Governor Otter appoints PMC’s Brenda Stanley to ICTF board

Governor Butch Otter has appointed a Pocatello woman to the board of the Idaho Children’s Trust Fund.

Portneuf Medical Center’s director of marketing and public relations Brenda Stanley has had a longstanding passion to help children across the state and feels that serving on this board will help her spread the word about the issue of child abuse which is more prevalent than most people believe.

“You see it all over and I think Idaho is often immune to this, but that’s just not the case,” Stanley said. “We are very much in need for an organization such as this.”

The money from the organization goes toward local foundations that help children and families overcome abuse cases such as Bright Tomorrows, Family Services Alliance, and even the Bannock House.

Bannock Youth Foundation’s Family Resource Center director Heather Kemp said she offers group classes for families across the community to help parents and kids learn skills aimed at preventing abuse.

But, those classes are limited since funding is sparse.

“Last year we were not able to provide the parenting class for infants, toddlers and preschoolers because we did not get the funding to do that program,” Kemp said. “So, I applied for a small grant from the Idaho Children’s Trust Fund this past year and they gave us enough money to put on two of those classes.”

Kemp said these classes are important since they also help take away the stigma parents usually associate with parenting classes. But now these classes completely fill up within days after they open.

She said with more funding to create more parenting classes, she imagines those classes will fill up just as easily.

“They are full every time, so I think more people are looking for that information and I think that stigma is lifting in the sense that a parenting class is not a bad thing. It’s educational, especially since kids don’t come with instructions so it’s good to have some support,” Kemp pointed out.

Kemp listed the latest numbers on child abuse statistics in the state, which can be found right here:http://bit.ly/1n6DaUj

Stanley said the ICTF is funded in two ways: the first is from a federal grant that also goes to the ICTF groups in 40 more states across the country, and the second is from private donors.

Here is a link to the ICTF website:http://bit.ly/1rEWkkn