Comfort on command: Meet Henry

Apr. 6—TRAVERSE CITY — Like other employees, Henry Shadow Chartwell has a Google Calendar, a go-to pup cup order and some saved up "Doggy Time Off," or DTO.

The 1-year-old goldendoodle is the newest staff member at the Traverse Bay Children's Advocacy Center, thanks to a $10,000 seed grant provided by Rotary Charities of Traverse City.

His first official day on the job was April 1, which also marked the start of nationally-recognized Child Abuse Prevention Month.

As a state-certified and trained Facility Dog, his job is to provide emotional support and comfort to the families they serve, according to his primary handler and Intervention Specialist Jenna Baker.

He is one of two CAC-employed facility dogs in the state trained by Grand Ledge nonprofit Canines for Change. A few hundred miles south of Traverse City at the Children's Advocacy Center of Kent County, Henry's colleague is a 2 1/2 -year-old golden retriever named Bacon.

The center selected a goldendoodle for the job is because Henry is hypoallergenic, meaning that he shouldn't cause flare-ups for those with mild allergies, Baker said.

When he's off the clock, Henry enjoys fetching his favorite bright green fluffy alligator toy and making new friends at the local dog park.

Henry's adoption and training are something that Director of Intervention Services Teresa Lutke said many CACs throughout the state are implementing.

"The facility dog program is certainly growing within CACs," Baker said. "The benefit is so obvious when you read the literature and meet the animal."

The CAC has discussed getting a facility dog since before Baker arrived two years ago.

"The reason that he's here is because the CAC is a place where people don't tend to know about [it] until they have to," she said. "No matter what's going on, it's just really heavy, so having Henry here simply makes it lighter."

Right now, Baker said Henry is attending mock-therapy sessions with each CAC therapist so he can join children during their sessions in the near future.

"He'll be able to comfort clients, sit with them," Baker explained. "He has a comfort command so he lays across their lap and he's like their own little weighted blanket."

Research and peer-reviewed studies show that dogs like Henry are beneficial for children's self-esteem and their ability to be vulnerable, according to Baker.

"It just makes them feel safe," she said.

Part of TBCAC's mission is to "provide a coordinated, multidisciplinary response to allegations of child abuse in a child-sensitive, trauma-informed environment," with the hope being that children feel more comfortable to share their story at a center designed for them, versus a police station or lawyer's office.

In the future, Baker said they hope to have Henry sit-in on forensic interviews and attend court hearings to provide additional emotional support.

For those sessions she said they'd have to have conversations with local prosecutors to see if they're on board with it.

"So it would be nice for him to meet kids right from the start and then go through the entire process with them," Lutke said.

Outside the CAC, Baker and Lutke both emphasized that Henry is here for the community.

In the case of a tragic school incident, Lutke said Henry is certified to go to the classroom and be there for the students.

"He had a lot of socialization in schools, so he was surrounded by kids," Baker said of Henry's facility dog certification process. "When you take him into a school even now, he's at home. He loves when kids are around."

Prior to getting Henry, Lutke said there was some pushback and worry about his ability to just be a dog in his new job, and "wouldn't have the opportunity to be a dog."

So far, she said they've made an effort to honor his time off and give him breaks throughout the day to run around the playground and be outside.

"As soon as that vest comes off, he knows he's not working anymore and so he gets to be a dog," Lutke said.

Alongside his therapy work, Henry is the center's unofficial mascot for their "Paws for Protection" Awareness Campaign, launched at the beginning of the month.

Staff said the goal of the campaign is to increase awareness and prevention efforts around child abuse and sexual misconduct. According to data from their website, 99 percent of sexually abused children in this region know their abuser.

"Without Henry, I think this month in particular, it can become a very heavy month and we really try to shine a light on the hope and resiliency that is around child sexual abuse prevention," Baker said. "Henry, I think, is the perfect embodiment of what hope and resiliency can look like in this community."