ONCAC

The following information is available as a pdf flyer.
Click here for the flyer.

Additional information is available.
1. Click here for a pdf of the Winter 2004 Children, Families, and the Courts Ohio Bulletin, Children’s Advocacy Centers in Ohio.
2. Click here for a pdf of CAC Research – Multisite Evaluation and Cost-Benefit Analysis .

Further information can be found online through the National Children’s Alliance (NCA), www.nca-online.org , or the Midwest Regional Children’s Advcocacy Center (MRCAC),  www.childrensmn.org/MRCAC/.

Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) Model

There was a time when a child who was a victim of abuse was often revictimized by the agencies and people who were supposed to help him. Professionals from child protection, investigative, legal and medical systems would interview the child separately and repeatedly in police stations and other environments designed for adults. Many times these interviews were done to meet the diverse and sometimes conflicting requirements of the agencies involved rather than the needs of the child.

In the mid 1980s, a number of communities recognized the need for a different way to address the problem of child abuse. These communities independently began coordinated programs to investigate, prosecute and treat abuse, programs that were child focused and child friendly. Among these programs, the Children’s Advocacy Center in Huntsville, Alabama has evolved as the national model.

Within a Children’s Advocacy Center, agencies and professionals work together to reduce the trauma young victims experience from interaction with a confusing system and to enhance the system’s ability to respond to child maltreatment. The benefits of a Children’s Advocacy Center are immediately apparent: consistent and fast follow-up to abuse reports; medical and mental health referrals that more effectively help the child; a dramatic reduction in the number of interviews that a child must undergo; increased successful prosecutions; and most important, consistent and compassionate support for the child and family.

The heart of the Children’s Advocacy Center is the multidisciplinary team. The team is made up of social workers, law enforcement officers, doctors, prosecutors, mental health professionals and victim advocates. A coordinated interview with the alleged child victim is the centerpiece of the multidisciplinary team work. By agency agreement, the child is met and interviewed at the Children’s Advocacy Center by a professional who has received specialized training in child abuse investigations. This provides a neutral investigation. Other professionals observe the interview by closed circuit TV or other means. The interviewer follows recognized standards for forensic investigations and integrates questions that meet the needs of the team.

Following the interview, the team members meet to discuss each child’s particular situation. At these meetings all members have the opportunity to share their expertise and contribute to the overall case plan. Children suspected of being sexually abused should have a complete medical evaluation by a doctor or nurse practitioner who has received specialized training in the diagnosis and treatment of child maltreatment. A comprehensive mental health assessment and treatment program for victims and non-offending family members is essential.

Supported by a coordinated approach, with the assessment and interventions provided in a child friendly environment, child victims are more likely to be better and more effective witnesses. But most important child victims and their families begin the healing process sooner and experience more successful treatment outcomes.