Cow Creek Tribe Awards Grant to Kids’ HOPE Center Helps Coos Bay Schools Comply with Erin’s Law, Jan. 15

BAH news release.  The Kids’ HOPE Center in Coos Bay has been awarded a $5,000 grant to help educate local students with age appropriate instruction on child sexual abuse prevention, healthy relationships, and goal setting. In 2015, the Oregon State Legislator passed SB 856, requiring schools to provide such training to students K-12. Due to financial issues, no Coos County School has fully met the requirements of the new law, but this grant puts the Coos Bay School District one step closer to implementing the “Safer, Smarter, Schools!” curriculum. The Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation presented the grant to Kids’ HOPE program director JoAnne Shorb at a ceremony on Tuesday. “We couldn’t be happier as an organization to be partnering with our public schools towards achieving Erin’s Law compliance,” Shorb said.  “As the Child Abuse Intervention Center for Coos County, we unfortunately know all too well the epidemic that child sexual abuse is, and how utterly important it is for our community’s children to be educated.  The Erin’s Law curriculum isn’t about scaring or teaching kids about child predators, it’s about teaching children how to have boundaries, what to do if they’re ever crossed, and who safe persons are that they can talk to.  The curriculum is about empowering children to have personal and physical boundaries and it’s done in a way that is appropriate for different age groups using common language that lessons build upon year after year.” Kids’ HOPE, an agency of Bay Area Hospital, assists with child abuse investigations throughout Coos County. The center follows a “medical model” of investigating child abuse, focusing on meeting the physical, emotional, and immediate safety needs of victims first, and relying on community partnerships for prosecution and ongoing support services. Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation, based in Roseburg, is the philanthropic arm of the Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe of Indians. It makes grants each year to non-profit organizations in Douglas, Coos, Lane, Deschutes, Klamath, Jackson and Josephine counties. Since its beginning in 1997, the Cow Creek Foundation has awarded over $10 million in grants.