Child Abuse Prevention Council reviews mission

Group considers name change, looks at focus on supporting families

Grand Canyon's Child Abuse Prevention Council met last week to discuss both its mission and possible new names to better communicate it.

It was led by teacher Kay Bordwell, who founded the group with a grant from the county three years ago. While they've held parenting classes and social events in the past, she and school counselor Elizabeth Davis hope to raise the council's profile and ability to address a long-standing lack of services and resources for youth here.

The first brainstorming meeting was held in November. There, participants identified a list of concerns and another of ideas. Last week, they questioned whether the group's name accurately described its mission and began work hammering out both a mission statement and a new name.

"Child Abuse Prevention Council - people ask, what does that mean?" Bordwell said. "The name is kind of turning some people off. They think we're just dealing with kids who have been abused in some way and that really isn't the focus. If the name implies things we don't really like it to, it can be anything we decide it should be."

SuZan Pearce, a parent who runs a music class for preschoolers, said she'd run into the same thing.

"I invited someone to come and they said they thought it was for people who were abusing their children and wanted help," she said.

Rather than focus on defining and targeting specific forms of abuse, Bordwell said she envisions a broader approach to promote activities and resources that will make life better for families here - things like education for parents and activities for youth.

"We don't need to define abuse necessarily. We need to look at the things we can do to support individuals, families and young people in our community," she said.

Sue Marks of the Coco-nino Coalition, CAPC's umbrella group, said that it wouldn't affect the group's funding or relationship with the county if they went by a different name - something that her own group does.

Some suggested names included the Grand Canyon Coalition for Children and Youth, Youth Advocacy Council and Grand Canyon Community Coalition for Healthy Families.

Park Chief of Environmental Education Jacob Fillion said that the word "coalition" implied a cooperative of different agencies - an idea he said was worth exploring.

"There are different groups in the community who are trying to do similar things," he said. "If this is a coalition, maybe that's what we try to do."

Bordwell noted that the November meeting drew a larger cross-section of the community and that it had produced a wealth of information.

"It was a good mixture," she said. "They talked about a lot of programs they knew about and were hoping to promote."

Patty Everts, who heads the northern Arizona Girl Scout Council, said that Grand Canyon has unique opportunities.

"You're a little island," she said. "This little community has enough to be able to solve its problems and to put forth enough energy into some really cool things for all members of your community."

Participants agreed that the youth themselves hold a big part of the solution.

"You have to give them a vested interest in this or they won't come at all," said Everts. "It's not a 'we will build it and they will come' philosophy. That does not work with that breed."

Pearce recommended involving them in service projects, starting with those to organize the infrastructure for future opportunities and resources for youth and families. She suggested having them work on an initiative to develop a community resource guide, inventorying everything available here for families and identifying gaps.

Participants left with the draft mission statement that talked about commitment to programs and people who help build healthy families.

It will be circulated to community leaders and groups who might be interested in providing input. If you would like a copy, contact Bordwell at kayb@grandcanyonschool.org.

"As we define ourselves, we invite people to come and help us do that," she said.

The next meeting is Wednesday, Feb. 18, at 6:30 p.m. at the Community Building.