Juvenile court prosecutor recognized for work in child abuse cases

CEDAR RAPIDS — A prosecutor who works on juvenile cases was surprised Tuesday with service award from a statewide organization that promotes collaboration among different professionals who fight for children being abused.

Assistant Linn County Attorney Matt Kishinami was nominated by staff at UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Child Protection Center for the Outstanding Service Award of the Iowa Professional Society on the Abuse of Children. Kishinami serves on the center’s multidisciplinary case review team and also on its board.

Kishinami founded the Linn County Child Protection Assistance Team, which focuses mainly on reviewing cases that involve drug-endangered children.

“Matt unapologetically fights for the best interest of children’s safety in Linn County,” the nomination form stated. “His passion and knowledge for keeping children safe is infectious.”

Kishinami said the award “means a lot” and he thanked the center, as well as staff from the Linn County Attorney’s Office and the juvenile division who attended the informal award presentation.

The child protection assistance team was created to bring together those dealing with child abuse issues in the medical and legal fields, law enforcement and corrections and the Department of Human Services, who each have different contact with child maltreatment, Kishinami said. It’s a problem- solving tool to help communication when discusses cases and finding the best approach to help the children.

Kishinami said most of his child abuse cases in juvenile court are a result of drug abuse — mainly methamphetamine. He also has sex and physical abuse cases, along with neglect.

There were fewer cases during the pandemic because “fewer eyes” were on children who stayed home from school and/or didn’t visit other relatives that could detect issues, Kishinami said.

“This are tough cases to do because of the diminishing resources for mental health treatment and trauma,” Kishinami noted.

Julie Kelly-Molander, manager of the Child Protection Center, agreed that lack of mental health providers has affected cases. There are times when a child can’t get an evaluation or review with a provider for months.

She said the center was seeing the same effects from the pandemic. In 2020, the number of child abuse cases declined, but there was an increase last year, which resulted in an 8 percent increase from 2019 to 2021.

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