Each year, the BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Community Trust partners with local organizations to improve community health. This year, the Children’s Advocacy Center of Hamilton County continues working to provide child abuse survivors with help, hope and healing through forensic interviews, medical exams, family advocacy, counseling and prevention education.
“We treat sexual abuse most, but about half of the kids we see have something else going on too,” said Stacy Cook, director of Intervention Services for CACHC. “Domestic violence, parents using drugs, neglect, mental health issues – we see everything, so we have to be able to treat everything. No matter what’s wrong, we want to put them at ease and figure out how to help.”
More than 65,000 cases of child abuse or neglect are reported in Tennessee annually, and more than 3 million children are subjects of at least one child abuse case a year. Over 6,500 people are impacted by CACHC services annually.
“The last thing you need is to have to go to 10 different places to get the help you need,” Ms. Cook said. “Here, parents can talk to family advocates while a child undergoes an exam, so it is truly a
one-stop shop during what would otherwise be a terrifying time.”
To raise more awareness for the cause, CACHC was featured in the latest edition of Better Tennessee magazine, published by BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee.
“We are thankful for the Children’s Advocacy Center of Hamilton County and their work on behalf of our community’s most vulnerable residents,” said Chelsea Johnson, interim director of community relations and foundations at BlueCross. “Supporting organizations that improve community health is core to our mission.”
Through grants from the BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Health Foundation and BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Community Trust, as well as corporate sponsorships, BlueCross invested nearly $10.5 million in Tennessee communities in 2016.