Southeast Missouri Network Against Sexual Violence to open Scott County facility

BENTON, Mo. -- The Southeast Missouri Network Against Sexual Violence plans to open a new facility in Benton.

Tammy Gwaltney, director of the SEMO-NASV, met with Scott County Commissioners during their regular meeting Tuesday to provide an "update on what's happening with our organization, particularly in this county," she said.

SEMO-NASV was established in 1997 to help children who are victims of physical and sexual abuse, Gwaltney said, by providing advocacy, counseling and forensic care.

The organization now serves 600-700 children per year in the 10 counties it serves, she said, with half of those coming from Scott and Cape Girardeau counties, although "not because there is more abuse going on in these two counties."

Gwaltney said they serve more victims from these two counties because officials are dedicated to helping victims of abuse. From the officers who first arrive on the scene to prosecutors, Scott County has the best officials to work with "from top to bottom," Gwaltney said. "We are grateful for the leadership of this county."

Child victims here "are treated with such dignity and respect from everybody who has to work with them," Gwaltney said. "People in this county have given them a voice and stood up for them. For 13 years you all have been so helpful to us as an organization."

SEMO-NASV is now becoming even more convenient for Scott County clients and officials as it is currently in the process of finalizing the purchase of a building on the north side of Highway 77 west of Boomland in Benton, according to Gwaltney.

"I think it's going to be a blessing for Scott County," said Presiding Commissioner Jamie Burger.

In addition to being more accessible for Scott County residents, the Benton facility will also be a shorter drive for clients from counties in the southern Bootheel serviced by the NASV, Gwaltney said.

This new facility is an expansion for SEMO-NASV, she said, as NASV offices in Cape Girardeau and Perryville will remain open.

Gwaltney said they will renovate the Benton building to accommodate equipment to do medical evaluations. The Benton facility will also need secure, high-speed Internet access. "That's going to be critical to us," she said.

Regular office hours of 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the facility will begin "hopefully early spring," Gwaltney said. "We're looking at probably April."

The facility is now offering counseling services at the Benton office by appointment, however. Appointments at the Benton facility can be made by calling NASV's main office in Cape Girardeau at 332-1900.

Burger said he and the associate commissioners would like to visit the facility when renovations are complete and all the services are up and running.

"We're excited about you guys coming," he said. "Don't hesitate to call us if there's anything we can do to help make your move easier."

The other big news for the SEMO-NASV:

"We're changing the name of the organization," Gwaltney said. "We are working on changing the name of the organization because we do so much more than medical forensics now which is what we started out doing 13 years ago."

In other business Tuesday, county commissioners selected a picture of the courthouse and the layout for the cover of a new county plat book.