Imagine being a 6-year-old boy, courageous enough to tell your teacher about being touched inappropriately. Now imagine having to retell that story over and over, in excess of seven times to strangers; a school counselor, a patrol officer, an investigator, a child protective services worker, a sexual assault nurse examiner, a prosecutor, a victim advocate, a judge, and eventually a jury. In a community with a CAC, this boy would be able to disclose his abuse in a child-friendly environment, with a specially trained interviewer, an advocate and many of the above professionals present to observe, reducing the number of times he must relive his abuse. The advocate could meet with the family while the child is interviewed and remain involved in the case from that point until the case closure, and beyond if necessary.
Benefits of a CAC model
- More immediate, comprehensive follow up to child abuse reports
- More appropriate mental health and medical referrals and follow through
- Reduction of child victim interviews, reducing trauma
- More coordinated, consistent support for child victims and their non-offending family members
- Cost benefit of approximately $1300.00 per case – By using joint interviews and a collaborative response, a CAC reduces duplication of services
- Keeping the child victim as the central focus of child abuse and neglect cases
- Flexibility to shape our program to best serve our community
- Access to most recent, specialized training in child abuse and neglect available to all partners to best serve child victims
- Better outcomes in criminal prosecutions