Making a difference in the lives of others is something that many strive for throughout their lifetime. Some succeed, while others have to work at it. For Jamie Huse, making a difference in lives of others is a full-time job.

Jamie is a child advocate at the Domestic Sexual Assault Outreach Center (DSAOC) here in Fort Dodge. DSAOC is a shelter for families and young children who are victims of physical or sexual abuse. As a child advocate at the shelter, her main duty is being a support person for these children. "We usually work with kids that range of the age of 4 to 17," said Jamie.

Each child’s case is different so the work that Jamie does changes from case to case. In most cases, Jamie will provide crisis counseling for those who are victims of sexual assault or who are survivors of homicide. Crisis counseling is usually 6-10 sessions long, depending on the case. From there, the child is assessed for progress. If Jamie feels like the child needs more counseling, she will then send them to a therapist. A child advocate, because of their schooling, is not considered a therapist and is unable to treat for long-term cases.

Court and medical advocacy are also part of being a child advocate. Court advocacy occurs when a child must take the stand in court. In this situation, Jamie would be present with the child. She may also be with them during an interview with the Department of Human Services or even with the police.

Jamie also puts on different presentations for prevention education. Jamie and her colleagues will go to schools and talk with specific groups of children about dating violence and other issues. One of these programs is called "Happy Bear" and is geared towards children in preschool, kindergarten and first grade. The program last 20-30 minutes and gives the children different scenarios about inappropriate touching, with Happy Bear being the subject. This teaches children what is appropriate and what is not and informs them on what to do if it ever happens to them.

On top of all this, Jamie is put on call at different intervals for one week at a time. During this time, Jaime must be willing to come into work or report to a house or hospital at any time during that week.

Although this may sound like a tough job, Jamie loves working with children and making a difference. Her passion grew when she was a student in Mrs. Takatsuka's psychology class. The interesting content of the class was key in her decision about what to do when she graduated. Since she had always had a passion for kids and an idea in her mind, choosing a college major was easy.

Jamie, who attended Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, majored in psychology and minored in criminal justice. To become a child advocate, however, there is no specific field required. Once a person is hired as a child advocate, they must become a certified domestic and sexual assault counselor.

The place of hire provides the training and gives the person six months to obtain it. Once this is complete, the person must keep up to date with their training by attending yearly courses.

This type of field is a good one to get into because there is always a need or demand, but because of the economy things are changing.

"Financially, we are really unstable," she said.

Currently, DSAOC , which is a nonprofit organization, relies completely on federal and state funds. This means that the organization must rely heavily on the community for support.

"The need is not going away, if anything, it is increasing but because of the financial strain we are having to cut back on our services," Jamie said.

With such a demanding job, Jamie must have to make sacrifices in order to juggle both her work life and family life. This can be a challenging task.

"It will consume you," said Jamie. "The biggest sacrifice is definitely time," she said.

Being a child advocate can be both challenging and rewarding at the same time, but there a few skills that are a must in order to be successful. Jamie said, "I had to learn to have good boundaries. I also had to be okay with the fact that I would not be able to fix all the problems."