Across the country, 1 in 10 children will experience abuse before their 18th birthday. In 2024 alone, nearly 5,000 West Virginia kids visited a local Child Advocacy Center (CAC) after a disclosure or suspicion of abuse. When it comes to responding to allegations of child abuse, CACs provide a safe, child-friendly space where the investigation and healing processes can take place. CACs are an essential part of the coordinated community response. Instead of expecting a traumatized child to move between numerous agencies and recount their experience over and over again, which can often lead to further trauma for the child, the professionals tasked with responding to child abuse (Child Protective Services-CPS, law enforcement, prosecution, medical and mental health) come together as a coordinated team at a central location, the CAC, to serve the child and their protective caregivers. This coordinated multidisciplinary team of professionals works together to streamline child abuse investigations, hold offenders accountable, and support the healing process for survivors.
In a typical child abuse investigation, CPS or law enforcement will often refer a child and their protective caregiver to the local CAC. The first service that a child often receives is a forensic interview. A forensic interview is a fact-finding process where a trained, neutral interviewer talks with a child in a developmentally appropriate, nonleading way that provides an opportunity for the child to disclose if they have experienced abuse. While this interview takes place, the child’s non-offending caregiver meets with a family advocate who explains the child abuse investigative process and answers questions they may have about what to expect in the days and weeks ahead. The family advocate provides the caregiver with resources that will help the family as they move through the complex and often stressful situation. If a child discloses abuse while at a CAC, the family advocate will continue working with the family throughout the ongoing investigation and court proceedings. Following disclosures of abuse, CACs also facilitate medical and therapy services for the child to help them heal from the abuse they have experienced.
There are 21 Child Advocacy Centers throughout the Mountain State part of the West Virginia Child Advocacy Network, officially serving 48 of our 55 counties. Of the new children seen at a WV CAC last year, 97% of their nonoffending caregivers said that they would tell another person about the CAC if they were facing a similar situation.
These services are critical to our abuse and neglect system in West Virginia and yet, due to funding constraints, their existence is under threat. Child Advocacy Centers are vital to communities throughout our state and allow children to begin their path to healing. Encourage your legislators to support the funding of CACs in West Virginia because young Mountaineers deserve to have safe childhoods. To learn more, click here.