Morrison’s child advocacy center moving to permanent location

MORRISON – A child advocacy center in Morrison is relocating.

The April House Children’s Advocacy Center of Whiteside County recently purchased the building at 201 W. Market St. in Morrison from Crossroads Community Church of Morrison. Executive Director Carrie Melton said April House will spend the next three months renovating the building before making it their permanent home.

Melton said the center is part of a multi-disciplinary team, including law enforcement, the Department of Children and Family Services, the State’s Attorney’s office, medical providers and mental health professionals, that assists with child abuse investigations, particularly those involving sexual and severe physical abuse.

“We coordinate those investigations in a way that brings together law enforcement, DCFS and the prosecutor’s office to provide a forensic or victim-sensitive interview which we provide on site,” Melton said. “We provide a safe space that is a child-friendly, trauma-informed location for the children to tell their story in their own words and at their own pace.”

The team then uses that interview to determine how best to help the child and can include referrals for medical exams, mental health services and other resources. Melton said in 2023 April House provided services to 239 children across Whiteside County and assisted with 121 interviews.

“We work closely with different agencies throughout the community to be able to provide referrals for the children,” Melton said. “We all have the same goal, which is to keep the kids safe and make sure they have a safe place to come home to.”

April House started in 2002 as a small organization within the Whiteside County Health Department. In 2017, additional funding became available, allowing the organization to grow into three full-time employees, including an advocate, a director and a forensic interviewer.

The center gained its name after its involvement in a gruesome April 1999 case in which three boys riding their bikes on Riverdale Road along the Hennepin Feeder Canal discovered the body of a dark-haired, 7-pound baby. The child could not be immediately identified and became known as Baby April Whiteside.

The center is a nonprofit organization that depends on a combination of state and federal grants, private donations and local support.

For information or to make a donation, visit aprilhouse.org.