Children's Cove, A Safe Place Nantucket Bringing Child Abuse Services To The Island

A Safe Place Nantucket and Children’s Cove, the Cape & Island’s Children’s Advocacy Center since 1997, announced this week that they will be expanding their partnership to provide critical, on-island child abuse services that will eliminate travel barriers and provide immediate support for child victims and families on Nantucket, as opposed to the victims having to travel to Cape Cod for the same type of care as they've done for almost three decades.

“For nearly 30 years, Children's Cove has been a vital resource on Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha's Vineyard, offering a comprehensive, collaborative, and supportive response to children who have experienced sexual abuse, severe physical abuse, domestic violence or sexual exploitation,” the organizations said in their announcement. “Their child-friendly, confidential facility in Barnstable provides a safe space for streamlined investigations alongside partners including local law enforcement, the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, the Cape & Islands District Attorney’s Office, and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.”

The ability to take their partnership to the next level stems from A Safe Place purchasing and renovating a new facility as part of their capital campaign aimed at increasing their scope and reach on Nantucket.

“Children’s Cove has been a vital part of our response services and coordinating care for the most vulnerable members of our community,” A Safe Place executive director Jennifer Frazee said. “We wanted Children’s Cove at the table as we started our design process to envision a center that could truly support our community in need.”

In the new Nantucket office, there will be a dedicated forensic interview room, an observation area for the multidisciplinary team, and a family waiting room. This space will allow families on Nantucket to access Children’s Cove Forensic Interview services directly on the island, with immediate connection to care and support services from A Safe Place. All costs for the Nantucket space are covered by state and federal staff grants, Nantucket Community Foundation travel grants, and free rent from A Safe Place.

Nantucket families have been receiving these services since the advocacy center’s inception, but historically those families have needed to navigate the challenge of traveling by ferry or plane to access these essential services on the mainland.

“Children’s Cove will now be able to conduct forensic interviews and coordinate the multidisciplinary response with child victims at the new home of A Safe Place on Nantucket, making services dramatically more accessible for island families,” they said in the announcement.

Children’s Cove director Stacy Gallagher said the organizations began conversations years ago about how to better serve Nantucket families.

“It became clear that we needed to remove barriers of access to our services, as well as be more visible on Nantucket,” Gallagher said. “We are thrilled to be doing that together through this expanded partnership.”

A Safe Place Nantucket provides free, confidential services to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault on Nantucket while working towards eliminating violence and empowering individuals. They offer direct services, preventive education, supervised family visitation, crisis intervention, counseling, and advocacy. The partnership between Children’s Cove and A Safe Place dates back more than two decades-long.

A ribbon cutting ceremony at the new A Safe Place facility will be held at the end of the summer upon completion of the building to commemorate the launch of these expanded, on-island services for victims of crime on Nantucket. The Barnstable County Commissioners executed the agreement.