Special lunch to support child victims of crime

A pancake lunch hosted by Child Witness Centre in Waterloo, Ont.

The Child Witness Centre is seeking the community’s support to help young victims of crime in our community.

On Tuesday, a pancake lunch was held at St. George Banquet Hall to raise money for the Waterloo Region-based organization.

The Child Witness Centre is a wraparound service that guides children through the legal system.

“We support children through the entire [criminal] investigation process and beyond,” said Robin Heald, the executive director of Child Witness Centre. “Helping with needs assessments, safety assessments, and referrals that happen after and during the investigation. Then after that, the children move on to our child witness program, where we support them through the entire court process and the judicial process, with all of the steps along the way.”

That includes preparing children to testify in a courtroom.

Heald knows, personally, how intimidating it can be for children.

“I’m a person who has lived experience as a child victim and witness,” she explained. “I went through the system without the support of an advocate or case worker, and I can say that the system is traumatizing for a child. It’s very, very challenging and we do everything that we can to support children at every step of the way.”

Children in need

Heald said the Child Witness Centre works with over 1,200 children a year.

“[There are] 17 new referrals, on average, every week for our services. That’s shocking. And 11 of those, on average each week, proceed to where charges are laid. So that’s a significant milestone for any child.”

The organization has been around for more than four decades, but until August 2022, they were able to accommodate all requests for help.

Now, there are 134 children on the Child Witness Centre’s waitlist.

Heald cites several factors that have contributed to the spike in demand: population growth, backlogs in the court system and changing attitudes towards domestic violence.

“Before the #MeToo movement, one in 10 children, or people on average, came forward with their allegations of abuse,” she explained. “With the #MeToo movement, and some really popular people coming forward with their stories and being honest and authentic in the media, it’s opened the doors. Now it’s one in seven people coming forward.”

Funding shortfall

The goal of Tuesday’s pancake lunch was to thank the Child Witness Centre community, volunteers and donors.

The organization is also hoping to raise $50,000.

Heald said that’s enough to support 50 children through the process.

“Adult victim services in our area are supported 100 per cent by the Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario,” she added. “Our victims, at Child Witness Centre, are supported at 17 per cent of the need. We’ve had a funding freeze from the Ontario government since 2007 at $165,000. That same amount, every year, has diminishing returns because costs go up and our numbers keep going up.”

Seeking support

Heald said the Child Witness Centre is looking for new donors and volunteers for its committees and board of directors. They are also seeking sponsors for upcoming events.

Their next one is called the “Child Victims Can’t Wait 1,000 Challenge.” They’re encouraging community members to do 1,000 of anything to raise money for the Child Witness Centre.

“Could be 1,000 km of cycling, running, walking, 1,000 books, 1,000 hours of reading. It could be 1,000 paw prints for our service dog Monet,” Heald suggested.

More information can be found on the Child Witness Centre’s website.