Children’s Cove Event Raises Awareness

May 18, 2023

YARMOUTH – Children’s Cove hosted their SAFE Child Community Resource Fair last month which saw 43 organizations, community members, and families all come together to raise awareness for resources available to those in need.

Jacob Stapledon, Children’s Cove Community Engagement and Education Program Manager, recently spoke about the event as well as what their program brings to the region.

“Children’s Cove is the child advocacy center for Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha’s Vineyard. What we do is we work collaboratively with investigative agencies, such as law enforcement, the department of children and families, and the department of public health for cases that are involving some type of crime against a child,” said Stapledon.

The event was so successful in the minds of the organization that they are already planning for their next event.

During the event, information was provided to those who participated, including available resources to families along with statistics of growing issues.

“When you look at things on a national level, one in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused before their 18th birthday. 90% of the time that offender is someone the child knows and trusts, so if it’s not a family member, it’s someone the family knows and trusts to take care of the child,” Stapledon said.

Children’s Cove was created in 1997, with more than 800 Child Advocacy Centers in the United States, Children’s Cove is the only agency that provides the Cape & Islands with services.