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8 year-old Laney complained that her tummy hurt as she unpacked her over-night bag with her mother. She was coming home from having spent the weekend at her father’s home. Laney’s mother, Sandra, didn’t think too much about the complaint and told Laney she would give her some tea. However, when Laney’s tummy kept aching, Sandra became concerned and scheduled a doctor’s appointment. As they got ready to visit the doctor, Laney started to cry and said she didn’t want to go be

2017 marks 20 years since CALICO first opened its doors. This historic anniversary measures not only 20 years of providing interviews for children, but also years of providing support to families, helping coordinate multi-disciplinary team responses, offering professional trainings, and reaching out to the community. In this time, CALICO has helped more than 11,500 children achieve justice and healing. This remarkable figure would not have been possible without the support of

For the past 8 years Oakland has hosted thousands of runners for the Oakland Running Festival. On this day, runners come together to celebrate their love (or tolerance) of running. Some come with the goal to run faster or farther than ever before. Other participants’ only goal is to have a day of healthy fun. In these thousands of runners there is a group who come with the goal to do something more. They are running with the goal to help children. These are the Team CALICO r

Every CALICO supporter is a member of a group of dedicated individuals determined to help abused children receive the justice and healing they deserve. From monetary donations to volunteer hours, and everything in between, CALICO’s supporters help to ensure that we have the resources to help every child and family referred to us. So when Ally, a junior at a local high school, reached out to help CALICO we were thrilled to include her in our community of supporters. Ally told

Brains, beauty, and an amazing athlete, Emely is one of those girls that seems to live a charmed life. She swims, wrestles, plays water polo, and is an honor student. But of course, there is more to Emely’s story than meets the eye. When Emely was in 5th grade she gathered all her courage and told her mother that someone had molested her. Her mother contacted law enforcement and at the age of 10, Emely was ready to stand up to her abuser. Emely came to CALICO to explain th

We’re excited to be holding our 12th Annual One Child at a Time Benefit: Picnic in the Park! This wonderful event will be on Saturday, September 24th, in the beautiful Preservation Park in downtown Oakland. The annual fundraiser is CALICO’s signature event and serves as an opportunity to raise awareness and resources for the vital services CALICO provides to abused children and their families. The One Child at a Time Picnic is a lovely afternoon for friends and family to come

CALICO is dedicated to ensuring we can provide prompt, quality services to all families who are referred to us, regardless of the circumstances, as was the case with 8-year-old Linda who recently came to CALICO in the middle of the night. One evening as Linda’s mom, Sarah, tucked her into bed she noticed that Linda was quiet and teary-eyed. When Sarah asked her what was wrong, Linda began to cry and said that her step-father had been hurting her. Sarah was shocked and frighte

For a child, telling someone that he or she has been abused, especially sexually abused, can be one of the hardest, scariest moments in life. That is why many children keep the abuse they have suffered a secret; not telling anyone what happened. Some keep the secret until adulthood. Some keep it forever. At CALICO we often hear children say they didn’t know what words to use to tell someone. Knowing this, CALICO believes that we should give children every tool possible to ma

March 20th, 2016 marks the fifth year Meghan Arnold will run with CALICO in the Oakland Running Festival. Meghan runs with Team CALICO because she feels it is important to give a voice to those who don’t always have one and felt running with CALICO was an excellent way to raise awareness about child abuse. She first learned about CALICO through her high school friend, Marley Degner, who is on the Board of Directors. Through Marley, Meghan joined team CALICO for the first time

At CALICO’s 11th Annual One Child at a Time Benefit in September, one extraordinary boy stood out: eight-year-old Pranav. Pranav is in the third grade and is not a newcomer to the event. “It’s a pleasure to come to CALICO for two years, and I would love to come next year too. The music and everything, I appreciate it,” says Pranav. Much like the other children enjoying the event, Pranav spent his day playing carnival games, taking pictures in the photobooth, joking with frie

“You mean people made this place just for kids like me?” asked one 12-year-old boy in an amazed voice after proclaiming CALICO’s office “hecka nice.” He went on to marvel at the comfortable furniture in the interview room and flat screen TV and toys in the waiting area and wondered where they came from. A CALICO staff member told him many different people and groups make donations to support CALICO’s work. That day, this boy made an important discovery – he learned that peo

Twelve-year-old Annie (not her real name) was brought to CALICO after her teacher saw bruises on her arm and reported to Children and Family Services (CFS) that he suspected the child was being abused at home. A CFS child welfare worker coordinated with the local police department and contacted CALICO to arrange a multi-disciplinary interview. Initially Annie was reticent about being interviewed, but she slowly opened up and began to share details of her life, as well as the

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month (CAPM), a month recognized as a time for communities to join together to promote healthy children and families and end child abuse. Since CALICO’s inception, it has used CAPM to highlight child abuse in Alameda County. However, the federal focus on child abuse prevention is relatively recent. The first federal act to protect children, today referred to as the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), was signed into law

2014 has been a very busy year at CALICO. This year alone, we have provided services to over 700 children, supported over 500 parents and caregivers, and conducted over 25 trainings for community members and professionals. We are honored to be an active part of the efforts to respond to and end child abuse. We would like to tell you about Gabriella, who was only four years old when we met her. Gabriella’s parents noticed that instead of being her normal happy self, she had be

All of the funds raised at CALICO’s One Child at a Time Picnic support CALICO’s forensic interviewing and family support services. Many of the grants CALICO receives throughout the year are designated for specific services, geographic areas, or families with children of certain ages. Funds raised at the picnic allow CALICO the flexibility to ensure we can provide prompt, quality services to all families referred, regardless of their composition and circumstances, as was the c