Children's Advocacy Center

CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER

Established in 1997 as a project of the Lucas County Child Abuse Task Force, the Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) provides services to over 400 children each year. The CAC stresses coordination of investigation and intervention services by bringing together professionals and agencies as a multidisciplinary team to create a child-focused approach to child abuse cases. The goal is to ensure that children are not re-victimized by the very system designed to protect them. The CAC in Lucas County was one of the first CACs in the state and has the honor of being one of 26 programs in Ohio to have Full Member status in the National Children’s Alliance, the accrediting body for CACs nationwide.

Additionally, there are no fees for all of the services offered to families through the CAC. We are funded through generous grants and donations to provide support to children and their families.

Goals

To reduce the number of interviews child victims of sexual abuse are subjected to in the course of the investigation of allegations, prosecution, and treatment by a collaborative, team approach to interviews.
To provide a safe, comfortable, child-friendly center where child sexual abuse interviews can take place.
To provide supportive services to child victims and their families as a way to help reduce the trauma and maximize families’ ability to help the child victim.
To promote education of professionals and other community members and contribute to research in the area of child victimization.

If you have any questions about our services, please feel free to contact us at 419.292.2927.

Mission

The mission of the Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) is to provide the community with a coordinated, multidisciplinary, and sensitive approach to child abuse through a child-friendly center in which child abuse can be investigated. The CAC recognizes the need to reduce the trauma that children and families experience during the investigation and prosecution process.

DOWNLOAD THE CAC BROCHURE

RESOURCES

STAFF
TRAUMA THERAPY
SAFETY EDUCATION
NON-OFFENDING CAREGIVERS

CWWV Program Trauma Therapist
CAC Supervisor
Sara Sweet, LPCC-S
419.460.3835
[email protected]

Intake Coordinator
Beverly Barnhill
419.292.2927 ext. 300
[email protected]

Forensic Interviewer & Victim/Family Advocate
April Dill
419.292.2927 X309
[email protected]

Trauma Therapist
CAC Supervisor
Kelly Rupp, LISW-S
419.292.2927 ext. 302
419.318.9178 mobile
[email protected]

Trauma Therapist
Rachel Adler, LISW-S
419.292.2927 ext. 306
419.740.0276 mobile
[email protected]

We offer short-term therapy to children and adolescents (ages 6-18) who have experienced sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect, or emotional/verbal abuse. Our Trauma Therapy program is approximately 15-20 sessions with one of our trained therapists who use trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) and/or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). Sessions vary in length anywhere from 45-60 minutes depending on the age of the child. If children are in need of long-term services following their sessions at this agency, therapists here will provide referrals for additional services.

Our Safety Education program teaches young children about safe and unsafe touches, names/locations of private body parts, understanding secrets vs surprises, and ways to seek help from trusted adults. This program consists of four (4) individual sessions.

In order to start services our staff would need to conduct an assessment with the caregiver(s) of the children coming in for services. We ask that this assessment includes only the caregiver(s) and that children are not present so that we can better explain our services and gather information. Individual sessions for the children to attend will be scheduled at the conclusion of the assessment.

For further questions about this program or to schedule an assessment, please contact us at 419.292.2927.

The Non-Offending Caregiver Education Class is an educational program for non-offending caregivers of sexually abused children.

This program consists of a 60-minute assessment followed by four (4) individual sessions lasting 60 minutes each and assists Non-Offending Caregivers in areas such as understanding the scope of child sexual abuse, recognizing indicators, acknowledging the impact that sexual abuse has on children and their families, communication, coping skills, and more.

For further questions about this program or to schedule an assessment, please contact us at 419.292.2927.

children who witness violence trauma therapy

We offer short-term therapy (5 sessions) to children and adolescents (ages 3-18) who have experienced interpersonal violence. The trauma therapist will discuss options with the family to determine if virtual or in-person sessions are most appropriate. CWWV educates children on the topics of personal safety, support systems, violence prevention, emotional management, coping strategies, and building self-esteem.

CHILDREN WITNESSING VIOLENCE MAY EXPERIENCE... 
• Problems in relationships with friends
• Decline in school performance
• Aggressive behavior
• Emotional and behavioral problems
• Feelings of isolation
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Impaired brain development

For more information please contact Sara Sweet at the Children's Advocacy Center. 419.460.3835 or [email protected]

DOWNLOAD THE CWWV BROCHURE

FORENSIC INTERVIEWS
MEDICAL EXAMS

The CAC offers a child-friendly site where professionals conduct joint investigative interviews of child victims of abuse or other acts of violence. These interviews are conducted by trained professionals such as our CAC forensic interviewer, law enforcement, or children's services workers. The CAC does not schedule forensic interviews on our own, as these decisions are made by law enforcement or children's services.

The CAC offers on-site non-acute exams in conjunction with the forensic interview. Our Nurse Practitioner observes the interview to limit the number of times a child must share their story and details. The nurse practitioner will meet with the child, without the caregiver, to ask general incident questions directly following the forensic interview. The nurse practitioner will also conduct a mental health evaluation. Once general incident questions are completed, the physical exam will take place.

or children 0-10, caregivers are encouraged to be present for the examination. Children aged 10-18 can decide whether they want a caregiver present. The decision of who is in the room besides the nurse practitioner and the patient, will be up to the child. We also offer off-site non-acute exams with Dr. Schlievert at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. The CAC has a complete medical examination room equipped with a Cortex Flo. The medical examination is a non-acute, non-invasive exam and nothing is inserted into the child. A Cortex Flo is a piece of equipment that magnifies and documents any visible injuries on the child, and no part of the equipment touches the child during the examination.