Ellie Hartog of the Child Guidance Center of Southern Connecticut (CGC) recently received special recognition from the Connecticut Children’s Alliance for her work to improve services for child victims of abuse. Hartog was the driving force in organizing the Connecticut Children’s Alliance, which is the state chapter of the National Children’s Alliance, a nationwide not-for-profit membership organization whose mission is to promote and support communities in providing a coordinated investigation and comprehensive response to victims of severe child abuse and child sexual abuse. State chapters provide mentoring and support to new and developing members, known as Children’s Advocacy Centers. Hartog served as a founding member and chair of the chapter for seven years. During that time membership in NCA in Connecticut grew over 300%.

Hartog also serves as Coordinator of the Lower Fairfield County Sexual Abuse Response Team (SART), an interagency team run under the auspices of the Child Guidance Center to integrate criminal justice and protective service investigations, while providing comprehensive services for child sexual abuse victims and non-offending parents. The goals of this collaboration are to:

• Assure that appropriate safeguards are taken on behalf of the child,
• Reduce the trauma of victimization for the child,
• Minimize the number of interviews for the child,
• Facilitate the provision of any needed medical and mental health services,
• Avoid duplication of efforts and potential conflicts between agencies involved in criminal justice and child protection investigations and service delivery,
• Increase the likelihood of successful prosecution of sexual offenders,
• Provide support for non-offending parents, enhancing their ability to protect and care for their children, and
• Assure that false allegations are responded to expediently and appropriately.

The SART program serves an average of 60 children per year and has seen more than 850 cases since its inception. Specially trained therapists conduct investigative interviews at the request of police or DCF. They also provide crisis therapy for the child and supportive services for the family to help them cope with the trauma of victimization. The team includes representation from the Stamford State’s Attorney’s Office, Stamford Department of Children and Families, Police Departments from Stamford, Greenwich and Darien, the Child Guidance Center, Sexual Assault Crisis and Education Center, Stamford Hospital, Office of Victim Services, Juvenile Probation, and Adult Probation.

Under Hartog’s leadership, this team was the first in Connecticut to achieve national accreditation from NCA as a Children’s Advocacy Center and serves as a model program in New England, providing training throughout the region. The collaboration and mutual support from its members are what make this team unique.

“The program brings together agencies and groups from throughout the community, all with an interest in protecting children,” said Maureen Ornousky, Senior Assistant State’s Attorney. “Ellie has created an atmosphere where these different agencies can work together, making sure that everyone has a voice and that the needs of the child always come first.”