262 Pinwheels: Children’s Advocacy Project honors children treated for abuse

CASPER, Wyo. – Exactly 262 little blue and silver pinwheels were lined up by volunteers and staff along the front of the Children’s Advocacy Project’s office in Casper on Tuesday afternoon.

Each one of those pinwheels represents a child of abuse who walked through those doors in 2024, according to Executive Director Stacy Nelson. The Pinwheel Garden marks Child Abuse Prevention Month, a national campaign to help raise awareness of child abuse and the need for treatment and intervention.

The number of children the center sees each year ebbs and flows, and last year it was down somewhat. There’s no reliable way to understand why, she said.

“It would be awesome if it was just because it’s not happening, but there’s no way to tell,” she said. “They’re all bad, but out of the 262, 190 were related to sexual abuse allegations.”

It’s not about “stranger danger,” said Nelson. By far the vast majority of sexual abuse is perpetrated by people who are in, or who are close to the family in some way.

Nelson’s advice is if someone suspects or notices something, they should not be afraid to call authorities. “In Wyoming we are all mandated reporters, that’s something a lot of people don’t know,” she said. They can also be done anonymously. “Oftentimes people are concerned about getting involved, and I think just keeping the focus on the safety of kids is what you need to think about.”

Established in 2002, the Child Advocacy Project is a nonprofit paid for by federal grants, state, county, city and private funding. It is partnered with multiple agencies such as Banner Health and the Casper Police Department, and is the first and only child advocacy center in Wyoming to receive the prestigious National Children’s Alliance Accreditation, according to its website.

Nelson says they have two staff therapists who focus mostly on trauma-based situations with children, and who are also forensic interviewers. In addition, they also have a full-time forensic interviewer. “For forensic interviews, there has to be law enforcement that makes the referral, because there has to be a criminal investigation happening,” she said, “so we always encourage people to call DFS and law enforcement just to cover all bases.”

The CAP serves 14 counties, but keeping up funding is always an issue, she said. Some state funding was allocated in 2024, for the first time since 2016, and there’s some federal funding through VOCA (Victims of Crime Act) grants, with the rest made up of foundations and fundraising. Their big fundraising auction and dinner is on Friday, June 6, which includes a chance to bid on the next day’s Trap Shoot. More information can be found at their website.