What are child advocacy centers?
Child Advocacy Centers (CAC) developed in the late 1980s to help child sexual abuse victims and today our center provides counseling to victims of domestic violence, sexual abuse, physical abuse, and children who have been through some sort of trauma . The National Children’s Advocacy Center in Huntsville, Alabama was the first center that operated under this model. There are now more than 400 CACs and 246 associate member CACs across the country, with 16 centers in the state of Missouri. They vary in size and format, but they all share a common goal: to provide a safe haven for child abuse victims. Child advocacy centers coordinate services to the victim in one child –friendly location, working with a multidisciplinary team that is usually comprised of representatives from child protection, law enforcement, prosecution, mental health and the juvenile/family court. This coordination expedites the investigation and prosecution of abuse cases while ensuring that victims receive effective
