From board meetings to poisonous plants, no detail is too small for accredited CACs
Go behind-the-scenes in the lead-up to the internal accreditation and site-review process at two Indiana CACs, one on-site and one held virtually.
Team Building
Marion County CAC settling in with “one of the best teams we’ve ever had”
“I knew I wanted to be a prosecutor, but never dreamed I would get into the child abuse and sex crimes,” he says. “I always thought it’d be a drug or gang prosecutor. But child sex abuse cases meshed with what I wanted to do.”
New Delaware Co. CAC Coordinator recalls series of firsts over the last six months
Forensic interviewers begin their training by observing, watching, dissecting, and questioning recorded forensic interviews. But have no ability to train with manikins. Instead, they start by interviewing live, adult volunteers.
Randolph County CAC exceeds estimates by double, closes thirty-year gap in practice
It was pushing eleven o’clock at night and despite the mental strain on everyone, Mallory Stevenson and the rest of the team at the Randolph County CAC knew everyone did something right.
Sylvia’s CAC finds organizational changes amid NCA accreditation
Sylvia’s CAC in Boone County is now fully accredited by the National Children’s Alliance. The CAC learned of their new status on November 1, 2021.
Fort Wayne CAC shows how diversity and inclusion matter in the critical moments after an abuse allegation
Allen County’s local CAC discovered how important cultural understanding is to great investigations. Now they’re an exemplar for what to do.
Huntington CAC McKenzie’s Hope marks 15 years in honor of two local children
Child Advocacy Centers often get their name from a local child or advocate. But McKenzie’s Hope is unique in combining the names of two children who were each murdered within about a year of each other.
Kristina Lesley wins first-ever award for victim advocacy work with children
Lesley’s work with children in her role as Heartford House’s Victim Advocate was noted as “exemplary”.
Heartford House merging with nearby Quinton’s House, marking 20-years of work to stop child abuse
Heartford House has grown up in the last two decades. They started almost by surprise, have made hard funding choices with DCS, and now they’re merging with nearby Quinton’s House.
How to: conduct a forensic interview during a pandemic
Child First and the Zero Abuse Project have established a full document on conducting a pandemic-era forensic interview and defending it in court.