06 Jul 2017 Children’s Advocacy Alliance earns national accreditation

The Children’s Advocacy Alliance has been awarded accreditation by National Children’s Alliance following an extensive application and site review process. As the accrediting agency for Children’s Advocacy Centers (CAC) across the country, National Children’s Alliance awards various levels of accreditation and membership to centers responding to allegations of child abuse in ways that are effective and efficient, and put the needs of child victims of abuse first.

Accreditation is the highest level of membership with National Children’s Alliance and denotes excellence in service provision.

In 2016, the Children’s Advocacy Center served 273 children from Faulkner, Van Buren, Searcy, Conway and Pope counties. The Court Appointed Special Advocates provided a voice to 155 children from Faulkner, Van Buren and Searcy counties in 2016. Currently, the Court Appointed Special Advocates have 85 advocates volunteering to provide voices to the foster children.

As an accredited member of National Children’s Alliance, The Children’s Advocacy Alliance is dedicated to providing comprehensive, coordinated and compassionate services to victims of child abuse.

National Children’s Alliance awards accredited membership based on a CAC’s compliance with 10 national standards of accreditation to ensure effective, efficient and consistent delivery of services to child abuse victims. National Children’s Alliance updated these standards in 2010 to reflect the most recent evidence-based practices in the field of child abuse intervention and prevention. According to these standards, accredited members must utilize a functioning and effective multidisciplinary team approach to work collaboratively in child abuse investigation, prosecution and treatment. National Children’s Alliance also considers standards regarding a center’s cultural competency and diversity, forensic interviews, victim support and advocacy, medical evaluation, therapeutic intervention and child-focused setting.

“As an organization/team of individuals dedicated to responding to child abuse, we recognize the importance of accreditation from National Children’s Alliance and supporting the multidisciplinary team approach. Accreditation not only validates our organization’s proven effective approach to responding to allegations of child abuse, but also provides consistency across the child advocacy center movement as a whole,” said Tess Fletcher, executive director of the Children’s Advocacy Alliance.

“The Children’s Advocacy Alliance is to be commended for its excellent work serving victims of child abuse. As the national association and accrediting body for Children’s Advocacy Centers across the country, our goal is to ensure that every victim of child abuse has access to high quality services that result from professional collaboration,” said Teresa Huizar, executive director of National Children’s Alliance.

For more information about The Children’s Advocacy Alliance, visit hopeandjustice.org.