New Outreach Manager Kay Higgs-Adams (left) stands with Susan Eckberg, intervention specialist, and Michael Arthur, Family Advocacy officer, outside the Family Advocacy Office located in the Bolling Clinic. Higgs-Adams will specialize in child abuse prevention and domestic violence awareness.
The Family Advocacy Office, located in the Clinic on Bolling, welcomes Kay Higgs-Adams, a new full-time Family Advocacy outreach manager. Higgs-Adams joins Family Advocacy Officer Michael Arthur and Family Advocacy Intervention Specialist Susan Eckberg. The Family Advocacy Office commits to ‘‘developing, implementing and evaluating policies and programs designed to prevent, intervene in and treat child and spouse maltreatment.”
In adding the new position, Higgs-Adams is able to focus more time on prevention programs and outreach support through partnering with other bases and agencies throughout the National Capital Region.
‘‘Part of my role is to collaboratively work with the Joint Forces program outreach staff with Fort Myer and Fort Belvoir mostly in domestic violence awareness and child abuse prevention,” said Higgs-Adams. ‘‘The most important thing for the base residents to know is that I’m here. And that I am available to provide support.”
The office is dedicated to supporting families through education and training as well. After all, prevention begins with education. They are offering many courses including Parenting Education, a New Parents’ Support Program, Family Life Education and Stress Management. With the stress of a military lifestyle, spouses deployed for months at a time and starting over at a new base every few years, the Family Advocacy Office is designed to address the needs unique to military families.
‘‘The overall goal is developing families and mission readiness,” said Arthur. ‘‘Having someone dedicated solely to outreach and prevention better serves our military members and families.”
The new outreach manager’s credentials include a master’s degree in social work from West Virginia University School of Social Work; she is also a certified family life educator with the National Council of Family Relations Board and is certified in Active Parenting and Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program. Higgs-Adams also holds certification in both Army and Air Force Family Advocacy trainings.
‘‘What we’re trying to do is build visibility within the base community. There’s an emphasis to build relationships with all the base services and that is important,” stresses Higgs-Adams. Her goal is that when support is needed for the programs Family Advocacy provides, she will be the first point of contact.
For questions regarding Family Advocacy programs contact Kay Higgs-Adams at 202-767-1339 or DSN 94 297-1339. The Family Advocacy Office is located in the Bolling Main Clinic, Building 1300, on the 2nd floor, office number 259.
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