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Our History
In 1985, Former Congressman Robert E. "Bud" Cramer (AL) organized an effort to create a better system to help abused children. The social service and the criminal justice systems at the time were not working together, which added to the children's emotional distress, and created a segmented, repetitious, and often frightening experience for the child victims. The child advocacy center model pulls together law enforcement, criminal justice, child protective service, medical and mental health workers onto one coordinated team.
There are now more than 600 established and developing children's advocacy centers in the United States alone with growing interest internationally.
In 2002 community members and social service providers in our community met to form the Athens County Child Advocacy Center. The results of the collaboration were obtaining of a Child Colposcope, Pediatric SANE examinations at the local hospital, and audio visual forensic interviewing equipment. In 2005 the collaboration continued towards becoming a recognized Child Advocacy Center. In 2006 the Athens County Child Advocacy Center (ACCAC) was approved for accreditation by the National Children’s Alliance and received grant funding to conduct medical exams, MTD meetings, and forensics interviews onsite.