Child Advocacy Centers

History of Child Advocacy Centers in Missouri
The Child Advocacy Center movement came to Missouri in the mid 1990’s out of the necessity to make the criminal justice system less traumatic for children. The first cities in Missouri to develop Child Advocacy Centers were Columbia, Joplin, Kansas City, St. Louis and Springfield. Today there are fifteen full service Child Advocacy Centers across the state of Missouri serving all 115 counties and there are over 500 centers nationwide. Child Advocacy Centers provide a wide range of services in support of children, their families, and the  professionals who serve them. Download map of Missouri's Child Advocacy Centers (PDF)

Services - Each center in Missouri is in compliance with full-membership standards of the National Children’s Alliance, the national organization for Child Advocacy Centers. Missouri’s Child Advocacy Centers meet each of those standards set by the National Children’s Alliance to varying degrees depending on the services available in the communities where the centers are located. Every effort is made by the Center directors to avoid duplication of services in their communities in order to better utilize communityresources and better serve children and families. Standards include:

Child Friendly Facilities – It is the goal of every Child Advocacy Center to provide a setting in which children realize the minute they walk through the door, that this is a place that exists only for kids.

Forensic Interviews – Videotaped forensic interviews are a key component of the Child Advocacy Center model. The advantages of videotaping the interview include demonstrating the manner in which the child was questioned, capturing the child’s disclosure, capturing the child’s body language and emotion, and reducing the number of  times a child has to be interviewed.

Multidisciplinary Team Approach – It is the role of the Child Advocacy Center to facilitate the multidisciplinary team approach to child abuse.  By doing so, there is an increase in communication and cases are handled more professionally and expediently.

Medical Examinations – Each Missouri Child Advocacy Center makes Sexual Abuse Forensic Examinations (SAFE) available for children who are in need of them. Exams are provided either onsite at the Center or through referral to a partnering SAFE trained medical provider.

Therapeutic Intervention - Through Child Advocacy Centers, every child victim and their family are ensured that therapeutic services are available to begin the healing process. This is accomplished either through onsite services or referrals to partnering mental health providers in the community.

Victim Advocacy – Every Missouri Child Advocacy Center has a victim advocate on staff to provide support to children and their families throughout the entire criminal justice process and to ensure services are in place.

Cultural Diversity – Missouri Child Advocacy Centers are sensitive to diversity across our state. Our Centers accommodate the needs of all children and their families.

Case Review – Missouri Child Advocacy Centers provide this service to facilitate continued communication among the professionals involved in any given case in an effort to prevent children from “slipping through the cracks.”

Case Tracking – Child Advocacy Centers track cases from report date to final court disposition along with statistical data needed to look for trends in service delivery.

Organizational Capacity – In order to be in full compliance with the National Children’s Alliance, each center must have organizational capacity. Most Missouri Centers are free-standing non-profit organizations, and one is part of a governmental entity.