't have any of those things, to help them know how to work with those children.

And you know what, Cuyahoga is fortunate in some ways because it has quite a bit of early childhood mental health services.

We have First Year Cleveland.

We have a lot of people who do try to offer and open up their doors for when intervention like that is needed, because what we know is if it's not responded to, it often becomes cyclical and will happen again in the future.

I recall seeing that child abuse cases increased during COVID Is this true?

And if so, what kind of shifts in reports, cases, and response strategy have you seen since COVID Yes and no.

So here's the answer.

Our referral numbers, actual referral numbers, went down.

Child abuse did not go down.

The ability for mandated reporters, which are often the largest number that report to the child abuse hotline and make abuse known, access to them went down.

Full picture access, right?

Camera screen, person who could be abusing them in the home while you're trying to do something.

Pediatricians' ability to be able to see patients in the same way where they would have done a complete exam.

So our numbers went down, our numbers, our referrals, even CPS's in some ways.

But the need went up.

There was still abuse happening.

And so as the pandemic if it closed up, do we want to say that, right?

As it progressed, what we have seen is delayed disclosure of abuse, unknown abuse that happened that then we're seeing manifest itself in other ways.

And that in and of itself is more complex to respond to because you've missed timelines in some ways.

That would have found some evidence that could have been what was happening.

So what we've done is still made our doors open to those kids, adjusted our treatment styles and what we need to when the child comes in, and continue to raise awareness about this issue.

During the pandemic, we put together a mandated reporter guide for people that were seeing kids on screens just to try to help them in partnership with Children's Services and our partners and try to do the best we could with what we had.

I guess my question is, working in the Office of Violence Prevention for Cuyahoga County, seeing how all violences are interconnected.

How often do you have kids or families impacted by sexual violence that's also impacted by an underlying issue or response to gun violence?

So I don't have that number in front of me, but I'm going to get it for you.

But I can tell you right now that every child that we see that has been infected by impacted by sexual violence has also experienced trauma and quite a few of them have been exposed to domestic violence, violence in their neighborhoods, and sometimes gun violence.

Every child.

I've never known a child or an adult that has engaged in violence or been responded to with violence that doesn't have a form of trauma that they've experienced at some in their life.

That's why this work matters so much.

For kids who don't or won't report abuse, how can trusted adults recognize abuse and intervene without inadvertently causing harm?

More harm to the child.

Build the relationship with them.

Talk with them when they don't want to talk with you.

Be consistent.

Stay able to be trusted.

And the only way that you can do that is meet them where they are.

I have a 14-year-old child at this table right across from me, and some days she wants to talk to me and some days she does not, but I still talk.

And some days she wants me to listen and it's 10:30 PM And I want to go to bed, but I listen.

So that what I would say is continue to show up if you're going to be engaged with youth.

Continue to build that relationship because when they feel safe, you never know when they're going to say it, but they may.

There's a special place in heaven for you and pediatric oncologists and my whole team.

But thank you.

I meant you.

Your group generically.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um, are you able to utilize volunteers at all to help you, or are there legal liabilities and legal limitations which prevent it?

It's both and.

So we can use volunteers in certain capacities, but we also have other reasons why we can't in other capacities.

Right now we don't use volunteers to provide services to the kids or engage with the kids because we need to protect them.

And it's not because volunteers are gonna necessarily harm them, but these are active cases, active investigations, active trauma that's happening.

But there are mechanisms and other times that we have events and things that you we could use volunteers for.

We are honestly in search right now for board members as well.

So that's a way to volunteer.

And there's different ways that you could do it.

I know that my development director, who's right across from me right here, has a dream to have an entire volunteer team.

So stay tuned for the future because we're able to grow that.

We do see a place where there's value to that.

Hi, Jennifer.

Hi, Gabrielle.

Thank you for your amazing leadership and your words today and the work you all do.

I'm going to ask for you to talk about a difficult dynamic because I think most of us imagine when you share that story and when we hear these stories that these are adults with kids.

Can you talk a little bit about the challenges and the importance of recognizing that kids are different when it's kids and kids?

So we know that kids that have experienced abuse or witnessed trauma or even are being exploratory that can then turn into something else will touch and can touch and harm other kids inappropriately.

And so the challenge that that becomes is that they're little.

So you've got a 12-year-old who maybe is responding to the way they've learned to self-soothe because of the violence that they're witnessing in their home is to engage in abuse, is to harm their 4-year-old sibling.

But the system doesn't work in a way that we put the 12-year-old in prison.

And honestly, we shouldn't.

Bridget and Thomas are here somewhere.

They know what the juvenile justice system is like.

But at the same time, that 4-year-old's harmed, that 12-year-old was harmed, and they both need help.

And there's not a lot of programming right now that does that.

Canopy does work with both kids separately.

We have a specialized program for that.

But a lot of the programming or even the funding is tied to you either help one or the other.

And that's just not the way it works most of the time because it's so often interfamilial, it's not always, and a parent is faced with, do I help this child or do I help that one?

And they almost always choose the victim, as they should, but why do they have to choose?

Because that other child, that 12-year-old, if they got what they needed, may never do that again.

So this next question is a text question.

It says, are there any supports offered to children in youth detention centers or teen shelters?

Oftentimes these children are victims of abuse and can be ignored, leading to other compounding untreated trauma.

Yes.

So we have an active collaboration with the juvenile court.

We do offer support and intervention to them.

Some of our community partners do.

So that's they are who are responsible for and oversee the detention center for youth.

We are not at specifically teen shelters, but we do have partnerships with A Place for Me and organizations that if they have a need, they can call us and make a request.

But to your point, that is a incredible place to do an intervention program or a prevention program, right?

Thank you to who asked that question.

You said your budget is just $3.5 million, and I think you said there is more need than you can meet.

How much is unmet?

How much unmet need is there, and how much bigger can you grow?

Oh my goodness, so much bigger.

But I mean, again, I don't want to have to We want to be able to meet the need if the need is there.

Canopy started out serving children that were sexually abused and only 12 and under and only in the city of Cleveland.

And that was solely because of capacity.

And we've grown since then, but there's still quite a few kids that we're not seeing, as you heard.

There's 19,000 calls that come to the hotline, and while we wouldn't need to respond to every single one of those, there's still a good 7,000 that they open up and investigate that we're not responding to.

So the need is a new space.

We've outgrown our space.

Funding for a new space or a building, if y'all have one, let me know.

But the need is, is for additional space, additional funding capacity to be able to serve more kids because of the funding structure that we have right now.

We're doing the very best we can.

I've got advocates that carry high caseloads.

They're in the 63 to 70, 75 range.

They, they don't stop or hinder the work they're doing, but they can only do so much.

So if we had more funding and we had a bigger space, we could serve so many more kids.

Thank you.

Thank you guys.

All right, thank you to Jennifer Johnson for joining us at the City Club today.

And again, we recognize today's forum covered a heavy and difficult topic.

To, to report suspected child abuse, call Cuyahoga County Children and Family Services at 216-696-KIDS.

That's 216-696-5437.

Or if you or a child is experiencing a mental health crisis, contact Frontlines Mobile Crisis Team at 216-623-6888 Thanks again to Jennifer Johnson and to our members and friends of the City Club.

I'm Cynthia Connolly, and this forum is now adjourned.

For information on upcoming speakers or for podcasts of the City Club, go to cityclub.org.

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