Dunebrook Inc

Parenting is a tough job. And, it’s true, children don’t
come with instruction books.

Dunebrook’s vision, Every Child: Safe, Healthy, Happy, articulates what we aim to accomplish. Every child, regardless of income level, social strata, race, culture or geography, deserves to have every chance to reach his potential.

Because parents are more influential than any other person in a child’s life, and because parents are the perpetrator in 78% of physical abuse cases and 86% of neglect cases in
Indiana, (according to the most recent report published by the Indiana Department of Child Services), we can effect the well-being of children by supporting healthy parenting and informing the practice of unhealthy parenting.

Dunebrook was established in 1989 as a grassroots effort to improve both the well-being of children and the response to allegations of child abuse and neglect. Today, twenty-five years after our creators envisioned Dunebrook, we remain as a place a place where prevention and intervention work together for the best interests of children.

Dunebrook delivers home visitation in prevention programming; and, through our Child Advocacy  Center, we perform forensic interviews, upon request of law enforcement and DCS, for children who allege or witness abuse or when abuse is suspected. Dunebrook’s Child Advocacy  Center provides advocacy services to families who have experienced the trauma of abuse, supporting
parents as they support their child and help him or her toward healing.

Dunebrook serves families in La Porte, Porter, Starke, Newton, Jasper and Pulaski Counties. The breadth of our programming enables us to collectively deliver services for
expectant parents and families with children aged from birth to age 17, in short-term or long-term, and voluntary or mandated, parent and family support services.

Dunebrook also delivers public education to elementary schools throughout the region with the Body Safety Child Sexual Molest Prevention Program. Another public education
program, Stewards of Children, educates adults in how to keep children safe from sexual abuse.

Child maltreatment is a problem the plagues are community,
and is one that costs each of us in terms of taxpayer dollars and quality of life. No one suffers more, though, than the child who is abused. Children who are abused have a higher incidence of teen pregnancy, alcohol and substance use, depression, criminality and suicidal thoughts.

Because lack of parenting knowledge and skills is a common factor in maltreatment cases in Indiana, as reported by the Department of Child Services, helping parents understand their child’s development, have age appropriate expectations and respond appropriately to inappropriate behaviors reduces the likelihood of abuse.

Parents who know how to work through parenting challenges without confrontation or violence, and who raise their children in a loving, nurturing home, are better able to help their children reach their full potential.

Yes, parenting is a tough job; and, it is also the most rewarding.