Child Advocacy Center

The Child Advocacy Center provides a safe and neutral location in which law enforcement and child protective services can observe forensic interviews with children who are alleged victims of abuse, and where the child and non-offending family members can receive support and education about the investigative process.

Family members are able to meet with the professionals working on their child’s case, and discuss possible services that the child and family may benefit from. Every family served through the Child Advocacy Center is offered Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TFCBT) free of charge.

The CAC also houses the Child Abuse Response Team (CART) that meets monthly to collaborate on cases with the goal of providing the best outcome for the child victim.

What Does Your ACEs Score Mean?

According to the Adverse Childhood experiences study, the harder your childhood was, most likely means your score will be higher, and the higher your risk for later health problems.

A score of 3 or more is considered a high ACEs score. This should alert you to take care of your health, visit your doctor, and seek counseling if needed.

It is important to remember that many people go on to lead successful, meaningful lives, regardless of their ACEs score. This is meant to be used as guidance. The ACEs score only tells you about one of the many risk factors. It does not take into account your diet, whether you smoke or drink excessively, or other risk factors. 

“There are people with high ACEs score who do remarkably well,” says Jack Shonkoff, a pediatrician and the director of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. He goes on to say that resilience is builds throughout life and close relationships are key.

Small child at Child Advocacy Center