Description

Webinar Hosted in Eastern Time Zone

Navigating a High-Profile Incident:
Understanding Harm, Supporting Survivors, and Mobilizing Communities 

When a case of child sexual abuse becomes public, communities are often left asking difficult questions: How could this happen here? What does it mean for our children? And what can we do to prevent it from happening again? 

This two-part webinar series brings together experts in prevention, law, victim advocacy, and child protection to help communities understand the realities of abuse today and explore meaningful ways to respond.

Part 2: Supporting Survivors and Strengthening Community Response 

When abuse comes to light, communities often ask what happens next—and how they can support those affected. This session focuses on the systems and community responses that help children and families begin to heal while ensuring accountability. 

Participants will learn: 

• What happens when a child is referred to a Child Advocacy Center 
• How multidisciplinary teams work together to support children and investigate abuse 
• Why Child Advocacy Centers are critical resources for communities 
• How justice processes work for victims of child sexual abuse 
• What community members should do if they suspect abuse or need to make a report 
• How prevention education can help reduce risk and create safer environments for children 

This session will highlight how communities can move beyond crisis response toward building stronger systems of protection and prevention for children.

	Debi Ray-Rivers was born and educated in Bermuda. After graduating high school, she immediately entered the business world, working as a customer service agent at Delta Airlines for 13 years, followed by a 14-year career in Human Resources. Supported by her loving husband and two precious daughters, Mrs. Ray-Rivers created SCARS after a devastating family experience in 2004. It brought to light the need for greater awareness, education,  and healing with respect to the issue of child sexual abuse in Bermuda. During the past 14 years, under Debi’s leadership as Executive Director, SCARS has educated over 25%  of the Bermuda’s adult population in the Darkness to Light Stewards of Children® prevention training curriculum. The work of SCARS has made a significant impact on the protection of children in Bermuda.
	Kay W. Phillips, PHD, LISW-CP, is the CEO of Kay Phillips Child Advocacy Center (KPCAC). Dr. Phillips holds a Doctorate and Master of Social Work from the University of South Carolina. As a leader in the child welfare community, Dr. Phillips has brought about substantial changes in her 22-year tenure at KPCAC, expanding the center into a team of 32 full-time employees across two locations, and serving more than 2,048 clients annually.
	Randi Faulkner is a Master’s Level Social Worker with 18 years of extensive experience serving children impacted by child abuse and neglect. Her career has spanned a range of critical roles from frontline child protective services, emergency preparedness, mental health therapy, and several leadership roles in social work and mental health fields. In addition to direct services, she has developed and facilitated impactful training for adult learners. These trainings focused on child abuse prevention, mandated reporting, human trafficking, trauma-informed care, and other various mental health subjects. Her work is driven by a deep commitment to advance proactive, community-centered efforts to protect and empower children and families. Randi currently serves as the Awareness & Prevention Coordinator for TN CCR&R of Signal Centers, where she oversees child abuse prevention trainings and initiatives.  In her spare time, Randi enjoys spending time with family, traveling, being outdoors, in addition to sharing her positive energy and sense of humor with everyone she meets.