COOS BAY — A grant from the Pacific Power Foundation caps a drive to deploy updated video technology on behalf of child abuse victims.

The Kids’ Hope Center in Coos Bay, formerly the Child Abuse Intervention Center, is designed as a one-stop venue for helping abused children, with facilities for medical exams and forensic interviews.

Digital video equipment is a key element of the center’s strategy. It allows investigators, social workers and prosecutors to observe while the center’s forensic interviewer talks with children in a non-threatening, one-on-one environment. Recording these interviews lets officials investigate and prosecute child abuse cases without subjecting victims to multiple retellings of traumatic narratives.

The center’s existing recording system is technologically dated and prone to technical difficulties. The new video system will cost about $20,000, and the $7,500 grant from the Pacific Power Foundation puts Kids’ Hope “over the top” in its fundraising effort, said Barbara Bauder, chief development officer for Bay Area Hospital, which sponsors the Kids’ Hope Center.

Other grants came from the Weyerhaeuser Giving Fund and the Menasha Legacy Fund.

“I’m happy Pacific Power Foundation can help organizations like this,” said Monte Mendenhall, Pacific Power’s regional community manager. “They’re much needed in rural economies.”

Bay Area Hospital became the center’s sponsor in July 2013 and implemented a “medical model” of child abuse intervention. The medical model gives priority to the victim’s needs. This model has proved beneficial to children and law enforcement alike, aiding in prosecution of offenders.

“Being able to hit ‘play’ on a video device in court can prevent a child from having to take the witness stand,” Bauder said. “This grant from Pacific Power will help arm us to make a real difference for children throughout our community.”

The center served 197 children in 2013 and is on pace for a higher number in 2014, having served about 80 in the year’s first three months.

About Pacific Power Foundation
The Pacific Power Foundation is part of the PacifiCorp Foundation, one of the largest utility-endowed foundations in the United States. Its mission, through charitable investments, is to support the growth and vitality of the communities served by Pacific Power and Rocky Mountain Power.

The foundation was created in 1988 by PacifiCorp, an electric utility serving 1.8 million customers in six Western states. PacifiCorp operates as Pacific Power in Oregon, Washington and California, and as Rocky Mountain Power in Utah, Wyoming and Idaho.

For more information on the Pacific Power Foundation, visit www.pacificpower.net/foundation.

About Bay Area Hospital
Bay Area Hospital, owned by the community’s residents and governed by an elected board, is celebrating its 40th anniversary as a full-service, acute care hospital located in Coos Bay. With services including interventional cardiology, cancer services, orthopedic surgery, family birth center, imaging and more, Bay Area Hospital is recognized for medical excellence and its mission of improving the health of our community every day.

For more information about Bay Area Hospital or the Kids’ Hope Center, contact Barbara Bauder, Chief Development Officer, Bay Area Hospital, 541-269-8543; or barbara.bauder@bayareahospital.org.