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Our Mission
The Athens County Child Advocacy Center (CAC) is a 501(c)3 organization in which representatives from many disciplines meet to discuss and make decisions about investigation, treatment and prosecution of child sexual abuse cases. The goals of the center are:
- to reduce the number of interviews for victims of child sexual abuse
- to increase the success of prosecution of perpetrators
- to support the victim and non-offending family members by offering better-coordinated and more effective services, including mental health and victim assistance
- to reduce the victim's trauma and expedite recovery
- to prevent further abuse through community education
The CAC model allows constant and ongoing intra-agency collaboration from the time the incident is reported through post-trial follow-up. Previously, each organization performed independent investigations, resulting in the following problems: needless repetition of the details of the incident, causing additional stress and trauma to the child and parents; duplication of services, wasting manpower and money for each agency involved; unreasonably long delays in filing charges; incomplete or nonexistent follow up with the parents, resulting in confusion and lowered engagement in the process; lack of overall coordination, resulting in the loss of services necessary to ensure the child and family heal from the trauma. Through centralization and coordination, the CAC model more effectively avoids these problems and provides a process which is less traumatic for the victim and streamlined for the involved agencies.
The Athens County CAC is a fully-accredited member of the National Children’s Alliance
Collaborating Organizations
Athens County Prosecutor’s Office
Athens County Victim Assistance Program
Athens County Children Services