Hope and Healing for Abused Children
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Children’s Advocacy Center

“Our children do not slip through bureaucratic cracks, thanks to the incredible team of individuals caring for each client and the case management system we’ve put into place.”
– Heather O'Malley, Chief Executive Officer

What is Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC)?

Addressing the physical, emotional, and legal arms of abuse requires a unique centralized approach, only found within a Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC). It is in this child-focused and safe environment, that a coordinated response from trained experts provide the help and resources children victims and their families desperately need.

The primary goal of a CAC is to reduce the additional trauma experienced by child victims, improve prosecution outcomes, and provide efficient, compassionate, thorough, no-cost services to the child victim and non-offending family members.

Without the present centralized CAC model, child victims of yesterday were shuttled to multiple facilities, in which they would need to repeatedly recount their frightening story. Repetition only further imbedded the trauma. Today’s coordinated, team effort clearly and efficiently mended the old reality that no one agency by itself could ensure the protection of children.

The services provided by a Children’s Advocacy Center include, but are not limited to, the following services:

  • Forensic interviews conducted in a neutral, fact-finding nature and coordinated to avoid duplicate interviewing
  • Crisis intervention and emotional support for victims and non-offending family members
  • Counseling and medical services to help victims and non-offending family members heal from the emotional wounds associated with child abuse
  • Medical evaluations
  • Careful case reviews by a group of professionals, called a Multidisciplinary Team (MDT), which includes, law enforcement, prosecutors, interviewers, social workers, medical and mental health professionals, victim assistance staff, and child advocates
  • Evidence-based prevention and intervention programs to reduce the likelihood of child maltreatment and to provide safe and caring homes for children
  • Professional training and community education to effectively respond to child abuse.

The Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) model was created to improve the community’s response to child abuse.

Currently, this approach is considered to be a best practice in responding to child sexual abuse in the United States. Throughout the United States, there are now more than 900 Children Advocacy Centers which served more than 300,000 children last year, and this model has now been implemented in more than 33 countries throughout the world.

The Process:

Once signs of abuse are recognized and reported, each case is then evaluated by social services. Validated cases of child sexual abuse are referred to Safespot. At SafeSpot a forensic interview is conducted by a trained professional. Members of the multidisciplinary team (MDT) observe. Depending upon the case, children and family members may receive advocacy, medical and mental health treatment, and other essential resource referrals.

The CAC PROCESS

SafeSpot’s role is to lead this team (MDT) through the paces, reviewing and ensuring each case is moving carefully and efficiently through the therapeutic, investigative and prosecution process.

The Multidisciplinary Team concept was a core aspect of the original Child Advocacy Center model developed by Bud Cramer during the early 1980’s. Previously, the United States response to child sexual abuse was poorly coordinated between the various entities with a responsibility for conducting the initial investigation and response to child sexual abuse. This innovative model recognized that in order for the United States to effectively respond to this issue that a unique public-private partnership was essential, and that the various agencies and departments responsible for the protection of children must be united in a collaborative effort to respond with the recognition that no one agency by itself could assure the protection of children.

Fact: 100% of cases are reviewed

$1000

Provides team training, online prevention awareness and community outreach.