ALTUS – A fundraising effort for Booker’s Place, a budding child advocacy center, raised more than $50,000 earlier this month, but organizers believe it’s time for the public to become more aware of the facility’s mission.
Sommer Robbins, a board member of the Stephen E. Booker Foundation and former Jackson County prosecutor, said the center dealt with 75 victims of child abuse and neglect in 2020 and has already handled 45 cases this year. In each instance, a forensic interview is conducted by a child advocate as other team members watch from behind a one-way mirror.
Team members include police officers, prosecutor, medical professionals and representatives from child services.
Robbins, who currently works as the Altus city attorney, said many people in Jackson County and southwestern Oklahoma don’t realize Booker’s Place exists or that child abuse is an ongoing, prevalent problem in this area of the state.
“People don’t understand how significant it is,” she said. “We try to do community training, but I don’t think people realize such a place is even needed. Prior to us opening in 2019, the child would be interviewed at the police station. The goal is to not put the child through numerous interviews, but to do it all at once.”
After the police interview, victims of child abuse would often have to tell the same story to prosecutors and child welfare workers, Robbins said.
In most cases, communities that are educated about child abuse have lower rates of the abuse and neglect, Robbins said.
Booker’s Place also allows medical professionals to conduct physical exams of the victims, and if needed, interviews with a sexual assault nurse.
June’s fundraiser was part of an effort to receive full accreditation as a child advocacy center with the National Children’s Alliance. The center has an associate membership in the alliance, which is a step toward full accreditation.
“The closest accredited center is in the Oklahoma City metro area,” Robbins said. “There’s not one in western Oklahoma.”
Robbins said the center’s board of directors is trying to raise enough money to hire a full-time employee who can serve as a child and family advocate. Currently, board members and other volunteers are performing those tasks.
The inaugural Bingo, Bags and Badges fundraiser held June 6 brought the entire community together, the foundation’s president said.
“The day of Bingo, Bags and Badges was a great example of what a wonderful community we have. We were all truly humbled by the outpouring of support,” said Melony Nettleton, president of The Stephen E. Booker Foundation. “Our local law enforcement officers and our local firefighters did a fantastic job modeling our designer handbags.”
More than 200 guests played 20 games of bingo with the chance to win handbags by designers such as Tory Burch, Kate Spade, and Coach. Wilmes Ford Lincoln Superstore sponsored the Louis Vuitton Neverfull raffle.
With hundreds of raffle tickets sold, the Louis Vuitton bag was won by Jackson County Sheriff’s Deputy Dennis Ratzlaff. Students at Altus High School donated artwork for the silent auction. The artwork sent a powerful message about child abuse and several artists attached letters they had written about child abuse, Robbins said.
The advocacy center is named after the late Stephen E. Booker, a Jackson County prosecutor who had a passion for helping victims of child abuse and neglect. Booker died at the age of 40. His wife, Robin, started the foundation in March 2015 following her husband’s death.
The center is located in a building owned by the Jackson County Memorial Hospital. The child advocacy center would serve children and their families in Jackson, Greer, Harmon, Tillman and Kiowa counties.
For more information or training opportunities, send an email to bookersplacejcmh@gmail.com.