For this interview, Alexa, Rei and I traveled to The New York Foundling building on 6th avenue between 16th and 17th street. There we interviewed the Senior Program Director Marion White, and her team. Since its start 1986, the Child Abuse Prevention Program (CAPP) has been successful in giving children the tools they need to prevent and report abuse of different kinds. We learned about how CAPP taught children about intense topics like sexual and physical abuse without traumatizing them. Through the act of preforming a puppet show, they are able to get the important knowledge across without upsetting the children. I thought this was an extremely clever way to make this information accessible to children because it is shown to them on a level that isn’t scary, it’s in a familiar format that helps them transmit this information in a safe and comfortable way. They told us that after their puppet show, the children have a chance to come talk to one of the puppeteers (A CAPP employee and mandated child abuse reporter) and disclose any form of abuse that they might be experiencing. They told us that 5% of kids that saw the puppet show had questions about wether what they or a friend were experiencing was abuse. 1% of the children disclosed serious abuse that required the puppeteers to call the child abuse hotline. Marion also told us about their crisis nursery, where children can stay for up to 28 days while their parents are able seek help, and get their lives together in order to be able to safely take care of them. I was happy to find that CAPP would house the children for free for those 28 days. It made me feel good that these families had a chance to rebuild themselves. I was surprised to here that the nursery can hold only ten kids at a time, but then I remembered that the building is located in the middle of New York City. It is amazing that they can take care of any children at all in my opinion. CAPP is doing some really wonderful work, and I can’t wait to sit in on one of their puppet shows with my Social Justice Group soon!
