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Connections: How voters and candidates can prioritize children's issues in the upcoming election

By Megan Mack & Evan Dawson • Oct 14, 2019

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How voters and candidates can prioritize children's issues in the upcoming election

Election Day is just over three weeks away. Voters have a wide range of issues that they prioritize. This hour, our guests are asking you to think about children. In particular, they're talking about children in need in our community. We discuss funding for early intervention services and preschool special education services. We also talk about challenges for child protective services. The conversation comes in advance of an upcoming candidate forum hosted by The Children's Agenda.

Our guests make their case for the kinds of priorities they think voters and candidates should have if they're putting kids first. In studio:

Brigit Hurley, policy director at The Children’s Agenda
Heather Hanson, COO at Step by Step Pediatric Developmental Services, and physical therapist
Danielle Salamone, member of Parents Helping Parents Coalition of Monroe County
Bridget Shumway, president of Generations Child Care

Alleged victims of child sexual abuse in New York get their long-awaited day in court

By Beth Adams • Aug 13, 2019

Kevin Higley can't remember if it was the summer of 1987 or the summer of 1988, but he does know he was 14 years old and serving as an altar boy at St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Scottsville.

He said a parish priest, Father Paul Cloonan, asked him to go with him to visit a nearby monastery.

"And in the car on the way back from the monastery, he asked me if I could help him with a medical issue," Higley said.

County blocks $2.6 million state grant

By Tianna Manon • Jan 26, 2018

Monroe County recently turned down a $2.6 million grant from the state that would have helped poor parents accused of neglect keep their children. The NYS Office of Indigent Legal Services would have awarded Monroe County's Public Defender’s office the money but the County blocked the grant, saying they don’t want to protect parents’ interests at the expense of the child’s well-being.

Advocates applaud Cuomo's plan to help victims of child sexual abuse

By Sasha-Ann Simons • Jan 13, 2017

Local supporters are reacting to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s decision to step forward and assist child sex abuse victims.

Cuomo unveiled his 2017 policy initiatives in a book, which included a plan for the Child Victims Act. The proposal would do away with the statute of limitation on prosecutions of those who abused children. Further, it would allow victims to bring civil lawsuits for 50 years from when their attacks took place.

Couple Charged With Child Abuse

By Brad Smith • Mar 5, 2016

New York State Police in Waterloo tell WXXI that Angela M. Wheeler, 37, of Seneca Falls, and Michael A. Brewer, 39, of Interlaken, were charged with abusing two children.

Troopers and Seneca County Child Protective Services investigated a report of two children being subjected to physical abuse, and improper care while in their custody.

Police allege that Wheeler and Brewer subjected the children to physical abuse to include choking, as well as other forms of excessive punishment.

Child Advocacy Center Announces Major Expansion

By LeShea Agnew • Jul 2, 2013

Construction is officially underway at the Bivona Child Advocacy Center's new headquarters.

The Skalny Building at 1 Mount Hope Avenue will provide children with technologically advanced facilities as well as mental and medical services. Bivona also announced the public phase of its "Building Hope" campaign, an initiative to raise the remaining $1 million of its $4 million goal to relocate and fund additional programs and services.