Not Just on Islands: Protecting WV Kids

Opinion by Chloe Nelson,

The crime of child sexual abuse has the nation’s attention lately in a way never seen before. While we collectively, and rightfully, seek justice for these victims, let’s not forget the kids up the street, or down the holler, who are currently in the midst of the same horrific experiences.

Last year, Child Advocacy Centers (CACs) in West Virginia saw 4,734 new kids, and of those, 2,182 were referred for suspected sexual abuse. 2,182 kids. That’s approximately 161 separate little league teams or 108 classrooms full of WV kids who came to a WV CAC in 2025 because Child Protective Services or law enforcement had strong reason to believe that they were experiencing sexual abuse, and most often by someone who should have been nurturing and protecting them.

Locally, the Child and Youth Advocacy Center saw 128 new children. These crimes don’t just happen on an island with private jet service; they happen every day in children’s homes, schools, churches, sports complexes, and at the babysitters. Every victim of child sexual abuse deserves to have justice and access to healing services, and CACs work tirelessly every day to offer those things right here at home to WV’s kids.

The 21 community-based, nonprofit CACs in our state, currently serving 48 of our 55 counties, receive limited government funding to fulfill the mission of seeking justice and healing for our kids, but it’s not enough. CACs scrape together every penny we can find, and we’re happy to do so because our work needs to be done. But quite frankly, the work of CACs is hard enough without the added stress of the constant hustle to keep the doors open. Shouldn’t funding these necessary, evidence-based, and trauma-informed victim services be the easy part?

CACs are an easy sell — we save the state significant resources (our partners in law enforcement, CPS, and prosecution estimate we collectively save them about $23M a year).The CAC model reduces children’s trauma following experiences of abuse, and the forensic interviews conducted on-site at CACs increase the likelihood of successful prosecution of these difficult cases.

While the world is rightfully horrified by the things some powerful men and women have done to young people, we implore you to pay attention to the children in your life. Report any suspicions or concerns of abuse for kids that you know. We also ask that the government and the public alike, throughout WV and far beyond, learn more about Child and Youth Advocacy
Center where life-saving and life-giving support is provided to child victims in Greenbrier, Monroe, and Pocahontas Counties. Together, let’s make sure WV CACs have the necessary resources to fulfill our mandate from society, policy, and God to support our most vulnerable citizens.

Chloe Nelson is a Forensic Interview Specialist at the Child and Youth Advocacy Center.