SAFEchild News
SAFEchild Hires an Advocacy Center Director
Jul 1, 2010
SAFEchild Advocacy Center Hires Director
SAFEchild, a child abuse prevention agency in Wake has hired Cristin DeRonja as the Director of its new SAFEchild Advocacy Center.
Cristin DeRonja began her career at SAFEchild coordinating the nationally recognized Circle of Parents Program. She received her undergraduate degree in education and psychology from Vanderbilt University and her master's in education and counseling at NCSU. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor, National Certified Counselor, and NC Certified Parent Educator. She values being able to work with parents, children and other family members to model - not just teach - strong communication and other skills. "The more members of the family you touch, whether it's a traditional or non-traditional family unit - the bigger impact you have," she says.
SAFEchild Advocacy Center
In its 17 year history, SAFEchild has beome a highly effective and respected non-profit that helps children, families, and caregivers learn how to create nurturing home environments free from abuse and neglect. The opening of the SAFEchild Advocacy Center will fill a wide gap in services in Wake County for children who are being sexually and or physically abused and their non offending family members.
“The SAFEchild Advocacy Center will provide coordinated resources for children who have been sexually or physically abused” said Marjorie Menestres, SAFEchild Executive Director. Currently there is no central location for these children and their non-offending family members to receive all the resources and support services they need. The SAFEchild Advocacy Center will ease the amount of stress a family endures by eliminating the variety of locations they must currently go to seek the medical evaluation, treatment, and legal investigation that are all part of an abuse assessment. The SAFEchild Advocacy Center will provide all of these services in one location. “This will prevent children from being re-traumatized due to multiple interviews conducted by different agencies and provide more efficient services for families” said DeRonja.
Collaborating partners include Child Protective Services, the District Attorney’s Office, all Wake County law enforcement entities, WakeMed, other areas local hospitals, and others who are committed to the well being of children.
The Center is located in a house on Kidd Road in Raleigh. For more information about SAFEchild and the SAFEchild Advocacy Center, please call Cristin DeRonja at 743-6140 or email her at cderonja@safechildnc.org.
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