The Children's Advocacy
Center model is a child-focused,
facility-based program in which
representatives from many disciplines -- law
enforcement, child protection, prosecution,
mental health, medical and victim advocacy -
work together, conducting joint forensic
interviews and making team decisions about
the investigation, treatment, management and
prosecution of child abuse cases. Child Advocacy
Centers are
community-based programs designed to meet
the unique needs of a community, so no two
Child Advocacy Centers look exactly alike. They share a core
philosophy that child abuse is a
multifaceted community problem and no single
agency, individual or discipline has the
necessary knowledge, skills or resources to
serve the needs of all children and their
families. They also share a belief that the
combined wisdom and professional knowledge
of professionals of different disciplines
will result in a more complete understanding
of case issues and the most effective, child
and family-focused system response.
The primary goal of all Child Advocacy Centers is to ensure
that children are not further victimized by
the intervention systems designed to protect
them.
Program objectives include:
• Developing a comprehensive
multidisciplinary, developmentally and
culturally appropriate response to child
abuse which is designed to meet the needs of
children and their families in a specific
community.
• Establishing a neutral, child friendly
facility where interviews and/or
services
for abused children can be provided.
• Preventing trauma to the child caused by
multiple, duplicative contacts with
different professionals.
• Providing needed mental health treatment
and other services to children and families.
• Maintaining open communication,
information sharing and case coordination
among community professionals and agencies
involved in child protection efforts so that
case decision-making and policy development
are enhanced.
• Coordinating and tracking investigative,
prosecutorial, child protection and
treatment efforts so that cases do not "fall
through the cracks".
• Holding more offenders accountable through
improved prosecution of child abuse cases.
• Enhancing professional skills necessary to
effectively respond to cases of child abuse
through cross-disciplinary and
cross-cultural training and support.
• Enhancing community awareness and
understanding of child abuse.
What are the benefits of
a Child Advocacy Center?
•
Communities that have
developed a Child Advocacy Center experience many benefits:
more immediate follow-up to child abuse
reports; more efficient medical and mental
health referrals; reduction in the number of
child interviews; increased successful
prosecutions; and consistent support for
child victims and their families.
• Professionals involved in
multidisciplinary work report greater
appreciation and understanding of the
mission of other disciplines; better access
to cross-disciplinary training, and more
informed decision making. This comprehensive
approach, with follow-up services provided
by the Child Advocacy Center, ensures that children receive
child-focused services in a child friendly
environment - one in which the needs of
children and families come first.
