A nationally accredited child advocacy center, Small Talk provides a safe, comfortable, child-friendly place to guide children through the trauma of abuse.
At Small Talk, professionals in the fields of child protection, law enforcement, prosecution, mental health, medicine and victim advocacy work together to investigate abuse, hold offenders accountable—and help children heal.
“We facilitate hope and growth,” says Alex Brace, MA, LPC, executive director and crisis counselor. “Children have the opportunity to use their voice to help themselves heal.”
The seeds of Small Talk were sown in 2011, when concerned community members, including law enforcement and prosecutors, believed there “had to be a better way” to help children during the abuse investigation and beyond. As one young victim’s parent put it, said Alex, “What now?”
A collaboration of concerned parties set out to create an answer to that question.
Partnering with the Michigan chapter of the National Children’s Alliance, they began a child advocacy center with Alex as its first employee, counseling children in a donated space in the Ingham County prosecutor’s office. By 2014, the organization was able to move to its own space. And in
January 2016, with the support of founders, staff, board, professionals and community partners, Small Talk moved into its state-of-the-art center in Delhi Township.
Today, Small Talk has three licensed therapists/crisis counselors and a forensic interviewer/prevention specialist. Awareness is a critical piece of child abuse prevention, says Alex, so Small Talk is active in raising community awareness.
“We know we have to be reactive,” he says, “but we want to be proactive, too.”
Small Talk is a 501(c)(3) nonpro t corporation, and provides its intake and counseling services at no cost. Its operating budget is sustained through grants and donations.
Small Talk Children’s Assessment Center is at 3400 Pine Tree Road, Suite 106, Lansing, 517.253.0728, smalltalkcac.org.
Top image from left: Aubree Vance, forensic interviewer and prevention specialist; Annie Hanley and Ashley Vance, crisis counselors.