OREGON CITY, OR -- A center for abused children opened Thursday in Oregon City to provide help and support to more than 3,000 Clackamas County children and their families.
Every year, hundreds of Clackamas County children are the victims of abuse. The abuse itself is traumatic enough, but the aftermath can be even scarier, experts explained.
Officials behind the new medical facility in Oregon City hope to change that. Thursday, hundreds attended the opening of the new 10,000-square-foot Children’s Center.
Link: ChildrensCenter
The center has the ability to serve two children at a time and is equipped with two family waiting areas, two medical exam rooms, interview and observation rooms, as well as family support rooms.
“A lot of times the emergency rooms aren’t really designed or ready to handle the kind of things that can come up with a child,” said Clackamas County District Attorney John Foote. "This facility is really designed to kind of give completely independent medical assessments so that everyone can know what happened and what needs to happen next.”
Foote said in many cases, children aren’t ready to report abuse on their own.
The new building cost about $4.5 million and all of the money was raised by the community.
