Children’s Advocacy Centers of Mississippi (CACM) is an accredited chapter of the National Children’s Alliance. As a membership organization with numerous local Child Advocacy Centers throughout the state, we bring together multidisciplinary teams to streamline the process of child abuse situations. Our goal is always to put the needs of the child first, and we bring all services under one umbrella. By bringing together many disciplines, including law enforcement, child protection, prosecution, mental and/or medical health, victim advocacy and child advocacy, we work together to conduct interviews and make team decisions about investigation, treatment, management and prosecution of child abuse cases.
The mission of CACM is to support the development and continuation of children's advocacy centers that meet the accreditation standards of the National Children's Alliance and to improve the ability and skill of Mississippi's child abuse professionals to better serve victims of child abuse.
CACM supports local Mississippi agencies that are seeking accreditation from the National Children’s Alliance. The following program components are necessary for accredited membership in National Children’s Alliance:
1. MDT: A Multidisciplinary Team for response to child abuse allegations includes representation from the following: Law Enforcement, Child Protection Services, Prosecution, Medical, Mental Health, Victim Advocacy, Children’s Advocacy Center
2. Cultural Competency: The Children's Advocacy Center provides cultural competent services for all CAC clients throughout the life of the case.
3. Forensic Interviews: Forensic interviews are conducted in a manner that is legally sound, of a fact-finding nature, and are coordinated to avoid duplicative interviewing.
4. Victim Support and Advocacy: Victim support and advocacy services are provided to all CAC clients and their caregivers as part of the Multidisciplinary Team response.
5. Medical Evaluation: Specialized medical evaluation and treatment services are available to all CAC clients and coordinated as part of the Multidisciplinary Team response.
6. Mental Health: Evidence-based trauma-focused mental health services, designed to meet the unique needs of the children and caregivers, are consistently available as part of the Multidisciplinary Team response.
7. Case Review: A formal process in which multidisciplinary discussion and information sharing regarding the investigation, case status and services needed by the child and family is to occur on a routine basis.
8. Case Tracking: Children's Advocacy Centers must develop and implement a system for monitoring case progress and tracking case outcomes for all MDT components.
9. Organizational Capacity: A designated legal entity responsible for program and fiscal operations has been established and implements basic sound administrative policies and procedures.
10. Child Focused Setting: The child-focused setting is comfortable, private and both physically and psychologically safe for diverse populations of children and their family members.
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