August 15, 2019
For the children, a safe place to stay
By Jerry W. Kram
Law enforcement stops a vehicle and the driver is found to be drunk, have active warrants or is carrying illegal drugs. There are also children in the car and it is 2 a.m. and no one knows who their relatives are. Officers don’t have any place to take the children where they would be safe, so they spend the night in a police car.
That’s the scenario MHA Nation Tribal Chairman Mark Fox had in mind when he proposed creating a safe place for children in crisis almost five years ago. That vision became a reality on August 9 with a ribbon cutting to open the MHA Nation Child Safety Center. The center is located next to the MHA Nation Justice Center on North Dakota Highway 23 in New Town.
“I’ve thought about this concept for eight, maybe 10 years,” Fox said. “That’s how long we’ve needed something like this. As chairman, I prioritized the law enforcement center and courthouse first, but after that I asked if we had enough room for the child safety center.”
It was about two years ago Fox said the resources finally were available to start work on the project.
That’s the scenario MHA Nation Tribal Chairman Mark Fox had in mind when he proposed creating a safe place for children in crisis almost five years ago. That vision became a reality on August 9 with a ribbon cutting to open the MHA Nation Child Safety Center. The center is located next to the MHA Nation Justice Center on North Dakota Highway 23 in New Town.
“I’ve thought about this concept for eight, maybe 10 years,” Fox said. “That’s how long we’ve needed something like this. As chairman, I prioritized the law enforcement center and courthouse first, but after that I asked if we had enough room for the child safety center.”
It was about two years ago Fox said the resources finally were available to start work on the project.
