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Nationally, Child Advocacy Centers have been created to reduce the trauma to child abuse victims caused by the investigation process and to more effectively prosecute those who commit crimes against children. A Child Advocacy Center is a child-focused, facility-based program where representatives from many disciplines meet to discuss and make decisions about the investigation, prosecution, intervention and treatment of child abuse cases. They also work together to prevent further victimization of children.
All Child Advocacy Centers start with the idea that no single agency or professional alone can prevent and treat the problem of child abuse. A multi-disciplinary response is necessary. This multi-disciplinary team approach brings together all the professionals and agencies needed to provide comprehensive services: law enforcement, child protective services, prosecution, victim advocacy, mental health services and the medical community. Child Advocacy Centers are community-based programs designed by professionals and volunteers to meet the unique needs of its community.
The Child Advocacy Center of Lehigh County (CAC LC) is a not-for-profit organization established by the community to redefine how we confront the issue of child abuse. The primary goal of the CAC LC is to protect child abuse victims by providing a setting in which they can receive timely collaborative services from agencies mandated by law to investigate and intervene in reports of child abuse. Through a multi-disciplinary approach the objectives are to:
- reduce the repetition of victim interviews;
- ensure that qualified, experienced personnel conduct the interviews of child victims;
- provide for the efficient use of all available community resources necessary for the protection, support and rehabilitation of the victim;
- keep track of the whereabouts and condition of the victim throughout the months and years of the prosecution process; and
- provide ongoing training and education to the professional community and community as a whole on issues affecting the investigation and prosecution of child abuse.
The CAC LC is not a direct service provider therefore it is not a duplication of services that already exist in our community. The Child Advocacy Center is a place where professionals who respond to allegations of child physical and sexual abuse in Lehigh County work as a team to interview child victims and to develop investigation and intervention strategies.
The over-arching goal of the Child Advocacy Center of Lehigh County is to ensure that children are not further victimized by the system designed to protect them.
MISSION:
When child abuse happens, the Child Advocacy Center of Lehigh County is there to help. We bring together child welfare professionals, police investigators, prosecutors, medical personnel and mental health providers - coordinating their services and making it much easier for the victims and their families to cope.
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