San Manuel Band of Mission Indians has granted Barbara Sinatra Children's Center $500,000 to provide additional medical exams to children and babies suspected of sexual or physical abuse

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif., May 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Barbara Sinatra Children's Center received a $500,000 grant from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians to expand the Center's forensic medical services, in partnership with Loma Linda University Children's Hospital.

The money from this grant will be used at the Barbara Sinatra Children's Center to increase the number of services for children and adolescents in need of forensic medical examination due to suspected sexual or physical abuse. In addition to these exams, the grant will also allow the Center to complete follow-up medical exams with child abuse victims and conduct mandated foster care medical exams with the help of pediatricians, pediatric nurse practitioners and pediatric fellows from Loma Linda University Children's Hospital. 

"At the Center, we are dedicated to ensuring the safety and security of children around the world, and providing proper forensic services here in the Coachella Valley is a crucial part of that mission," said Executive Officer at Barbara Sinatra Children's Center, John Thoresen. "We are honored and so grateful to be partnering with San Manuel Band of Mission Indians and Loma Linda University Children's Hospital to increase the level of care we are able to provide to our patients."

The Tribe has a shared mission to enhance the health of children in the Southern California region and has a longstanding relationship with Loma Linda University Hospital. San Manuel Band of Mission Indians will now extend that same support and generosity to the Barbara Sinatra Children's Center and leverage its partnership with Loma Linda University Hospital to help bring more services and support to children in need.

This grant from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians is only the start of the Barbara Sinatra Children's Center furthering its care and support of child abuse victims. Over the next 18 to 24 months, the Center will be raising additional funds to build a new wing to increase its forensic treatment capabilities and volume of children it can treat. 

"Loma Linda University Children's Hospital is enthusiastic about partnering with the Barbara Sinatra Children's Center and helping furthering its mission. Our pediatric staff is eager to care for these young patients. We cannot thank San Manuel Band of Mission Indians enough for granting us the resources to make this possible," said Amy Young, MD Loma Linda University Children's Hospital and the new BSCC Medical Director.

About the Barbara Sinatra Children's Center: Founded in 1986 by Barbara and Frank Sinatra, the Barbara Sinatra Children's Center is dedicated to ensuring every child's right to a normal, healthy and secure childhood. Since its creation, about 25,000 children have received outpatient mental health and counseling services at the Center. The Center provides individual, group, and family therapy and special programs that address issues associated with children suffering the effects of child abuse and neglect. An estimated 700 children are counseled annually on an outpatient basis, and no child is ever turned away because of a family's inability to pay. For more information, visit BarbaraSinatraChildrensCenter.org. An animated video series, funded by the Barbara Sinatra Children's Center Foundation, has reached over 200 million children worldwide and generated over 70 million individual and group viewings on YouTube throughout the United States and abroad, with India as the second largest user behind the U.S. For more information and resources, visit FightChildAbuse.Org and view the Protect Yourself Rules and Teen Series Videos at https://www.youtube.com/@fightchildabuse1913/videos

About the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians: The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians is a federally-recognized Indian tribe located on the San Manuel Indian Reservation near Highland, California. San Manuel exercises its inherent sovereign right of self-governance and provides essential services for its citizens by building infrastructure, maintaining civil services, and promoting social, economic and cultural development. As the Indigenous people of the San Bernardino highlands, passes, valleys, mountains and high deserts, the Serrano people of San Manuel have called this area home since time immemorial and are committed to remaining a productive partner in the San Bernardino region. For more information, visit http://www.sanmanuel-nsn.gov.

About Loma Linda University Children's Hospital: The Children's Hospital is the only dedicated pediatric hospital in the vast geographic region of San Bernardino, Riverside, Inyo and Mono counties. With 348 beds dedicated just for kids, one of the largest Neonatal Intensive Care Units in the country and more than 100,000 children who come each year, LLUCH is a major pediatric teaching facility, known worldwide as the pioneer of neonatal heart transplantation. LLUCH is part of Loma Linda University Health – the umbrella organization encompassing Loma Linda University's eight professional schools, Loma Linda University Medical Center's six hospitals and more than 1,000 faculty physicians located across the Inland Empire in Southern California. A Seventh-day Adventist organization, Loma Linda University Health is a faith-based health system with a mission "to continue the teaching and healing ministry of Jesus Christ." 

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SOURCE The Barbara Sinatra Children's Center