El Paso, TX

Ms. Susan Oliva is the director of The Advocacy Center for the Children of El Paso, a local nonprofit organization that advocates for child victims of abuse and neglect in the El Paso area. It provides education and a collaborative and efficient intervention process to seek justice and try to maximize each child’s chance for healing. The organization’s mission is accomplished in a family-sensitive environment through the partnership of legal, law enforcement, child protective, and health care resources.

Ms. Oliva is a 2006 FBI Citizens’ Academy graduate and has worked to develop effective relationships with all levels of local, state, and federal law enforcement in the El Paso area. For the past 10 years, Ms. Oliva has coordinated the planning of the annual Southwest Regional Crimes Against Children Conference for law enforcement and social service providers. This conference originated as a partnership among the FBI, the Advocacy Center, El Paso Police, and Sheriff’s Departments and U.S. Customs.

Ms. Oliva has worked with the community’s three school districts to train more than 5,000 teachers to facilitate “The Do’s and Don'ts of Child Abuse Reporting Training” over the past 10 years. In 2008, she launched and coordinated the “P.S. It’s My Body/Happy Bear Program.” This is a program that will be presented to more than 1,500 elementary school students this year to teach them safety and child abuse prevention. The FBI, through Ms. Oliva’s intervention, has also been invited to utilize the Advocacy Center’s facility to interview child victims and provide them with extra care.