Lake County partners with Rosalind Franklin University for medical clinic

WAUKEGAN – The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office and the Lake County Children’s Advocacy Center announced the receipt of $1 million in state funding made possible by state Sen. Julie Morrison, D-Deerfield. The funding will be used toward implementing and integrating a medical forensic clinic in partnership with Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science.

In addition, the LCCAC new medical clinic was approved under the Sexual Assault Survivors Emergency Treatment Act as a Pediatric Health Care Facility, according to a news release.

The new medical unit within the LCCAC will facilitate the immediate medical care of children who are brought to the LCCAC when there has been an allegation of abuse. The creation of the clinic has been a long-term goal of the office with the medical wing being built in 2020.

There are 41 children advocacy centers throughout Illinois. In Lake County, the LCCAC houses a multidisciplinary team made up of prosecutors, law enforcement officers, DCFS staff, mental health therapists, victim advocates, forensic interviewers and medical personnel who collaborate to interview and treat the child victim. If a criminal case is filed by prosecutors, LCCAC Advocate staff continue their work by assisting the child (and their family) through the court process.

The new clinic will introduce RFMUS medical students and personnel into the MDT process and allow children to be medically examined at the LCCAC by experienced health care professionals, according to the release. As a result, the investigation and treatment process will no longer be delayed by families or friends taking children to outside hospitals.

“This is a great day for the children of Lake County. This new and innovative partnership will better protect children and serve families,” Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said in the release. “For the last two years, we have been working closely with Rosalind Franklin University to build this critical bridge between our fantastic MDT model and a critical need: on-site medical examination of children. Now our prosecutors and police will secure evidence faster and the child will be saved the trauma of traveling to far-off hospitals or waiting for the correct personnel at nearby hospitals. They will be examined and treated right at the LCCAC.”

In 2023, the LCCAC conducted about 790 forensic interviews – 590 were sexual assaults and only 120 received sexual assault exams. Medical evaluations serve as a key component in the success of criminal cases. The No. 1 goal is to ensure that all children receive consistent evidence-based forensic interviews and receive services that help children heal from the abuse they have suffered.