Our History

A New Child Advocacy Center Opens

In 1995, Carol Rahter, DO and a child abuse task force had a goal: to plan and obtain funds for an ideal environment to offer abused children forensic interviews and forensic medical exams. This space had to be comfortable, non-threatening, and child focused.

As most projects do, Dr. Rahter and her team started small. Their first child advocacy center opened in a one-room psychiatric outpatient facility in Conway. This center, then known as Children’s Healing and Intervention Program (CHIP), quickly outgrew the space and moved to a leased home, also in Conway. It wasn’t fancy, but 41 children still found the care and support they needed to begin to heal due to Dr. Rahter’s efforts.

The Children’s Recovery Center

The Children’s Recovery Center (CRC) is a nonprofit community organization that completes its work with the help of your donations. The CRC grew from a single room facility that helped 41 children to a three building, dual-county operation that serves about 400 children annually. We believe we are only touching the surface of this problem. Many cases continue to go unreported.

Nationally, one in ten children will be sexually abused before their 18^th birthday. We know the unfortunate reality is that 90% of abusers are someone the children know and may still love. This complicates the child’s willingness to tell someone about the abuse. For example, the child may not want their loved one to get in trouble, or their abuser may have threatened them and their families, or they simply may not know the right words to communicate what happened to them.

And Now

Our challenge is not only to encourage abused children to tell, but also to teach the adults in their lives how to look for signs of abuse. If you see something, say something.

Were you an abused child and afraid to tell? Don’t let that cycle continue. Talk to your children about child abuse and let them know there is a safe place for them to go and talk about the trauma. Help is available when maltreatment occurs.

Your donation helps us educate the community. Any amount will help – and we make every dollar count. Thank you for joining us in the fight against child abuse!