Durant Center's Hartsville satellite aimed at bringing services to more victims of child abuse

Officials with the Durant Children’s Center and the Pee Dee Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Assault hope the presence of a satellite facility for the center in Hartsville “Plants A Seed Of Hope” and results in greater access to services offered for victims of child abuse and neglect in Darlington, Chesterfield and Marlboro counties.

Representatives of the Durant Center and the Pee Dee Coalition hosted a mid-project open house for the new Hartsville satellite facility Thursday to show the public the progress made toward renovating and opening the facility. The event coincided with the observance of April as Child Abuse Prevention Month.

The Hartsville center will be located in a donated house that once served as a doctor’s office located at 510 W. Carolina Ave.

Dr. Alison Evans and Pat West co-chair the Plant A Seed Of Hope Capital Campaign that is working to raise $200,000 for the new center. Evans said the effort is within about $30,000 of reaching its goal in donations and pledges.

“We appreciate any amount,” Evans said. “It’s all added up to be a very effective campaign. This is a difficult time to be raising money, but people have been very generous.”

Renovation work on the structure started in November and should be complete by the end of June with a grand opening for the new facility planned in September, said Ellen Hamilton, executive director of the Pee Dee Coalition.

Based in Florence, the Durant Children’s Center is a child advocacy center operated by the Pee Dee Coalition that offers forensic interviews, medical exams and therapy to children suffering from abuse or neglect.

But the distance of communities such as Hartsville, Society Hill and Cheraw and the transportation issues faced by many victimized families frequently discourages families from seeking services from the Durant Center, said center Director Christy Tuck.

“The whole idea is to have a child advocacy center within 60 miles of every child so that these families don’t have to travel so far to receive services,” Tuck said.

Tuck said the new office in Hartsville should make referrals easier for families in communities further away from Florence.

The new facility will serve the Fourth Judicial Circuit, which is made up of Darlington, Chester-field, Marlboro and Dillon counties.

Officials with the Pee Dee Coalition say the new Hartsville center is needed because child abuse is a growing problem in the Pee Dee region.

Last year, there were nearly 400 investigations into reports of child abuse or neglect in the Fourth Circuit, according to the coalition.

But those numbers, coalition officials say, fail to indicate the full extent of the problem of child abuse or neglect in the area because many instances of child abuse go unreported.

Estimates indicate that abuse occurs at a rate three times higher than reported, according to the coalition.

The Durant Children’s Center assisted 392 children in the Pee Dee in 2008.

Because Darlington County and the other Fourth Circuit counties are rural, children who are victims of physical and sexual abuse in those areas often require services from multiple systems.

“This project is designed to make it easier for the child,” Tuck said. “With this facility, it will reduce the amount of trauma for the child. Everything will be here, all the interviewers will be here, so the child will have to tell their story only one time.”

The satellite office will provide child-sensitive forensic interviews, medical evaluations, therapeutic intervention, victim advocacy and support, multidisciplinary case reviews and ongoing case tracking, all in a child-friendly center convenient to residents of the area, particularly Darlington, Chesterfield and Marlboro counties.

The 1,800-square-foot house features 13 rooms, including a child and family reception area, a volunteer and administrative assistant area, a multi-disciplinary team office, child therapy room, conference and training room, a resource library, counseling and advocacy room, forensic interview room, a prevention room, a medical exam room, restrooms and a kitchen.

Each room in the house is sponsored by a donor. The sponsors include civic clubs, churches, business and other organizations as well as families.