Children's Center seeks board members

Nevada, Mo. -- The Children's Center is looking for a few good men - and women, to serve on the board of directors. The board should consist of eight to 12 people from a variety of backgrounds; law enforcement, medical professionals and the general public. The board met in the new Vernon County Jail Friday morning to discuss recruitment and other issues facing the center.

Over the past four years, since the last time the group recruited new members, attrition has slowly reduced the number of members until now the board consists of only five members; Pete Schmidt, Vernon County Sheriff's Office; Jeff Feuquay, project consultant with CPS Human Resources; Ron Peckman, Vernon County Sheriff; Ron Hager, Lamar chief of police; and Chad Adams, Children's Center executive director.

"Attrition takes a toll," Adams said. "People move away, jobs change, some people just burn out."

The board welcomed Corey Johnson, CMJ Financial, to thank him for a $2,500 donation to the center. The board is also recruiting medical professionals to work with the children it helps.

"We're looking for a Nurse Practitioner or a doctor who can work with the kids," Adams said. "It's difficult getting medical professionals to work with child abuse cases. It's hard sometimes for them to find the time and they worry about having to go to court."

Adams said the fear was probably greater than the actuality, little time was actually spent in court.

"I think they probably think it's worse than it is," Adams said. "If you look at the numbers very little time is spent in court. The courts also take their profession into account, a lot of times they will arrange a phone call at a certain time to make it easier on them."

The center is preparing for its annual fund-raiser and they have a need for a new colposcope, a device to document injuries and facilitate a thorough examination.

"We'd like to get a new colposcope," Adams said. "The current one is several years old and it doesn't do everything we'd like to have it do."