In this issue:

• Resilient Communities: Celebration, Events, and New Communities
• Community Response to Child Abuse Conference
• Retiring Board Members
• CAASt Recognition
• Court Improvement Program May Training

Resilient Communities: Celebration, Events, and New Communities

A nearly two-year process culminated April 18 as Codington County was designated as a Resilient Community by Center for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment.

Codington County becomes a Resilient Community because of a coalition of local stakeholders that analyzed current strengths of Codington County that help children and families deal with and recover from traumatic experiences.

Sara Foust, facilitating team member, said, “Codington County is committed to building resiliency for our youth. The Social Services Advisory Council will continue to collaboratively work together to address needs in our community. We also have several learning opportunities and activities planned for the coming year.”

Read the full article.

Resilient Community Brookings County is hosting Overcoming Adversity Together, a conversation with Billie Sutton, a panel of local experts, and a free lunch and networking opportunity.

Registration is required for this free event. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/resilient-communities-overcoming-adversity-together-tickets-551558094107

Resilient Communities framework is in the Prepare phase for the communities of Flandreau, Springfield, and Yankton. If your community is interested in learning more about the Resilient Communities process, visit ResilientSD.com.

Community Response to Child Abuse Conference

Mark your calendar for the 23rd Annual Community Response to Child Abuse Conference: October 5-6 at the Sioux Falls Convention Center.

Sponsorship Opportunities: support the effort to end child maltreatment as a conference sponsor.

Exhibitor Opportunities: share your organization’s services and resources with 500+ conference attendees.

Thank You Retiring Board Members

During our quarterly board meeting in Pierre last month, CPCM recognized Advisory Board members retiring from the Board. Each of these members have been with CPCM from our founding in 2017, as well as served on or provided expertise to the original Jolene’s Law Task Force.

Angela Lisburg, Medical Provider and Forensic Interviewer with Central South Dakota Child Advocacy Center at Avera St. Mary’s in Pierre. Angela serves on over half a dozen MDTs and serves the entire central corridor of South Dakota. She is integral in growing relationships with tribal partners and child response teams across the state. Angela championed the No Hit Zone project for the state of South Dakota and is the reason Avera Health Care now includes No Hit Zones on their campus.

Mary Beth Holzwarth, Founder of Endeavor 52. Mary Beth’s children faced the unimaginable harm of sexual violence at the hands of a family member. Mary Beth began her courageous fight to find help for her family. Her journey highlighted the need to unify services across rural South Dakota and she became a voice for families in our state. Mary Beth is an ACE presenter and life-long advocate. She has most recently been selected as the Human Trafficking Coordinator for the State of South Dakota. Mary Beth’s voice is instrumental in making change in our state.

Jolene Loetscher, Jolene is another courageous family and victim advocate. Jolene bravely shared her story of survival after facing child sexual abuse and was gracious enough to become the namesake of Jolene’s Law Task Force when asked by Senator Soholt. Jolene advocated for the needs of services in front of the SD Legislature and dedicated years of time to what is now the Center for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment. Jolene also provided her professional skills to the organization by assisting with brand development for CPCM, project organization, media outreach, and connecting CPCM staff with MudMile Production – multiple training and informational platforms on CPCM’s website were produced by MudMile. Jolene is a constant supporter of CPCM and the movement to end all forms of child maltreatment.

CAASt Enhancement Recognized at National Level

The Child & Adult Advocacy Studies (CAASt) Team received national recognition from the United States Public Health Service and Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) as honorable mention for their work in the development and integration of realistic cases into an interprofessional simulation to enhance the CAASt Graduate Certificate program at the University of South Dakota. This work was supported through a National Child Welfare Workforce Institute grant received by the CAASt Team in 2021. The simulation was developed in partnership with Simucase and will be available for interprofessional learning.

CAASt Team member, Dr. Shana Cerny, presented at the American Occupational Therapy Association 2023 Annual Conference. She highlighted the CAASt Graduate Certificate enhancements developed through the NCWWI support, which included the creation of realistic and culturally-relevant case studies by multidisciplinary professionals, the promotion of multidisciplinary scholarships for child welfare professionals, the development of an interprofessional simulation, and a thorough evaluation of the graduate certificate program.

Court Improvement Program

The May CIP Session will take place on Wednesday, May 31 at 12:00 pm CST. The session will feature Sarah Thorne presenting Appellate Review of Sex Crimes. Register now to attend and receive the session recording.

Partner Opportunity: Conducting Child Abuse Investigations Training

The REACH Team has secured this training from National Justice Training Center of Fox Valley Technical College. This training is ideal for law enforcement, prosecutors, social workers, and tribes/tribal partners.

Training Schedule:
July 24-27 | 8:30 am – 4:30 pm
July 28 | 8:30 am – 12:00 pm

Upon completion or this training, you will be able to:

• Describe the type of injuries a child may sustain and those that may or may not be as a result of abuse
• Define child physical and child sexual abuse
• Define characteristics of victims and offenders of child abuse
• Describe preferred practices for interviewing minor victims and offending suspects
• Describe legal considerations for investigating and prosecuting child physical and child sexual abuse cases

No fee, registration is required by June 9. Learn more at https://ncjtc.fvtc.edu/trainings/TR00000080/TRI1498442/conducting-child-abuse-investigations

CPCM Happenings

Interim Director, Darla Biel and Advisory Board Member, Nikki Eining attended Child Welfare League of America’s National Conference, presenting “Resilient Communities: Shifting from Individual Responsibility to Shared Strategies.”