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[Our Partners in Action]
[Services Provided]
Children’s Advocacy Centers of Virginia (CACVA) is the recognized State
Chapter association for Virginia’s network of Children’s
Advocacy Centers (CACs). Organized in 2002 by the three
operating CACs in Virginia at that time—Bristol, Norfolk,
and Rocky Mount, CACVA is dedicated to increasing the
availability of Children’s Advocacy Centers and enhancing
the quality of services provided to child victims through
child-friendly, child-focused CACs in Virginia.
The mission of CACVA is to promote,
assist and support the development, growth, and continuation
of CACs in the Commonwealth of Virginia so that every child
victim has access to the services of a Children’s Advocacy
Center. CACVA provides services and technical assistance to
operating and developing CACs and to communities interested
in establishing a Children’s Advocacy Center.
CACVA was accredited in October, 2002
by the National
Children’s Alliance, a national non-profit
accreditation organization dedicated to the support of a
best practice solution to caring for victims of child
abuse. CACVA is a membership non-profit 501(c)(3)
corporation governed by a Board of Directors and staffed by
a Coordinator in the CACVA office located in Bristol,
Virginia.
The first Virginia CAC opened in
Bristol in 1998, and currently there are Children’s Advocacy
Centers serving child abuse victims and their families in
most regions of the Commonwealth. The organizational
structures of Virginia’s CACs vary—including non-profit,
governmental, university-based, hospital-based, and through
umbrella agencies—and the populations of CAC communities are
urban, rural, and suburban. The diversity of Virginia CAC
start-up agencies ranging from grassroots beginnings to
national agency (Childhelp) implementation contributes to
the integration in all communities of a new response method
to help child abuse victims.
Through the support provided by
networking, community awareness of the benefits provided by
services from a CAC, and resource opportunities from state
and national agencies, the Children’s Advocacy Center model
of response to child abuse in Virginia has grown remarkably
in the last eight years and has proven to be a valuable,
effective system in protecting our children from further
maltreatment.
Any organization or community
interested in developing collaborative services through a
Children’s Advocacy Center in their locality and desiring
more information may contact Kay Kovacs, CACVA Coordinator,
at
kaycacva@bvunet.net
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Our Partners in Action
This website has been made possible
by a grant from Virginia Department of Social
Services—Family and Children’s Trust Fund.
Partners in the establishment and
operation of Virginia’s state chapter are the
National
Children’s Alliance and
Southern Regional
Children’s Advocacy Center located at the National
Children’s Advocacy Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
The National Children’s Alliance
offers to CACVA the following:
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training
opportunities
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leadership support
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grant funding
The Southern Regional Children’s
Advocacy Center collaborates with CACVA by providing the
following:
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referral process for communities and individuals
regarding CAC establishment and development
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training and technical assistance for Chapter and
CAC growth
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coordination of a viable communications system
between Chapters, CACs, and the regional
organization to enhance Virginia’s response to child
abuse through the services of Children’s Advocacy
Centers
Services provided by CACVA
Oftentimes, the very legal system that
works to protect children and punish those who prey on their
innocence unfortunately re-victimizes the children in its
pursuit of justice. CACVA and its member organizations envision
a system which works cooperatively and efficiently to handle
each case of child abuse and neglect in order to minimize the
traumatic effects, effectively increase services to reduce
potential re-victimization, and positively impact the recovery
of child abuse victims.
To accomplish
our vision for Children’s Advocacy Centers, CACVA provides these
services to CAC communities:
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CACVA serves as a central contact point in Virginia for
communities, professionals, and individuals seeking to learn
more about a multidisciplinary team approach of handling
child abuse complaints—the MD Team being the core principle
of the Children’s Advocacy Center model. Bringing
law enforcement, prosecutors,
child protective services, and the medical and mental health
professions together as a collaborative team to investigate
and prosecute cases of child abuse results in minimized
trauma, breaking the cycle of abuse, and increased
prosecution rates for perpetrators.
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CACVA sponsors quarterly network meetings for all CACs. The
first network meeting was held in October, 2002, and the
quarterly meetings, held in different cities in Virginia,
provide opportunities for CAC staff and multidisciplinary
team members to gain insight and skills relevant to CAC
related topics.
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CACVA collects and compiles statewide demographic data on
child abuse victims served by Children’s Advocacy Centers in
Virginia. This activity began with the reporting period of
July – December, 2005 and is conducted semi-annually for
statewide CAC statistics.
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CACVA provides technical assistance to Children’s Advocacy
Centers and interested communities relevant to
organizational needs, program options, facility
requirements, and member standards through distributing
resources, training, conducting community presentations,
making appropriate referrals, and assisting with the
coordination to services provided by national organizations
and Southern Regional Children’s Advocacy Center.
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CACVA promotes public awareness of the issues of child
abuse, prevention and treatment and works to increase the
knowledge of the general population regarding the signs,
symptoms, and trauma of child abuse; the services available
through CACs to victims and families; the successful
outcomes of prosecution both for the victims and the
communities in terms of safety; and the prevention
strategies designed to help reduce the vulnerability of
children living at risk of abuse.
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CACVA publicizes and facilitates funding opportunities from
grants, foundations, fundraising activities, nation, state,
and local governments, and other sources to support the
efforts of local Children’s Advocacy Centers in Virginia.
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CACVA collaborates with other private and state agencies
working with child abuse issues to increase the
understanding of the benefits of CACs to victims and to
enhance partnerships in training, dissemination of
information, advocacy, and development of services.
The work to end child abuse is far from
over. We look forward to the time when the entire Commonwealth
of Virginia becomes an even greater leader in providing a
child-friendly, child-focused system to handle abused and
neglected children. If you want to learn more about what you
can do to protect children from abuse and neglect, contact a
Children’s Advocacy Center in your area from the
Locations link
or contact Children’s Advocacy Centers of Virginia at
kaycacva@bvunet.net.
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"We
will have met success when every child has access to the services of an
accredited Children's Advocacy Center".