When families walk into Safe Harbor Children’s Advocacy Center in Allegan, they expect protection. They expect transparency. They expect the highest possible standards from the people charged with guarding children.
What they don’t expect is secrecy, unanswered questions, wrongful convictions, and a governance system that seems to bend its own rules.
The Board Nobody Questions
Safe Harbor’s own website lists Shellie Park, Child Protective Services Supervisor, as a sitting board director. That alone raises eyebrows: a CPS supervisor deciding the fate of abuse cases while simultaneously sitting on the board of the very advocacy center that reports to CPS.
The conflict of interest practically screams off the page.
…But it gets worse.
Images Made Their Rounds on Facebook
Images began circulating around the internet alleging that Shellie Park, formerly Burke, has a Record that may not have been accounted for.
Public records seemingly tie Shellie Park’s name to a past conviction for assault and battery in Kent County. That record may or may not belong to the same Shellie Park now seated at Safe Harbor, but that’s exactly why strong, transparent screening is non-negotiable.
In doing research for this article, I couldn’t find anything recent in court records to suggest the conviction occurred. However, it may have been expunged or fell off due to age.
Let me stress that obviously clutch is a big believer in second chances and restorative justice. However, the situation raises eyebrows as Allegan is rampant with cronyism.
I do not take issue with a decades-old conviction.
But I do take issue with the distinct conflict of interest being dual-hatted, and the selective picking, choosing, and casting as “other” occurring in the Allegan community.
Accreditation Rules Say This Should Never Happen
Safe Harbor is accredited under the National Children’s Alliance (NCA), which has very clear rules:
- Every staff member, volunteer, and board director must undergo criminal background, sex-offender registry, and child-abuse registry checks.
- Each CAC board must define “disqualifying findings” in writing.
- Screening must apply to board members as they serve and represent the CAC.
These aren’t suggestions. They’re baseline requirements for accreditation.
If Safe Harbor isn’t enforcing them, then every child and every parent who walks into that center deserves to know.
The IRS Doesn’t Ask — But the NCA Does
IRS Form 990s — Safe Harbor’s tax filings — don’t capture criminal history.
They ask about policies (conflicts of interest, whistleblower protections, document retention) but leave screening to the organization itself. In other words: if Safe Harbor’s leadership decided to look the other way, the IRS won’t catch it.
That’s why the NCA standard exists. It’s supposed to close the gap. And if Safe Harbor isn’t transparent about its criteria, then accreditation means nothing.
Who Vets the Protectors?
Safe Harbor’s board is stacked with insiders: sheriffs, multiple prosecutors, law enforcement leaders, and CPS workers. They investigate, they prosecute, and then they sit on the oversight board of the very center funneling them cases.
In short, Safe Harbor is a self-licking ice cream cone.
This isn’t even close to accountability; it’s a self-policing prosecution mill. That’s why you don’t see new Allegan County Prosecuting Attorney Mike Villar going near it.
So here’s the uncomfortable truth: if the board can’t even be trusted to follow its own screening rules, why should families trust them to protect children?
Another heartbreaking component to Safe Harbor, is that now former Allegan County Prosecutor Myrene Koch was also on this board. Under her watch, multiple families were put through baseless abuse cases that were drawn out for far too long and destroyed families. And she wonders why she got voted out.
And of course, the ultimate conflict of interest, Director Lori Antkoviak’s husband Matthew Antkoviak is a sitting judge presiding over cases with Safe Harbor Involvement, and often, failure.
The Questions That Demand Answers
- Where is Safe Harbor’s board-screening policy?
- Why isn’t it public?
- What counts as a disqualifying record?
- Were all current board members screened as required by NCA accreditation?
- If not, why should families believe Safe Harbor puts children ahead of insiders?
Transparency Is the Bare Minimum
Safe Harbor owes the public and the children it claims to protect a clear statement. Publish the screening policy. Confirm compliance for every board member.
And if mistakes were made, fix them now.
Because children deserve better than insiders protecting insiders. And the public deserves more than a silent scandal.
What’s Next
Clutch Justice is submitting formal inquiries to:
- Safe Harbor’s board for its written screening policy and confirmation of compliance.
- The National Children’s Alliance to determine whether accreditation requirements are being met.
- The Michigan Charitable Trust Section to review whether Safe Harbor is meeting state transparency obligations.
Owning one’s record and doing good in the community is one thing. Failing to account for it during accreditation is another ball of wax.
🖤 Love what we do? Support Clutch.
