Solomon Children’s Justice Center House serves victims of abuse

The Solomon Children’s Justice Center House is one of the largest resources established by Friends of the Children’s Justice Center Summit County.

The nonprofit, which is committed to supporting the CJC and partnering with Park City Film to present a free screening of Jill Yesko’s “Broken Trust” on Thursday (see accompanying story), helped secure funding for the space, which is located in the former Zebra House at 5870 Silver Summit Prkwy.

“We moved here in mid-December 2020,” said Ted Walker, executive director of the Children’s Justice Center. “They started construction just before the corona pandemic and completed construction that winter.”

Before moving to Silver Summit, Walker said the CJC operated out of a booth in the basement of the Richins Building beneath the Summit County Library Kimball Junction Branch, 1885 W. Ute Blvd.

“We were working on just 1,000 square feet, and now we have three floors, totaling almost 6,000 square feet,” he said.

Access to the CJC House is by appointment only, and even then it is upon the recommendation of local law enforcement agencies or the Division of Child and Family Services Utah after they review allegations of abuse, Walker said.

“Once that happens and a report is accepted, they coordinate and request an interview or interviews that can take place here,” he said. “Most of the interviews we do here are about physical and sexual abuse. And we also do quite a bit of emotional abuse.”

Last year, the CJC House served nearly 400 people, including abused children, siblings and non-abusive parents and caregivers, Walker said.

That’s just a fraction of the cases reported in Utah in 2022 by the National Children’s Alliance, which cites 5,080 children — 1,699 males, 3,345 females and 36 undisclosed genders — who were treated.

“In Utah, we are all mandatory reporters of child abuse,” said Tracy Walton, board secretary of the Friends of Children’s Justice Center. “Everyone aged 18 and over is therefore obliged to report child abuse.”
These reports can be made anonymously, she said.

“That way, teachers or anyone who wants to help but doesn’t want to get in the middle of it can file a report,” she said.

The ages of the youth victims so far are as young as 2 and as old as 18, Walker said.

“We have brought along some adults who have been abused a few times as children, and sometimes we are also used as witnesses to the crimes,” he said. “We don’t just serve children, because entire family systems are involved.”

All interviews are recorded and videotaped, Walker said.

“That way they only have to tell the story once, and it prevents them from having to relive the trauma over and over again,” he said.

When children and families first visit the CJC House, they are served snacks and drinks in the large seating area on the main floor to help them feel comfortable, Walker said.

“The colors of the walls and decor are also warm and inviting, and we have Bluetooth speakers that we put spa music on so it’s more relaxing for them,” he said.

Interviews are conducted in separate rooms by a team that includes forensic interview specialist McKenzie Gardner, who splits her time between Where and Wasatch County, Walker said.

“We also have detectives from the Summit County Sheriff’s Office or Park City Police, and other jurisdictions come through as well,” he said. “We’ve been working with the FBI, Homeland Security and the Army’s CIS (Communications and Information Services) here, and we have a team of three investigators from DCFS coming in as well.”

Most investigations are conducted jointly by DCFS and law enforcement, Walker said.

“Law enforcement handles the criminal side of things, and DCFS handles child welfare,” he said. “In addition, we also have victim advocates, who we work with through the Summit County Attorney’s Office and the Park City Police.”

If needed, CJC House has access to a nurse and a state-contracted nurse practitioner through Safe and Healthy Families of Intermountain Health Care at Primary Children’s Hospital, Walker said.

Most interviews take place on the second floor in rooms equipped with unobtrusive pin-hole cameras and microphones, Walker said.

“We have an observation room where the video and audio feed can be seen and heard by other members of our team,” she said.

Gardner follows specific guidelines from a written guideline during her interviews.

“Part of the guidelines include going over certain rules with the child so that they understand that it’s okay to tell me if they feel like something is wrong because it all comes down to them telling the truth ,” she said. “Then we get to know each other by asking about things they like to do. And then we discuss some episodic memory questions to help them identify things they couldn’t or didn’t do before.

All of this is done with open-ended questions, Gardner said.

“The first one is usually something like, ‘Do you know why you’re here today?’ and if they don’t know, the questions are put into a more urgent format that helps them realize why they are here,” she said. “And all the answers we get have a lot to do with the child. It’s nothing like the interrogation scenes you see on TV.”

The interviews typically last between an hour and a half and two hours, Gardner said.

“We do have a built-in break, but I’ve never had interviews that lasted more than two and a half to three hours,” she said. “If it’s taking a little long and it seems like it’s taking a lot out of the child, we might consider starting the next day when the child is feeling fresh.”

In addition to the interview and observation rooms, the CJC House features a medical exam room and a room with computers connected to the state’s medical network, Walker said.

“We were able to purchase all of the equipment thanks to a grant from the Park City Community Foundation Women’s Giving Fund,” he said. “And a lot of the money came from the Friends of the Children’s Justice Center.”

The home also features a number of in-kind donations, including a table and bookshelf built by Alli Macuga, an emerging moguls skier who has earned two National Championship medals, four North American Cup victories and two FIS Junior World Ski Championship gold medals , Walker said.

“Alli did it for a Girl Scout project and she even bought all the books on the shelves,” he said. “And Alli’s brother Daniel built a bench in the hall and a coat rack for his Eagle Scout Project.”

Walton said the CJC House would not have become a reality without the support of local residents, especially Beano Solomon, a Park City philanthropist.

“The Friends of the Children’s Justice Center was founded in late 2016 and we thought it would take five to seven years to find a place, build a house and run a capital campaign,” she said. “But everything happened so quickly thanks to the help of the community.”