ICARE Program receives award Records
By Press staff
April is child abuse prevention month and a local Coeur d'Alene organization is showing the state how to get the job done.
The ICARE program of St. Vincent de Paul in Coeur d'Alene has been chosen as the 2011 recipient of the Ed Van Dusen Legacy Award for exemplary practice in the prevention of child abuse by the board of the Idaho Children's Trust Fund.
"Because the most frequent victims of child abuse and neglect are children under 4 years of age, we are focusing on innovative programs that intervene early on," said Beth Barclay, director of the ICARE Program of St. Vincent de Paul.
The Idaho Children's Trust Fund is the lead agency for child abuse prevention in the state and provides training, technical assistance and funding to community based organizations working to prevent child abuse before it occurs.
"ICARE has set a high bar for other child abuse prevention organizations," said trust fund executive director Roger Sherman. "Its work with parents, its home visiting work, and its work in rural communities in North Idaho has been truly innovative."
ICARE's roots were planted 20 years ago in Kootenai County as an organization committed to preventing child abuse and neglect.
Its first grant from the Idaho Children's Trust Fund was in 1995. ICARE merged with St. Vincent de Paul of North Idaho in 2008, for financial reasons.
Along with home visits to families at risk, ICARE has offered group parenting classes.
In the past couple of years, ICARE has been building support groups to increase parent leadership.
The award is named for Ed Van Dusen, who some call the "Father of the Idaho Children's Trust Fund," because of his role in getting the organization established in 1985.
After his death in 2009, the trust fund's board renamed its "Board Award" in his honor.
The "Ed Van Dusen Legacy Award" for exemplary practice in the prevention of child abuse is an annual award created by the members of the Idaho children's trust fund board.
Winners receive a $1,000 cash award, a statuette, and will have their name engraved on a plaque in the Idaho Children's Trust Fund office.