‘All about accessibility’: Children’s Advocacy Center filling void with new Orange office

ORANGE — A grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Thursday afternoon at the Children’s Advocacy Center of Franklin County and North Quabbin’s 119 New Athol Road location, celebrating how the space fills a void that has long plagued the area.

Transportation is often a barrier, so with the addition of its second home in Suite 100 of Orange’s Health Center Plaza, the Children’s Advocacy Center is bringing services to residents who may struggle to make it to the Greenfield facility on Wisdom Way.

“It’s been a hard trip for families here to get to Greenfield, sometimes twice a week,” Carol Conragan, the Children’s Advocacy Center’s executive director, said after the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “We’re really hoping that this is going to inspire more parents to agree to get their kids here for help, because the sooner we get children into trauma-informed therapy, the greater their chances of healing are, so I’m really excited.”

The Greenfield location morphed out of the Northwestern Children’s Advocacy Center (now the Children’s Advocacy Center of Hampshire County) in Northampton, and was a Northwestern District Attorney’s Office program when it opened its doors in 2016. The mission soon expanded to establishing a location in the North Quabbin region.

“I feel wonderful that there’s good service for children and families in the North Quabbin,” District Attorney David Sullivan said Thursday. “It’s all about accessibility and having quality services. Now, children and families will get the help they need. If there’s been a case of abuse, they can get the therapy they need … to go forward in a hopeful way.”

The Children’s Advocacy Center assists children who have experienced sexual violence or who have been commercially sexually exploited by delivering healing and compassionate care through free, trauma-informed therapy. The center also coordinates a multidisciplinary team of professionals — from the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office, the state Department of Children and Families, local law enforcement and nurses trained in pediatric sexual assault — who work together to investigate child abuse and child sexual exploitation allegations in Franklin County and the North Quabbin region.

“The most disappointing thing for anybody in child services is to intervene in a tough child abuse case and not know whether they’re ever going to get services that are going to move them forward and help them,” Sullivan said. “It’s a relief for everybody to know that there’s going to be an opportunity for children to get the services they need.”

Conragan, at the center’s 10th annual “Hope, Healing and Help Breakfast” in September, said the nonprofit helped 115 children, who have faced abuse and exploitation, through the investigation process in 2024.

The 801-square-foot space got its certificate of occupancy on Dec. 4, 2024, and saw its first client a couple weeks later, starting with emergency cases before gradually expanding service. The space consists of treatment spaces, a multi-purpose room and a bathroom.

HAI Architecture Inc. in Northampton designed the space and Thayer Street Builders in South Deerfield handled the construction work. The furniture was ordered from Andy’s Oak Shoppe in Greenfield and office interiors came from Conte Office Interiors in Greenfield.

Stacy Boron, president of the Children’s Advocacy Center’s board of directors, said having an Orange location is an incredible resource for the local area.

“I know transportation has been a significant issue within Franklin County and North Quabbin, so this certainly makes sure that we come to get them, and it’s important for us to be a stable part of the community,” she said.

She mentioned that someone met with a clinician on Wednesday and told the Children’s Advocacy Center they would not have been able to make the drive to Greenfield.